Africa-Press – Lesotho. The cracks within the Lesotho Coaches Association have deepened as the members of the executive keep fighting for power. The fights intensified last week in the build up to the Lesotho Football Association’s (LEFA) 16th Congress held on Saturday at Victory Hall and hey involve LCA president Letlatsa Mampe and members of the executive committee with former Lesotho international Teele Ntšonyana at the forefront.
The mess was laid out for all to see at the LEFA elections where the coaches associations sent two different candidates to represent the LCA at the LEFA elections.
Speaking at the elective conference, LEFA president Advocate Salemane Phafane said LEFA had two letters from the association which each specified a different person to represent the association when it was entitled to only one.
Phafane said LEFA is in possession of a letter from the coaches association which suspends Teele Ntšonyana. However, the association’s spokesperson, Thapelo Pelea, said the association did not write the letter that suspends Ntšonyana and such letter was written by the president Letlatsa Mampe on his own.
Pelea said the association is governed by its constitution and he accused the president of never attending any meetings since he was elected. “We formed a quorum with the four members Thabang Pelea (PRO) Lesoma Tlhomoha (deputy secretary general), Teele Ntšonyana (secretary general) and Sechaba Ramatelile (member) and the agenda was to select delegates to come to the congress,” Pelea said.
“We wrote a letter to LEFA to say who has been chosen, I went there with the secretary general to deliver the letter and we have a copy. Surprisingly we found out there is another letter,” he said.
“I saw the letter he wrote to suspend Teele Ntšonyana which begs the question, does he (LCA president Letlatsa Mampe) run the association from your home because if you say he is polluting the association then he should come and tell us what happened so that we can sit down as the association and look at the clauses we have.
Our constitution states what can be done for disciplinary measures,” Pelea said. The letter that Pelea claims to have submitted to LEFA had Ntšonyana as one of the delegates.
The other letter only had the president and deputy president Motlatsi Masela who resigned from his position within the association meaning he was not eligible to vote.
Ntšonyana was not accredited to enter the congress which meant the coaches association was represented by one member. Pelea accused Mampe of using an authoritarian leadership style to run the association.
“He uses authoritarian leadership style, we are living in a democratic life right now, there needs to be a balance. We are going to go back to the table. What is happening right now is they are fighting one person, Ntšonyana, and they are using the association.
If he has made mistakes, call us and call Teele and tell us what is happening and we will stick to the law, no one is above the law,” Pelea said. When contacted for a comment, Mampe confirmed he wrote the letter suspending Ntšonyana and said it states that it is pending intervention by the executive committee.
He also accused Ntšonyana and his faction of hijacking the association and said they have taken office items such as stamps with them. Mampe said he had no idea about the meetings he has missed and said LCA members have no right to be hosting meetings without permission from the president.
“Teele has been going on around the districts fighting the association, I have a few letters that he wrote saying they are from the coaching association yet I don’t know (about) them,” Mampe said.
“There was an instructor’s course that he was part of and they expelled him because of that, now when we were supposed to sit down and resolve this he was going around insulting us, it was not right.
We are still waiting for the meeting with Teele. What they are saying is not true,” the LCA president added. “They are disrespectful, they say whether you are here or not we continue, you will get on the horse while it’s walking, that’s what they are saying to me,” Mampe said.
“The meeting they called me for was for the LEFA congress, they called at 8pm and I told Teele I can’t make it, you didn’t plan it. But you have to remember, we still need to have a meeting, we will end up with a bloodshed,” he said.
Pelea claimed to have heard the rumours that they were going to be suspended, he did not say who would be suspending them but insinuated that Phafane’s re-election as LEFA president may pave way for that. thepost has not been able to independently verify these allegations.
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