Africa-Press – Lesotho. OUTSPOKEN Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) legislator for Abia constituency, Thuso Jacob Makhalanyane, has launched a broadside at his party accusing some of its members of being corrupt.
He also believes the RFP has lost its way and largely failed to fulfil the promises that swept it to power in the October 2022 general elections because some of its key founders are now enmeshed in self-aggrandising acts.
He does not regret his decision to vote with the opposition in parliament last week, a move which led to his six-year suspension from the ruling party.
Mr Makhalanyane says he is not a zombie, expected to vote against his conscience. The firebrand MP says he will “stop at nothing” to see that his beloved RFP gets its affairs right. He vows to fight to the last ounce of his blood to ensure that the RFP is run properly.
In a one-on-one interview with Lesotho Times (LT) Political Editor, ’Marafaele Mohloboli, at his Ha-Abia residence in Maseru this week, Mr Makhalanyane said he was not moved at all by the suspension and had since challenged it in the courts.
He believes he will prevail. Below are excerpts from the interview. LT: When the RFP was formed last year, you were one of the party’s foot-soldiers with a firm belief in its manifesto, always protecting it.
What really inspired your love for the party? Makhalanyane: When the RFP was established, I fell in love with its vision, that there would be equal opportunity for all. I and those who bought into the RFP story believed that Lesotho would be a better place for all given the vision of the party leader (Sam Matekane).
We were all tired of the nepotism and corruption we had witnessed in the past administrations where those in power hired their relatives and girlfriends which, very unfortunately, is still happening.
I am one of the MPs who boasted a vigorous campaign in the build-up to the elections (in October 2022) as I believed that it was for the betterment of Basotho and Lesotho.
LT: You are the RFP’s chief whip in parliament, unless that will change now that you have been suspended. Can you tell us what that role encompasses, and how you related with your fellow MPs in terms of support in executing your duties?
Makhalanyane: Basically, the responsibility of a chief whip is to oversee that the party’s contribution in parliamentary business is organised and that members attend sittings as the party leadership desires.
I have had a very warm working relationship with other MPs and still enjoy the cordial relationship. They have been very supportive and still are even at this moment though it’s not all of them.
LT: What could have annoyed you so much to a point where you openly condemned your party’s administration and decisions? Makhalanyane: It should be understood that I am a very responsible and reasonable person. I am not a nut case. I didn’t just get irked overnight. So much had happened before I came out in the open.
I and other MPs had discussed some of the things that were not aligned to the party’s vision, that’s inclusive of the recruitment of the Directorate of Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) boss, Knox Molelle, whose position was never advertised despite it being strategic.
And then came the appointment of Auditor General ’Mathabo Makenete, who is a friend of the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Dr Retšelisitsoe Matlanyane, followed by that of the Minister of Trade and Industry, Business Development and Tourism Mr Mokhethi Shelile’s own brother ( Teboho Shelile who was appointed to the board of LEC), as well as that of the sister-in-law to the minister of Public Service, Labour and Employment
Mr Richard Ramoeletsi ( Mpeo Mahase-Moiloa who was appointed to the Public Service Commission). It was then that I and others saw that these people meant business and were never going to stop. They had very little regard for everyone and had forgotten all about the party’s meritocracy mantra.
They were now busy engaging in business with government and looking on how best to enrich their individual companies from public coffers, and are competing with Basotho businesses in the on-going construction of Polihali dam.
These are some of the things that really annoyed me in a big way, and I thought the people needed to know what was happening. I didn’t go public about all these things because I was fighting the party; it was me being responsible and accountable, because we had discussed these issues but there was no change.
LT: Some of your party members call you a rebel. What do you say about that? Makhalanyane: Yes, I am a rebel. But I am a rebel with a cause, and I don’t need to explain myself to anyone.
What others think about me is their problem and not mine. I am a rebel with direction and have got my own say on how I see things. I am not the kind who will be agreeing to everything that’s being thrown onto my lap just because the majority are doing so and for fear of being hated, just go with the flow.
That’s not me. Of all these MPs, I am the only one who withdrew my vehicle from government service where it was contracted. I did this after it was agreed that there was no business for government members (including us as MPs) to be in business with government.
That tells you the kind of rebel that I am. LT: How have Abia constituency members of the RFP been regarding you since the first time you openly derided the party?
Makhalanyane: I haven’t lost the support of those who mandated me to represent them in parliament. I have represented the Abia electorate as expected. They mandated me to be their voice because they trusted that I was capable and would protect them and their interests.
LT: You have been accused of sulking because you wanted to be appointed Home Affairs minister but were rejected for that role? The allegation was levelled against you by your colleague, Thaba-Bosiu legislator Isaac Malebaleba. What’s you take on that one?
Makhalanyane: I have heard this before, but I really see nothing wrong with wanting to be a minister because no one was born to be a minister, and I won’t let that be used or brought up to silence me each time I address issues of pertinence and national concern.
Anyone can be appointed minister as long they have what it takes, just that in this case some are appointed strategically to loot because they are corrupt.
I hope this is the last time I will ever have to talk about this matter of having been turned down for a ministerial position. I just won’t let it stand in my way.
LT: How do you rate your party’s performance based on the promises it made to the electorate during the build-up campaign to the 2022 national elections?
Makhalanyane: My party has dismally failed to act on all its promises to the electorate. It has failed to pass even a single piece of legislation and it has even failed to honour its meritocracy mantra.
And it doesn’t look like they even remember any of the promises they made during their campaign. All job recruitments are all about their friends and relatives, when there are better-qualified Basotho still looking for jobs.
Even the prime minister has hired his own daughter-in-law as a director at the Lesotho Housing and Land Development Corporation. All these and many other positions have not been advertised.
There is a lot of corruption happening and these are the things that get people to hate anyone who brings them up. LT: Your party’s spokesperson, Mr Shelile, says there was a time when you were called to be reprimanded for your unbecoming behaviour and that you promised to change which you did not.
How true is that and what exactly were you accused of? Makhalanyane: I have never been officially called to be reprimanded but was called for talks with the committee (national executive committee), and they are the ones who asked me what I wanted to be done.
I told them that there was need to set-up a deployment committee as the party constitution provides, so as to avoid these dubious recruitments that were being made. They even promised me that there would not be new recruitments, but they went ahead with the recruitments anyway.
There is not a single time that they have gotten the procedure of summoning anyone to the office right, because they don’t read their own constitution, hence we are here today.
And I am going to beat them at their own game because even this expulsion is not guided by the law. It’s a lie that I was ever called to be reprimanded.
LT: It seems like a lot has been happening in the RFP behind closed doors. What other possible shocker would you like to reveal and share with us? Makhalanyane: I don’t really think there is anything that’s happened or is happening behind the RFP’s closed doors that can be talked about.
All I see is that there is a lot of sleepiness. They are very sleepy, sleeping on the job. All that they have proven to be good at so far, is looting and enriching themselves and their businesses with the government’s funds.
I am yet to name and shame them. I will name them from A to Z, one by one. They are very corrupt, but all the same, there are those who are still clean, and I will also name them, along with those who are being strung along, and sadly the premier is directly involved in these corrupt practices.
LT: In your view, how democratic is the RFP? Makhalanyane: There is nothing called democracy in the RFP. It’s a foreign notion to them. Democracy is a big no in the RFP. The NEC has turned a blind eye to democracy and that Lesotho is a democratic state.
However, they will be reminded that there are laws that govern this country, and the courts of law are also there to intervene, and that way they will learn what exactly democracy is.
LT: Why did you vote against your party in parliament, and do you regret it? Makhalanyane: I voted against my party because I was aware that they were wrong and flouting the procedures of parliament.
I knew that we could not deliberate on any other business besides the one that had caused the special convening of parliament, which was the reforms. And knowing that there was a case challenging their passage in court, I knew it was wrong to vote for that.
I have no regrets whatsoever for having voted against the RFP as my party. I can’t afford to be turned into a misguided missile when I have my own brains to think.
Just look at what is happening now. We are plunging this government into unnecessary costs by going to parliament and just signing for sitting allowances, which could have been avoided.
Why has it been so hard to wait for the courts to finalise the matter? And this is also subjecting the courts to unnecessary pressure. We have made mistakes before because we voted uninformed, a clear example is the passage of the sin tax. Just look around and see how the brewing company and those running liquor businesses are suffering and people are losing their jobs.
LT: You have been suspended for six years with some terms that include you not taking part in any parliamentary caucuses, not representing the party formally or informally, not attending party activities, not holding any clandestine meetings with other RFP members, and not wearing the party regalia.
What is your take on that? Makhalanyane: This is utter bunkum! Just an anecdote. I cannot be suspended in that fashion. The suspension is unprocedural because there are laws that need to be followed.
I have worked very hard for this party and am not going anywhere. No one is more entitled than others to be a member of this party. No one owns this party.
I am also a member of this party, and they should know that I am going to make sure that they leave this party. I am going to make sure that they go back to their businesses because they are just here to loot and ruin things for Basotho.
They have displayed utter negligence and I will not leave this party in the hands of such careless people. What they should at least be doing now, while we await the courts, is to ready themselves to leave this party.
I didn’t just challenge this suspension because I wanted to flex my muscle and prove them wrong on flouting procedures. I want things to be done correctly, and it is not like I want to come back to the RFP because I never left in the first place.
I am here to stay like everyone else who feels they have a sense of belonging in this party. No one has the right to tell me what and what not to wear.
All the party regalia, I bought with my own money. No one will tell me anything about that. No one will determine or monitor whom I meet up with; that’s my freedom of association and no one has the right to take it away from me.
All the terms they have tied to my suspension display too much ambition from those who think they own the RFP. We shall be guided by the law and wait on the courts to give direction. In the meantime, I have voiced my views on behalf of all those who share my sentiments but fear persecution.
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