Africa-Press – Lesotho. OVER the last few weeks, we have watched with keen interest as the new government led by Prime Minister Sam Matekane began purging Principal Secretaries (PSs) who were appointed by the previous administration.
Matekane has since appointed new PSs in their place. Predictably, that has triggered howls of disapproval from opposition parties who accuse Matekane of ousting “their” people from the civil service.
However, it would appear Matekane has not violated any law. He has merely exercised the power vested in him under the Constitution of Lesotho. As the appointing authority, he can also fire individuals he thinks are not suitable to his developmental agenda.
He has since put in place loyalists who he thinks will drive his agenda. While Matekane might have acted within the law, we do not think the entire process of dismissals was neither fair nor just.
It is part of the rotten, toxic fumes of the past 50 years that have contaminated the politics of this country. Every time a new government takes over, it appoints its own new PS’s. The new round of removals and dismissals does little to ensure stability and a level of continuity in government ministries.
It is on this basis that we have always argued for a depoliticized civil service with all PS’s being appointed on the basis of their professional competence and not party affiliation.
There are huge benefits of taking up the former model rather than the latter. Matekane is generally an affable, humble man who has promised to transform how politics is done in Lesotho.
He has promised to bring a business mindset in running the affairs of the government. In seeking to transform the fortunes of Lesotho, he will need a competent team of technocrats to run government ministries who may not be party loyalists.
In line with his pre-election promises, we would want to see a meritocratic process as he appoints new PS’s and other key officials in government agencies and commissions.
The days of reserving senior jobs to party loyalists who know nothing about running government business must be over. That is key if the Prime Minister is to succeed in his mission of transforming Lesotho’s economic fortunes.
To do so, Matekane must block the noise coming from party apparatchiks and focus on what works for Lesotho. We also understand why the opposition has been peeved by this purge.
There is a perception that the individuals who have been shown the door were aligned to the previous government. So it is natural that they would defend their own people.
But to ensure that we deal with challenges of this nature in future, it has become urgent for MPs to resuscitate and pass the Reforms Bill that failed to pass in the last parliament.
That way, Lesotho would depoliticize the appointment of senior civil servants such as PS’s and other positions of government parastatals and institutions.
As long as Lesotho has not passed a new Constitution that regulates the appointment of PS’s we will remain stuck with these political appointments, much to the chagrin of the opposition.
To his credit, Matekane has not been brazen about how he has conducted the dismissals. Those he has so far removed are tainted by serious allegations of corruption.
Even if they had not been fired, ethical leadership should have dictated that they step aside until the allegations levelled against them had been fully investigated. That is how things should go if we want to clean the government.
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