{"id":34390,"date":"2023-10-05T09:01:06","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T09:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane"},"modified":"2023-10-05T09:28:28","modified_gmt":"2023-10-05T09:28:28","slug":"inside-plot-to-oust-matekane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane","title":{"rendered":"Inside plot to oust Matekane"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>THE plot to topple Prime Minister Sam Matekane thickened this week amid allegations of brazen vote-buying ahead of the opposition\u2019s planned vote of no-confidence.<\/p>\n

The opposition is said to be ready to push out Matekane when parliament reopens sometime in September. They accuse Matekane\u2019s government of incompetence, nepotism, corruption and using the security forces to harass opposition MPs.<\/p>\n

But as the lobbying and touting of MPs reaches fever pitch, there are now allegations of each side using bribes to secure votes crucial in the vote to remove the government.<\/p>\n

Democratic Congress leader, Mathibeli Mokhothu, this week accused the government of bribing its MPs to defeat the motion against Matekane. Mokhothu, who made the allegations at the opposition\u2019s press conference yesterdday, did not give further details or names of those bribed and those bribing.<\/p>\n

But on Monday, the Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) MP, Puseletso Lejone, told thepost that Mokhothu offered him a M2.2 million bribe to support the opposition\u2019s motion to upend the government.<\/p>\n

Lejone said Mokhothu made the offer at a secret meeting, attended by almost all opposition leaders on August 14, at Monyane Moleleki\u2019s house in Qoatsaneng.<\/p>\n

The Thaba Moea MP said the leaders claimed that 60 MPs were supporting the motion against Matekane and wanted his vote to make it 61. \u201cThe money was to come directly from Mokhothu,\u201d Lejone said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey asked me to provide them with my bank account so that they could transfer the money.<\/p>\n

\u201d Mokhuthu denied the allegations, saying he wondered if Lejone \u201cwas smoking socks\u201d.<\/p>\n

Lejone repeated the same allegations on the sidelines of yesterday\u2019s press conference where Matekane assured Basotho that his government has enough numbers to fend off the opposition\u2019s attempt to push him out.<\/p>\n

He said apart from Moleleki and Mokhothu, other political leaders who attended the meeting were Lekhetho Rakuoane, Machesetsa Mofomobe, Nkaku Kabi, Professor Nqosa Mahao, Teboho Mojapela, Tefo Mapesela and Ts\u030cepo Lipholo.<\/p>\n

He said the leaders gave him a document showing that six RFP MPs had pledged to support the vote of no confidence. Lejone however refused to name the RFP MPs, saying he still wants them to remain in the ruling party.<\/p>\n

He said four MPs from parties in the RFP-led coalition had signed. They are Mohlominyane Tota (UFC), Reverend Paul Masiu (BAENA), Mokoto Hloaele (AD) and Motlalepula Khahloe (MEC).<\/p>\n

The deal, Lejone said, was that Mokhutho would become prime minister and be deputised by Dr Mahali Phamotse. He said the RFP\u2019s faction was going to be rewarded with 10 ministerial seats for their role in toppling Matekane.<\/p>\n

Nearly all the political leaders mentioned by Lejone denied attending the meeting at Moleleki\u2019s house. \u201cBy the living God, I have never been in a meeting with that man (Lejone),\u201d Mokhothu said, adding that Lejone\u2019s allegations are \u201cdefamatory\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mahao said he last visited Moleleki\u2019s house, which is up the road from his, 22 years ago. Mofomobe said Lejone is lying about the meeting because he wants to curry favour with Matekane, whom he had been criticising for months.<\/p>\n

Mofomobe said all his meetings with Lejone were at the BNP Centre and their agenda was toppling Matekane. \u201cWe were discussing his (Matekane) incapability to rule this country,\u201d Mofomobe said.<\/p>\n

Rakuoane and Mapesela said they have never been to Moleleki\u2019s house. So did Kabi who implied that Lejone could have smoked something intoxicating \u201cto talk about a meeting that never happened\u201d. Lipholo, Rev Masiu, and Tota said they were not at that meeting while Moleleki said he had \u201cno comment\u201d.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. THE plot to topple Prime Minister Sam Matekane thickened this week amid allegations of brazen vote-buying ahead of the opposition\u2019s planned vote of no-confidence. The opposition is said to be ready to push out Matekane when parliament reopens sometime in September. They accuse Matekane\u2019s government of incompetence, nepotism, corruption and using the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":34389,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[233,246,245,2120],"class_list":["post-34390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-lesotho","tag-sam-matekane"],"yoast_head":"\nInside plot to oust Matekane - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"THE plot to topple Prime Minister Sam Matekane thickened this week amid allegations of brazen vote-buying ahead of the o ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Inside plot to oust Matekane\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"THE plot to topple Prime Minister Sam Matekane thickened this week amid allegations of brazen vote-buying ahead of the o ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-05T09:01:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-05T09:28:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/10\/sm_1696485337.314892.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Inside plot to oust Matekane\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-05T09:01:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-05T09:28:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane\"},\"wordCount\":605,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/10\/sm_1696485337.314892.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"Lesotho\",\"Sam Matekane\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane\",\"name\":\"Inside plot to oust Matekane - Lesotho\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/10\/sm_1696485337.314892.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-05T09:01:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-05T09:28:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"THE plot to topple Prime Minister Sam Matekane thickened this week amid allegations of brazen vote-buying ahead of the o ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/10\/sm_1696485337.314892.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/10\/sm_1696485337.314892.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"Inside plot to oust Matekane\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Inside plot to oust Matekane\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/\",\"name\":\"Lesotho\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Inside plot to oust Matekane - Lesotho","description":"THE plot to topple Prime Minister Sam Matekane thickened this week amid allegations of brazen vote-buying ahead of the o ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Inside plot to oust Matekane","og_description":"THE plot to topple Prime Minister Sam Matekane thickened this week amid allegations of brazen vote-buying ahead of the o ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane","og_site_name":"Lesotho","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2023-10-05T09:01:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-10-05T09:28:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/10\/sm_1696485337.314892.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Inside plot to oust Matekane","datePublished":"2023-10-05T09:01:06+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-05T09:28:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane"},"wordCount":605,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/10\/sm_1696485337.314892.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-Lesotho","Lesotho","Sam Matekane"],"articleSection":["all news","head lines","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane","name":"Inside plot to oust Matekane - Lesotho","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/10\/sm_1696485337.314892.jpg","datePublished":"2023-10-05T09:01:06+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-05T09:28:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"THE plot to topple Prime Minister Sam Matekane thickened this week amid allegations of brazen vote-buying ahead of the o ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/10\/sm_1696485337.314892.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/10\/sm_1696485337.314892.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"caption":"Inside plot to oust Matekane"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/inside-plot-to-oust-matekane#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Inside plot to oust Matekane"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/","name":"Lesotho","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}