{"id":36418,"date":"2023-11-29T09:00:05","date_gmt":"2023-11-29T09:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/parliament-to-grill-army-boss"},"modified":"2023-11-29T09:13:49","modified_gmt":"2023-11-29T09:13:49","slug":"parliament-to-grill-army-boss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/parliament-to-grill-army-boss","title":{"rendered":"Parliament to grill army boss"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>PARLIAMENT is set to summon army boss Lieutenant General Mojalefa Letsoela to explain his statement that he won\u2019t transfer the flag and constitution should the government change.<\/p>\n

Rethabile Letlailana, the chairman of the parliamentary Prime Minister\u2019s Ministries and Departments cluster, told thepost that they want Lt Gen Letsoela to explain whether he plans to take over the government.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe committee is going to write the army summoning the commander to come and explain his statements,\u201d Letlailana said.<\/p>\n

Letlailana had earlier told parliament that his understanding of Lt Gen Letsoela\u2019s statement is that he is planning a military coup. Letlailana urged Speaker Tlohang Sekhamane to investigate the true meaning of the army commander\u2019s speech.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is talking as if he is more powerful than the constitution,\u201d Letlailana said.<\/p>\n

He said he understood Lt Gen Letsoela\u2019s statement to mean \u201cparliament no longer has power in the eyes of the security agencies\u201d. \u201cWe should know if that man is now in control,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Letlailana said they \u201cneed to know whether Lesotho is still a constitutional democracy or not\u201d. \u201cWe want to know if the army has captured the government.<\/p>\n

\u201d He asked if a commander can say he does not want to transfer the national flag during a constitutional change of government.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat exercise only happens when the government changes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis country is not a joke, we do not have time for tomfoolery. We are running this country,\u201d he said. Letlailana\u2019s remarks in parliament come after Lt Gen Letsoela addressed soldiers returning from the war in Mozambique at the Makoanyane Barracks.<\/p>\n

Lt Gen Letsoela said he was tired of handing over the national flag and the constitution to a new prime minister. Lt Gen Letsoela told soldiers that he could not manage to transfer the national flag and the constitution again.<\/p>\n

He was referring to his symbolic but pertinent role of the army commander handing over the flag and constitution to a new prime minister. He seemed to suggest that there would be no transfer of power in the event of the incumbent prime minister loses the imminent vote of no confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am telling you that, I cannot,\u201d Lt Gen Letsoela said. He also said he would not \u201callow being made a madman by transferring the national flag and the constitution every time\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe flag will have to go somewhere in between,\u201d he said. It is not clear what he meant by this.<\/p>\n

Lt Gen Letsoela\u2019s speech came barely a week after a joint statement by security chiefs in which they said they would not allow the government to be toppled in parliament. Leader of Opposition Mathibeli Mokhothu criticised Lt Gen Letsoela\u2019s remarks in a series of tweets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Constitution and democracy of the Kingdom of Lesotho is once again heavily under a serious attack but we will unshakably defend it in all circumstances,\u201d Mokhothu tweeted.<\/p>\n

Security agencies should not be used to drive political agendas, he said in another tweet. \u201cPoliticians, go prove your numbers to govern this country in parliament,\u201d he said. The Basotho National Party (BNP) leader, Machesetsa Mofomobe, made a live video blasting the army boss for his latest statement.<\/p>\n

Mofomobe said history is the best teacher, reminding the army commander of what happened in 1994 when a palace coup happened and a SADC troika was established led by Robert Mugabe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe troika was to restore the constitution in Lesotho, and that government lasted for only two weeks because of international pressure,\u201d Mofomobe said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is naive, he is lost and lacks understanding,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added that the issue of handing over the national flag is not entrenched in the constitution, saying even in the absence of the army the government can be changed by the Speaker and the Council of State.<\/p>\n

He also said Lesotho cannot have a successful coup like other countries because the nation is surrounded by South Africans. \u201cPlanning a coup here is just a dream,\u201d Mofomobe said.<\/p>\n

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

Africa-Press – Lesotho. PARLIAMENT is set to summon army boss Lieutenant General Mojalefa Letsoela to explain his statement that he won\u2019t transfer the flag and constitution should the government change. Rethabile Letlailana, the chairman of the parliamentary Prime Minister\u2019s Ministries and Departments cluster, told thepost that they want Lt Gen Letsoela to explain whether he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":36417,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[233,246,424,245],"class_list":["post-36418","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-government","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"\nParliament to grill army boss - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"PARLIAMENT is set to summon army boss Lieutenant General Mojalefa Letsoela to explain his statement that he won\u2019t transf ...\" \/>\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\/parliament-to-grill-army-boss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Parliament to grill army boss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"PARLIAMENT is set to summon army boss Lieutenant General Mojalefa Letsoela to explain his statement that he won\u2019t transf ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/parliament-to-grill-army-boss\" \/>\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=\"2023-11-29T09:00:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-29T09:13:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/11\/sm_1701236354.924594.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\/parliament-to-grill-army-boss#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/parliament-to-grill-army-boss\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Parliament to grill army boss\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-29T09:00:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-29T09:13:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/parliament-to-grill-army-boss\"},\"wordCount\":681,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/parliament-to-grill-army-boss#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/11\/sm_1701236354.924594.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"government\",\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/parliament-to-grill-army-boss#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/parliament-to-grill-army-boss\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/parliament-to-grill-army-boss\",\"name\":\"Parliament to grill army boss - 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