Africa-Press – Lesotho. THE Basotho Action Party (BAP) is purging renegade members who have refused the leader’s orders to close WhatsApp groups that are said to be destabilising the party.
Party leader Professor Nqosa Mahao has now written to the alleged rebels to explain why they should not be expelled from the party for disobeying his orders.
thepost has seen show cause letters to four administrators of WhatsApp groups that have remained open despite Professor Mahao’s orders two weeks ago. The four are accused of being ringleaders of a group allegedly insulting Mahao and his leadership on social media.
They are Nkhatho Mokhothu, Paul Moheane Bengula, Mohlaoli Sefali, and Lefa Khalo. Although tensions have been simmering for months, the current chaos has been triggered by disagreements over the party’s stance on the MPs M5 000 fuel allowance.
Mahao and his leadership want the BAP’s MPs to stop receiving the controversial allowances as per the party’s promise during the election campaign. That position has however angered some members who believe the MPs should continue to earn those allowances.
What began as a simple difference in opinion quickly escalated into vicious insults in the WhatsApp groups as party members tore into each other. Mahao and his leadership were savaged in those groups.
Mahao then ordered those groups to be closed until the party comes up with rules on how they should be managed. While some complied, others just renamed their groups and continued insulting the leader. The attacks have also continued on Facebook and radio call-in programmes.
Particularly vicious are two groups: Lebota la Banna ba BAP (the Wall of BAP Men) which has been renamed Lebota la Banna ba Lipolotiki (the Wall for Men in Politics) and Mopheme (an elusive wild animal) which is now Koetla (Hidden Weapon).
BAP spokesman, Lepolesa Makutoane, confirmed that the four have received letters from the leadership. “They do not respect the leader, our leadership,” Makutoane told thepost.
He said the party also wants to punish Khalo for speaking ill of Mahao and questioning his leadership skills. “He used to talk bad about the leader too.
” Makutoane also said they have heard that Khalo defected to the Alliance of Democrats (AD) after receiving the show cause letter.
“He is one of the people who destabilised our party,” Makutoane said.
He said the leadership is not banning the WhatsApp groups to suppress freedom of expression or insulate the leadership from criticism but “we are tired of people who insult the leadership and accuse them of unfounded allegations”.
He complained that the administrators of the WhatsApp groups would often refuse to stop members from insulting others. “They even deleted the leader’s messages when answering for himself,” he said.
“That is wrong because they were talking about him.
He said Mokhothu, Bengula and Sefali worked hard in convincing other members that the current executive committee does not know its job therefore they need to be changed. He said the executive committee will meet this week to decide how to deal with other members still running WhatsApp groups linked to the party.
For More News And Analysis About Lesotho Follow Africa-Press
