LESOTHO'S NEW FOREIGN MINISTER PRAISES BILATERAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MASERU 000149

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FOR AF/S

E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/14/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM EAID LT
SUBJECT: LESOTHO'S NEW FOREIGN MINISTER PRAISES BILATERAL
RELATIONSHIP

REF: (A) STATE 21535 (B) STATE 19372 (C) STATE 9932

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CLASSIFIED BY: June Carter Perry, Ambassador, EXEC , STATE.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)



CLASSIFIED BY: June Carter Perry, Ambassador, EXEC , STATE.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)

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Summary
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1. (C) In her first official courtesy call on the "new" Foreign
Minister (FOMIN) Mohlabi Kenneth Tsekoa March 14, Ambassador
Perry congratulated him on his return to the posting. The
Minister graciously accepted the Ambassador's congratulations
and remembered our first meeting in 2004 when he actually was
Minister of Foreign Affairs before being detailed to the
Ministry of Education. The conversation covered our major
bilateral activities, including the President's Emergency Plan
for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR),the Millennium Challenge Account
(MCA),and the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) as well
as the results of the recent 2007 National Election in Lesotho.
The Foreign Minister made a special plea for continued donor
support in the area of education and acknowledged that it was
important that the re-elected Lesotho Congress for Democracy
(LCD) party do a better job of reaching out to people and in
delivering services to them. The Ambassador shared Senator
Richard Lugar's recent resolution recognizing Lesotho for its
forward movement on gender equity and sought the FOMIN's
position on a number of matters including the Human Rights
Council, the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, and
the status of U.S. relations with Iran. The Minister was
supportive on all bilateral issues and stated he would hand
deliver a copy of the Lugar Resolution to the Prime Minister
himself within the next 30 minutes. We believe that Tsekoa's
appointment is a positive step in the re-constituted government
of Lesotho and that the success of the opposition All Basotho
Convention (ABC) party in certain rural areas was a wakeup call
to the LCD that service delivery to the poor must be a keystone
of their new policy. End Summary.


2. (C) Foreign Minister Tsekoa expressed his delight at seeing
the U.S. Ambassador again in his restored capacity as Foreign
Minister and recalled that he indeed had been the first
government official met by the Ambassador upon her arrival three
years ago. He went on to expound on the special appreciation
the Government of Lesotho (GOL) had for efforts undertaken by
the U.S. Embassy in the areas of health, education and business
development. As Chairman of Lesotho's MCA Interministerial
Committee, Tsekoa alluded to his first chairing of that
committee last week and his commitment to completing all the
requirements by June of this year in hopes that the compact
would be signed by that time. The Ambassador responded that
indeed the various elements of the MCA had included near
constant on-the-ground presence of various MCC personnel and
consultants. She went on to explain, in response to the
Minister's query, that in addition to MCC personnel, other new
additional personnel such as Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
staff would also be housed on the Chancery's compound. Tsekoa
remembered that when USAID had a large presence in country, it
too had been situated within the Embassy and he felt that this
was indeed a strong sign of U.S. interest in Lesotho's
development.


3. (C) The Ambassador brought to the Minister's attention
their conversations when he served as Minister of Education and
his special interest in the Ambassador's Girls Scholarship
Program (AGSP) and Book Donation programs. Tsekoa reiterated
that interest in education as the only path for success for
Lesotho and requested that the Embassy continue and indeed
enhance the book and literacy program. We assured him that this
remained one of our key priorities, because a well educated work
force would indeed be the basis for Lesotho's forward movement.
We also indicated, after the Minister brought up the issue of
unemployed youth, that at a certain period in the history of the
United States, the government had developed special work
programs that included youth. Tsekoa emphasized that the
government knew it must do something to get the unemployed youth
off the streets of Maseru and that perhaps the U.S. model could
be one Lesotho could follow or model as needed. He added that
he planned to take the new Minister of Public Works and
Transport Tsele Chakela to the highland areas; he referred to
the Minister as a lowlander who did not have a true realization
of the difficulties faced by people in rural areas of the
country. We urged the Foreign Minister to also, in his role as
the ranking Cabinet member, increase public outreach to the
ordinary citizens of Lesotho. This she indicated was

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particularly important, given the issues of security and
perceptions of corruption (e.g. the leased car scandal) in order
to demonstrate the government's abiding interest in democracy
and development of each individual. Tsekoa responded that he
was in absolute agreement and that his own LCD party had learned
a lesson from the 2007 elections, and that was that they must,
in order to succeed, be a more open and service delivery
oriented government.


4. (C) Moving on to more pending international matters, the
Ambassador explained the importance of the Global Initiative to
Combat Nuclear Terrorism and requested Lesotho's support of this
measure, particularly in the area of providing a safehaven to
terrorists and financial or economical resources to them.
Tsekoa stated that it was absolutely imperative that safety and

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security be the GOL's number one priority. There could be no
growth or development without it. As leader of the Southern
African Development Committee (SADC),the GOL strongly backed
this initiative. The Ambassador took this opportunity to follow
up on our previous request with former Foreign Minister Moleleki
concerning African Group Candidacy for the Human Rights Council
seat. As Tsekoa was just taking office, he said he would indeed
review material and background on the Human Rights Council and
respond to the Ambassador in terms of Lesotho's final position
as a potential candidate. Regarding Iran, before the Ambassador
could address key points, the Foreign Minister stated that Iran
poses a threat to the entire world and he had noticed the
increased interest of the U.S. and the Secretary of State's
recent actions to address the Iranian nuclear issue. We
reviewed the key points on Iran having indicated that we
considered the unanimous vote on UNSCR 1737 as a good example of
international unity and that we intended to continue our
outreach to the Iranian people.

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Comment
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5. (C) We are pleased that Foreign Minister Tsekoa (a seasoned
diplomat and Amherst College graduate) has been reappointed
Minister of Foreign Affairs. As evidenced by his comments, it
is clear that he recognizes the challenges that lie before the
LCD in terms of more forceful and effective communications with
the Basotho people, more emphasis on economic development in
both rural and urban areas, and the need for quick action to
deter security threats posed frequently by the large number of
unemployed youth. Tsekoa and his team, which included the
Acting Principal Secretary as well as the Americas Desk Officer,
praised the Ambassador for the increased overall U.S. Mission
staff and personnel in support of Lesotho's development goals.
We believe that as a close friend of the Prime Minister, Tsekoa
will be able to assist us now that major programs have been
launched to maintain and strengthen these programs in the coming
years. As we have noted in previous cables, Tsekoa had suffered
a serious medical condition which was essentially the basis for
his transfer to the Ministry of Education at the end of 2004.
He has made considerable progress and has told Ambassador in
private that his chemotherapy has been very effective and that
his cancer is in remission. We hope this continues to be the
case given the very important role he plays in both the
stability of the country and in advancing U.S. - GOL relations.
End Comment.
PERRY