{"id":6787,"date":"2021-12-06T11:24:18","date_gmt":"2021-12-06T11:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/police-vow-to-crush-youth-protests"},"modified":"2021-12-06T11:53:07","modified_gmt":"2021-12-06T11:53:07","slug":"police-vow-to-crush-youth-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/police-vow-to-crush-youth-protests","title":{"rendered":"Police vow to crush youth protests"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>THE police say they will come down hard on a group of youths planning a protest march against MPs\u2019 M5 000 per month fuel allowances tomorrow. However, the group which is calling itself the Concerned Youth People says nothing will stop them from handing their petition to Deputy Prime Minister Mathibeli Mokhothu as the leader of the House.<\/p>\n

They say their members are ready to march to parliament despite the police denying them a permit. \u201cThe march is happening whether the police like it or not.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s happening,\u201d said Motsamai Mokotjo, a former journalist who is one of the leaders. \u201cWe will find a way to hand over the petition to the deputy prime minister.<\/p>\n

\u201d
\nThe police however say the protest will be illegal because the youths did not secure a permit.<\/p>\n

Police spokesman Senior Superintendent Mpiti Mopeli told thepost that \u201cthe march will be unlawful and we will consider it a criminal offence\u201d. The government has banned protests due to the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

S\/Supt Mopeli has warned that participating in the march will be criminal and the police are bound to stop it. \u201cBefore embarking on any protest march, a permit should be issued,\u201d S\/Supt Mopeli said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe permit is issued by the police, and not having it would be a crime,\u201d he said. But Mokotjo says they are undeterred by the police\u2019s threats.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday Mokotjo and his group wrote to the Clerk of Parliament, Advocate Fine Maema, reminding him that the march was going ahead as scheduled from 9am to 1pm. The group said Advocate Maema should ensure that Mokhothu will be there to receive the petition.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou will remember that shortly after the regulations were passed by the National Assembly, we wrote a letter to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Honourable Sephiri Motanyane, on the 27th April 2021 requesting Parliament that the regulations be revoked as a matter of urgency,\u201d the group\u2019s letter said.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiving Members of Parliament lucrative allowances when the Covid-19 pandemic is pushing thousands of Basotho into extreme poverty will make Lesotho a society based on poverty for many and prosperity for a few, characterised by islands of wealth, surrounded by a sea of poverty.<\/p>\n

\u201d
\n\u201cWhen the people shall have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich,\u201d the youths said, quoting Jean Jacques Rousseau, a renowned political philosopher and leading figure in the French Revolution.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rich that Rousseau was referring to was anyone in power. We would never wish such a gloomy situation upon this beautiful Mountain Kingdom. \u201d<\/p>\n

The youths said Advocate Maema told them that their May 7 letter was \u201creferred to the relevant portfolio committee\u201d but to their shock, they heard that the government had paid the MPs the allowances.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this moment, Sir, we believe that expression of opposition to these allowances by way of marching to parliament and handing our petition to the Leader of the House is the only surest way to make our voices heard.<\/p>\n

\u201d
\nThey said Section 14 of the Constitution guarantees their freedom of association and protects their right to protest by holding peaceful marches and demonstrations. Mokotjo said the MPs\u2019 allowances were legal but immoral because the government is broke and the Covid-19 pandemic had pushed thousands into poverty.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were surprised by the regulations as they came during the Covid-19 pandemic,\u201d Mokotjo said, adding that \u201cit is unfair that the MPs are getting the allowances while the rest of the public is wallowing in poverty\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey act like they are visitors in Lesotho,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not know if Lesotho is an animal farm where other animals are better than others.\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 police say they will come down hard on a group of youths planning a protest march against MPs\u2019 M5 000 per month fuel allowances tomorrow. However, the group which is calling itself the Concerned Youth People says nothing will stop them from handing their petition to Deputy Prime Minister Mathibeli Mokhothu […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":6786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12,16],"tags":[233,246,245,747],"class_list":["post-6787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-lesotho","tag-police"],"yoast_head":"\nPolice vow to crush youth protests - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"THE police say they will come down hard on a group of youths planning a protest march against MPs\u2019 M5 000 per month fuel ...\" \/>\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\/police-vow-to-crush-youth-protests\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Police vow to crush youth protests\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"THE police say they will come down hard on a group of youths planning a protest march against MPs\u2019 M5 000 per month fuel ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/police-vow-to-crush-youth-protests\" \/>\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=\"2021-12-06T11:24:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-12-06T11:53:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2021\/12\/img-61adf98653edf.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"700\" \/>\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\/police-vow-to-crush-youth-protests#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/police-vow-to-crush-youth-protests\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Police vow to crush youth protests\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-06T11:24:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-12-06T11:53:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/police-vow-to-crush-youth-protests\"},\"wordCount\":622,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/police-vow-to-crush-youth-protests#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2021\/12\/img-61adf98653edf.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"Lesotho\",\"police\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/police-vow-to-crush-youth-protests#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/police-vow-to-crush-youth-protests\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/police-vow-to-crush-youth-protests\",\"name\":\"Police vow to crush youth protests - 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