SADC suspends activities in Lesotho till August

Following the failure to release a report by a commission of enquiry on the death of Brigadier Maaparankoe Mahao, former Lesotho army commander, SADC has suspended all activities in the country.

SADC’s decision to suspend activities in Lesotho comes out of a Troika meeting held in Gaborone, Botswana, which saw the attendance of Lesotho Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili.

SADC will hold a full assembly and discuss the matter in August; hence activities in Lesotho have been suspended till then. Lesotho may face a full suspension from the regional block if it does not accept the report.

South African president, Jacob Zuma, says SADC should still go ahead to release the report without Lesotho’s consensus.

Reports from the regional media state that the southern African leaders have called off efforts to mediate Lesotho’s political crisis following resistance by Lesotho’s Prime Minister, Mosisili, to the publication of the report of a judicial commission which probed the assassination of a military leader who had earlier been fired by Mosisili.

A meeting held in Gaborone on Monday included the likes of Mosisili and Jacob Zuma, South African President, , hosted by President Ian Khama of Botswana, to receive a report from South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa on his mediation efforts in Lesotho on behalf of the regional grouping, the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Last year, SADC leaders appointed Botswana’s Justice Mpaphi Phumaphi to head a commission to investigate a range of issues, including the assassination of Brigadier Maaparankoe Mahao, commander of the Lesotho Defense Force (LDF), two months after Mosisili had fired him.

The commission submitted its findings to SADC in December. However, Mosisili’s government is refusing to receive the report, on the grounds that the LDF’s Special Forces commander is challenging the commission in a Maseru court.

A South African journalist earlier this month tweeted apparent excerpts from its draft report, recommending the removal of Defense Minister Tšeliso Mokhosi, as well as Mahao’s replacement as army commander, Lt. General Tlali Kamoli.

Lesotho’s security forces are notorious for their factionalism and political partisanship, and part of the SADC mediation process has involved pressing for wide-ranging security sector reforms.

At the end of Monday’s meeting, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reported that SADC has “disengaged” from the Lesotho mediation and move for the country’s suspension at the next SADC summit if its government did not accept the commission report.

In a report from Gaborone, the SABC quoted Zuma as saying that in the absence of consensus on the release of the report, SADC would release it on its own. A SADC communique is expected on Tuesday, January 19.