MEETING WITH LESOTHO'S "FIRST LADY"

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MASERU 000153

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR AF/S

E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/22/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KHIV EAID LT
SUBJECT: MEETING WITH LESOTHO'S "FIRST LADY"

REF: MASERU 124 AND PREVIOUS

CLASSIFIED BY: JUNE CARTER PERRY, AMBASSADOR, EXEC, STATE.
REASON: 1.4 (d)

Summary
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1. (C) The First Lady of Lesotho shared her views of the
current political situation and the status of HIV/AIDS programs
in Lesotho during a lengthy discussion with Ambassador on March

21. Mrs. Mosisili is considered one of the most influential
women and, de facto, one of the most important leaders in
Lesotho not only because of her derived authority as wife of the
Prime Minister, but because of her continued role in supporting
anti-AIDS campaigns across the country. Mrs. Mosisili reflected
on the internal dissention brought on in light of the attack on
the Foreign Minister in January of this year and expressed
regret that her country continued to have this kind of
disruption. She called for peace and security in the future and
also stated her appreciation for the pre-electoral, conflict
resolution support the U.S. has provided and that of the
international community as a whole. On the HIV/AIDS challenge,
the First Lady reiterated her personal commitment to support our
efforts through the Ambassador's Girls' Scholarship Program and
our outreach to local and international organizations through
the PEPFAR program. She also expressed interest in the
Embassy's upcoming book donations to schools around the country.
End Summary

Political Climate as Viewed by the First Lady
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2. (C) Ambassador called on Mrs. Mosisili as a follow up to our
on-going discussions at the UN Expanded Theme Group on HIV/AIDS
which the U.S. co-chairs. Our discussion began, however, with
consideration of the current political climate in the Mountain
Kingdom. We focused on the reverberation of the assault on the
Foreign Minister earlier this year. The First Lady regretted
the division she saw reflected in this "unacceptable" act. She
went on to say that, historically, Lesotho had faced disruption,
but she found it especially distressing that after nearly 40
years of independence, such political disagreements could
persist. She suggested the impact of this situation has taken
its toll on the country's Ruling Congress for Democracy headed
by her husband. Looking towards the 2007 elections, we asked if
there would be a peaceful progression, given the current state
of affairs. The First Lady emphasized the Prime Minister's
commitment to security and she welcomed any support the donor
community could provide to Lesotho as it began preparations for
this major national event. Ambassador observed that the donor
community had already agreed pre-electoral training and observer
involvement was needed. (Comment: While Mrs. Mosisili is not
an elected leader, her opinions carry weight throughout the
country. She is highly regarded for her many years as a senior
education official and for her subdued, but confident manner.
End Comment)

HIV/AIDS, AGSP and USG Book Donation
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3. (C) Moving to the overwhelming issue of HIV/AIDS, with
Lesotho having the 3rd highest prevalence rate in the world, she
welcomed the naming of the Chair of the National AIDS Commission
(NAC) and indicated her continued commitment to support the
government, civil society and the private sector in this
critical battle. In response to our statement on the NAC and
donor coordination, the First Lady said that she was very
pleased that the U.S., the UN, and the EU, had taken the
initiative to open a dialogue with the recently named Chair, Mr.
Thabo Makeka, a lawyer in Lesotho. She also commented that
since this was the first time that both Mr. Makeka as well as
the CEO of the NAC, Kekeletso Sefeane, were both on board, it
would take time for them to fully activate the machinery
necessary to reach out to all segments of the country and to all
the partners in addressing the HIV/AIDS challenge. (Note:
Reportedly, Mrs. Mosisili was one of the driving forces behind
the establishment of a NAC, a process that took years. She
initiated her drive because of the Ministry of Health's failure
to fully handle the pandemic. End Note)


4. (C) The First Lady alluded to our Girls' Scholarship Program
and commented on how successful she felt it had been and how
pleased she had been to host approximately 30 of the recipients,
at our request, last year at the State House. We thanked her
and asked her if she would be willing to participate in our
efforts to reach many more students throughout Lesotho with a
major book donation including educational materials on HIV/AIDS.
She responded that she would be very happy to be present at
both the launching of the donation in Lesotho's capital, Maseru,
as well as to participate in our outreach to the rural areas.

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She also agreed to use several of the books in her own work with
social workers and community organizations across the country.
The First Lady reiterated her desire to remain an active member
of the HIV/AIDS Theme Group, although she indicated she could
not be present for our next meeting (March 30) because of an
official trip to Oman. She planned, in the coming months, to
continue with her visible presence at the combined private and
public sector meetings.

Comment
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5. (C) It is important for us to maintain the open dialogue
that we have with Mrs. Mosisili. It is our understanding that
her comments and advice to the Prime Minister remain extremely
important, both in the leadership role he also has taken in the
HIV/AIDS arena and in the political sphere as well. We wanted,
during this most recent conversation, to underline the
importance of democracy and security as we have been doing over
the past several weeks with various members of the Cabinet.
Looking toward the future, Mrs. Mosisili will be an important
player, as her husband mounts his campaign in an environment of
political angst within the LCD. We view her as a voice of
reason and as a reassuring figure on the public scene at all
times, and we consider her capable ties to local communities
across the country as potential avenues for broadcasting the
message of peace, security and stability. Mrs. Mosisili has
been very gracious in granting her time and lending her moral
support to USG programs, thus heightening their visibility. We
expect to continue our exchanges with her over the coming months
as Lesotho takes on not only the hard work of institutionalizing
democracy, but, also, more effective handling of the HIV/AIDS
crises. End Comment.
PERRY