Lesotho crisis pushes SADC to the brink

Mbongeni Mguni | Tuesday June 28, 2016 11:29

 

In January, SADC chair, President Ian Khama, saved Lesotho from suspension, after exasperated leaders and representatives from South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Swaziland failed to reach consensus with Mosisili. A suspension would have devastated Lesotho’s economy, particularly as the United States had warned it would side with SADC and bar Lesotho from AGOA, which supports 40,000 workers in Lesotho’s textile sector.

Mosisili and leaders fell out over Lesotho’s acceptance of a Commission of Enquiry report into the June 25, 2015 assassination of former military chief, Maaparankoe Mahao. The Lesotho government challenged the commission, its report and its commissioners, who were led by local retired judge, Mpaphi Phumaphi.

Khama brokered a compromise, convincing Mosisili to accept the report and produce a roadmap of implementing political and security reforms as contained in SADC facilitator and SA deputy president, Cyril Ramaphosa’s final report on the 2014 Lesotho crisis.

Yesterday, senior officials from the six countries were locked in meetings designed to produce reports for the heads of state, based on which discussions and decisions will be made today.

With just over a month to go till he vacates the chair, analysts expect Khama to take a harder line against the Lesotho government, particularly as Maseru missed several deadlines agreed upon after Khama’s January intervention. However, Mosisili could gain breathing space if, as sources hinted yesterday, he announces the axing of current military chief, Tlali Kamodi, as requested by SADC.

Lobby groups in Lesotho are also piling pressure on SADC to censure Mosisili’s government for imprisoning 50 soldiers, including senior officers, on trumped up charges, and allegedly torturing them.

By yesterday afternoon, an online petition initiated by National University of Lesotho professor, Mafa Sejanamane, had attracted 2,049 votes, in favour of pushing SADC leaders to take tough action at today’s meeting.

According to the petition, the imprisonment and torture of the soldiers was part of a state-sanctioned clamp down by the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) on perceived enemies which led to Mahao’s assassination in June 2015.

Phumaphi’s report had recommended an amnesty to all the soldiers charged with mutiny and extended to those who fled the country.

“From April 2015 LDF began a campaign to detain more than 50 soldiers, torture them severely for allegedly being suspected of mutiny. 

“After families had applied for habeas corpus, some of those soldiers were brought to court in leg iron shackles and dripping blood and other signs of torture.

“Another batch of more than 20 soldiers fled the country and continues to live in exile in South Africa. At the same time three leaders of opposition parties in Parliament were threatened and also fled to South Africa where they remain up to the present,” the petition reads.

It continues: “Phumaphi Commission among other things, recommended that LDF commander, Lt. General Kamoli be relieved of his command of LDF and that soldiers implicated in cases of murder, high treason and related matters be suspended while investigations about those crimes are completed without any hindrance.

“None of the above decisions have been implemented. On the contrary Mosisili in Parliament on June 20, 2016 praised the loyalty and competence of Kamoli and indicated he would not be relieved of his command.

“He suggested that rather than release detainees, he is inclined to issue a general amnesty to all soldiers including the murderers and those who have warrants of arrest for treason who continue to be ensconced in the barracks under the protection of LDF command.”

Speaking yesterday from Maseru, Sejanamane said lobby groups in the kingdom were looking at SADC to restore the rule of law and accountability in Lesotho, while doing away with impunity for offenders.

“The Prime Minister in Parliament is drifting towards a general amnesty to soldiers who killed people throughout the country, including Mahao and others and that’s absolutely wrong,” he said. “It’s an outrage to compare victims to perpetrators.” He said much was expected of Khama, as the chair heads into his last month in office before turning over the role to Swaziland’s King Mswati III.

“He has been outspoken on issues of human rights and the question of impunity in Africa,” the professor said.

“He has not even gone to some African Union meetings because there are people there who have tended to pat each other on the back while doing wrong things.

“Khama must lead SADC and show that ‘while I was chair, I was able to ensure that a state that almost fell apart and did not observe the rule of law, was brought to order’.

“His legacy as chair will be strengthened by showing leadership, that under his watch, rule of law was restored in Lesotho.”