Africa-Press – Lesotho. TO leave or to stay. That is the dilemma troubling Finance Minister Thabo Sophonea as he contemplates his position in the All Basotho Convention (ABC) party.
He has been mulling over the issue over the past few months. The mixed signals from the party’s leadership have only complicated matters. He calls himself a minister and MP in a government led by the ABC.
The party says he is one of the rogue MPs in a government that the ABC dumped when it withdrew its support for Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro. So, in other words, he is not representing the ABC in the government.
This is to say he rebelled against the party when he refused to leave the government with leader Nkaku Kabi and other MPs. Some hawks within Kabi’s camp go as far as saying Sophonea and other ministers expelled themselves from the party when they opted to remain in government with Majoro.
Were it three years before the election, Sophonea would not have been worried about his political future. But this is two months before elections and he is unsure if the ABC will allow him to contest under its banner.
He says he has heard some in the leadership speculating that he and other ministers might be blocked from contesting in the primary elections. And even if they contest, the leadership might still block their candidacies as retaliation for refusing to tow the party line.
Sophonea says he is not desperate to remain in the ABC and “if the marriage is over the divorce papers should be done”. “They say we are no longer members of the party but they are not pronouncing themselves,” he says.
He suspects the leadership might block him from contesting in his Thaba-Bosiu constituency in the next elections. “The ABC leadership has a mission to hold a disciplinary hearing for the ministers who refused to cross and then suspend them so that they do not stand for elections,” he said.
Sophonea recently attracted the wrath of the ABC leadership after he attended the Basotho Action Party (BAP)’s rally in Hloahloeng, Mohale’s Hoek. The leadership saw it as a betrayal while some members called for his suspension.
Sophonea says given the dynamics in the party, no one should blame him for attending a BAP rally. “In any case, I have always associated with the BAP people because they are our people,” he says.
He says he is tired of the party treating him like a stranger. “I am tired of squeezing myself and forcing things”. Sophonea said it would be better if the party suspends him and other ministers instead of trying to block them from contesting in the elections.
He says he will not wait to be blocked and pushed out of the party. “Why should I wait for the rain to fall on me yet I see it coming? My future in politics is now not clear,” he says, he feels his hands and that of other ministers are tied.
“In the end, even if I win the primary elections, if the party does not want to give me a blessing, I will not be able to stand for elections.
“We have to untie ourselves, they must pronounce themselves,” he said.
He said it does not make sense that some ABC members are mad that he visited the BAP’s Hloahloeng rally. “I do not want to die with my hands behind. ”
He also says he has tried to prove his loyalty to the ABC leadership by attending the party’s peace talks organised by Bishop David Ramela of St Paul African Apostolic Church.
He however blames Kabi for failing to declare that the ministers are still genuine ABC members. “At rallies, he still claims that the ABC is no more in the government.
” Kabi told thepost that “it is just that Ntate Sophonea wants to confuse himself while he knows what he really wants.
” He said Sophonea should be clear on what he wants.
“Talks have now taken a month, we are about to finish them. It must be clear where he stands now. ” Meanwhile, ABC factions were together at a rally for the first time since Kabi and Majoro’s relations soured. Some of the ministers who refused to cross the floor with Kabi showed up at his rally in Hlotse on Sunday.
Speaking at the rally Kabi thanked Defence Minister Halebonoe Setšabi and Forestry Minister Motlohi Maliehe for working hard together with his supporters, MPs Lekhetho Mosito, Mahala Molapo and Samonyane Ntsekele to unify the ABC.
“I once told the defence minister that we come from far away and he should bring us together and today we are together,” Kabi said.
He said their unity comes after he also met with Majoro asking for peace. “We shook hands and formed peace, we are going forward,” he said. He also urged Majoro to attend the next ABC rally to be held in Koro-Koro.
“I believe that next week we will be together with him.”
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