Africa-Press – Lesotho. PRIME Minister Sam Matekane’s push for members who are challenging the party in the High Court over various issues to withdraw the cases has been met with fierce resistance. Matekane renewed the call at his rally in Quthing on Sunday, saying the cases are damaging the image of the party.
Two Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) activists, Abia constituency chairman Cowboy Sethathi and Makhaleng constituency chairman Moloi Ralentsoe, have filed a case in the High Court demanding an elective conference.
The two are demanding elections to select a new national executive committee. The other case was filed in the High Court by two MPs who are challenging their six-year suspensions.
The two MPs are Matlakeng constituency’s Dr Mahali Phamotse and Abia’s Thuso Makhalanyane. The two have since taken the case to the Court of Appeal after the High Court ruled that the matter was not urgent.
Matekane told his supporters on Sunday that the courts will not solve their problems. “All the cases you have filed must be withdrawn, withdraw all of them,” Matekane said.
He urged the members to discuss their affairs at party platforms and not the courts of law. Ralentsoe told thepost that he will not withdraw the case from the court “until the new committee is elected”.
“We will not withdraw our cases,” Ralentsoe said. The Abia constituency chairman, Cowboy Sethathi, said Matekane “is joking by asking for the withdrawal of the cases from the courts”.
“He must start first by withdrawing the suspensions they made to the three MPs,” Sethathi said. He added that Matekane was just playing to the audience. “He knows that it will not be possible to withdraw our cases,” he said.
He complained that instead of addressing their problems Matekane had decided to take sides with the opposing faction. He added that their “party is dying a natural death due to conflicts caused by an incompetent national executive committee”.
“In fact, they must expect a lot of court cases before the end of this year.
” Makhalanyane said he will not withdraw the cases he is involved in.
“They are corrupt to the core, we will not withdraw our cases,” Makhalanyane said. He said he has unshaken trust in the Lesotho judicial system.
“We will wait for the courts to give judgment, our leader is not a judge,” he said.
He said he met Matekane several times where they discussed at length the party’s mismanagement “but he never listened, he began to see me as his enemy”.
He also said he was chosen by Basotho to represent them in parliament. “I am doing my job by going to court, to me I am protecting democracy that is at stake.
Matekane told the Quthing rally that their problems started when they decided to reduce the cabinet size as some members were not happy with that decision.
“The decision we made to reduce the cabinet size has separated us,” he said. He said they went from 27 ministers to 14, and “we are happy that our plan is working”.
He assured the members that their government was still stable despite the attempts to unseat it. “These people are confusing the party and sowing conflicts amongst us so that they can take chances of our confusion and manage to topple our government,” he said.
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