Africa-Press – Lesotho. Some Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) activists said the move to stuff the ministry with party loyalists smacked of nepotism and was a direct negation of government policy to give jobs on the basis of merit.
Moorosi, who is the RFP secretary general, allegedly sent the WhatsApp text to secretaries of the party’s constituencies. She wanted the secretaries to submit names of jobless party members who would be considered for recruitment in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
She said the lists should be sent to her privately. “Did you submit the names yet, please answer me in my inbox,” she wrote. In another text Moorosi wrote that the members should provide her with the names of unemployed nurses.
“Please choose those who are unemployed.
Her texts have enraged a rival faction of the RFP, which claims Moorosi “only picks the names of her close friends and loved ones”.
They also complained that the nepotism was being done despite promises by Prime Minister Sam Matekane to weed out the practice in the run-up to last year’s general elections. The aggrieved members told thepost that their secretary general “should be a secretary in the party and not in the government positions”.
The RFP MP for Abia constituency, Thuso Makhalanyane, who for months has been at odds with Moorosi and the Matekane-backed faction, posted on his official Facebook page that his constituency had been left out.
Makhalanyane said Moorosi “only picks the names of people from constituencies (that she likes)”. “Not all of us received the invitation to send names of the unemployed people,” Makhalanyane said.
He said he is not surprised that his constituency was left out. “They would not approach me or the Lithoteng MP, Rethabile Letlailana, because they know that we would not approve of their nepotism,” he said.
He recalled that after taking power, Matekane had promised to end nepotism as it has been rife under the previous regimes. “We are disappointed by this,” he said.
One of those at the forefront in opposing cronyism in the government, Montoeli Ramaipato, told thepost that the majority of the RFP members are unemployed and in dire need of jobs.
“Most of us are not working, but we see the Communications Minister hiring for other ministries,” Ramaipato said.
He also said he is disappointed that their party had failed to implement its election manifesto that included ending nepotism and corruption. “The people voted for us with high hopes that we would deliver on our promises,” he said.
He said they will not stop criticising their government because they want it to get things done according to the law. “It is a crime against humanity to dish out jobs like it is food, people should understand that.
He said their party was not only voted in power by RFP members but the entire nation.
“They must start doing things for the entire nation,” he said. Another aggrieved RFP member, Francis Ramosetle, complained that “the secretary general seems to be controlling everything in the government”.
He said he is not surprised that their party is now dishing out jobs to those close to the leadership. “They have hired their siblings and friends and they told us face-to-face that it has been happening,” Ramosetle said.
He also said the party has a lot of unemployed youths who need jobs and have been overlooked by previous governments. The government spokesman, Thabo Sekonyela, said “nepotism is not new in the country”.
“The past regimes used to hire people politically as well,” Sekonyela said.
He said in 2020 when thousands of Basotho lined up at Maseru Mall for Home Affairs jobs, “all of them were overlooked, they picked their people and those who were standing in the hot sun went back home still jobless”.
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