Lesotho PM backs Mugabe July 10, 2008
Posted by Rethabile in human rights, lesotho, politics, sadc.Tags: zimbabwe
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The Prime Minister of Lesotho, Pakalitha Mosisili, is said to have thrown his weight behind Robert Mugabe. For a while I had started whining about the lack of a position on the part of the Lesotho government. Now, here it is. I’m sorry that it doesn’t please me. Mr Mosisili “told foreign powers on Wednesday to respect the sovereignty of states in the region.” I wonder whether foreign powers here refers to non-southern African states or to all states that are not Zimbabwe.
Ten years ago the government of Mr Mosisili was threatened by a domestic upheaval, and a coup d’etat was feared by most. The beleaguered Lesotho government called for help from SADC, and the then president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, authorised sending troops into Lesotho to calm things down, especially that the government of Lesotho was deemed legitimate then.
In March 1998 parliamentary elections in Lesotho resulted in an overwhelming majority for the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy Party, which won 79 out of 80 seats. However allegations of vote fraud soon surfaced, and after a failed lawsuit by the opposition parties, widespread rioting broke out.Under President Nelson Mandela the ANC-led government in South Africa (which completely landlocks Lesotho) announced it would hold a formal inquiry to determine the allegations of corruption. Controversially, the report only alleged minor irregularities.
Mandela authorised the deployment of 700 South African troops to Lesotho on September 22, 1998 to quell the rioting and maintain order. Botswana Defence Force soldiers were also deployed. The operation was described as an “intervention to restore democracy and the rule of law.”
Widespread arson, violence, and looting occurred despite the presence of SANDF soldiers. Troops were pulled out in May 1999 after seven months of occupation. The capital city of Maseru was heavily damaged, requiring a period of several years for rebuilding.
[source...]
What is the difference between Lesotho then and Zimbabwe now? Robert Mugabe has terrorised and killed more people than the rebels in Lesotho had. Mr Mosisili’s government asked for help then, yet he now says the sovereignty of states in the region should be respected. What gives?
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Indeed, we are all asking ourselves “What gives?”!!
What, indeed, gives? The statement by Mr Mosisili serves to confirm that he and other leaders in the region (outside Botswana and Zambia) swim in the same pool as Mugabe. This we know: time is our ultimate weapon – though at times you would do with instant answers.
I share your disappointment and embarrassment – SA’s so-called leader Mbeki has been in bed with Mugabe for the longest time, to my shame. You have to ask yourselves what on earth Mbeki, Mosisili and others are thinking. Do they really think that there will not be a day of reckoning for them??
Mandela and Masire had no idea what they were helping to build in Lesotho when they deployed troops from their countries in 1998 to intervene “to restore democracy and the rule of law”. We have degenerated into a vampire state and the ruling elite and their next-of-kin and cronies are getting the government posts (we have man and wife cabinet positions, in-laws cabinet positions, cousins cabinet positions, husband minister and wife Permanent Secretary), winning big government tenders (roads construction, dam construction, stadia construction), and creating ridiculous benefits for themselves (like buying government Mercedes Benz cars worth a quarter of a million for just 4000 rands, and then selling them at their real value).
The vampires are protecting each other. That is why Mosisili is on Mugabe’s side. Their day of reckoning will come Jeanne, just as Mugabe’s is already in the air.
What must happen is for stiff laws to be put in place (something equivalent to sharia law) to deal with leaders who so blatantly betray their trusted positions and their people with such impunity. Otherwise Africa is doomed forever because we will just continue to replace, at a very high cost, one vampire with another.
Hooray to Botswana and others like her.
It looks promising in Zimbabwe now, wouldn’t you say? Mugabe’s day of reckoning is no longer in the air – its in our midst!
My fingers are crossed. Promising? Definitely.
Mosili is a true African leader who does know the true colours and works of the Anglo Saxons and their so called democrats in the mold of the uneducated Khamas who claim to preach democracy yet in reality there are a military junta in their own country. viva Africa