LESOTHO: CHARGE MEETS WITH OPPOSITION, GOL ON CALL FOR AID

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MASERU 000476

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT ALSO FOR AF/S

E.O. 12958: DECL: 8/8/2017
TAGS: KDEM PHUM PGOV PREL EAID LT
SUBJECT: LESOTHO: CHARGE MEETS WITH OPPOSITION, GOL ON CALL FOR AID
SUSPENSION

REF: MASERU 460 AND PREVIOUS

MASERU 00000476 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Charge d'Affaires a.i. W. Patrick Murphy, CDA
a.i., EXEC, DOS.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)

1. (C) SUMMARY: Charge met on August 7 with Lesotho's main
opposition party leaders, and separately on August 8 with a key
GOL minister, to discuss the opposition's recent appeal for a
suspension of foreign assistance, including MCC funding, until
the country returns to "proper democratic rule." The opposition
leaders, describing their meeting with Charge as "therapy,"
restated their major complaints about the current government and
their concern that MCC funds would be squandered. During
Charge's meeting with Minister of Natural Resources Moleleki,
the minister engaged in a blistering attack on the opposition
while acknowledging that the Lesotho Defense Forces (LDF) had
likely tortured opposition detainees. Moleleki conceded that
Lesotho risks damaging its relations with the international
community if it ignores allegations of human rights abuses.
While foreign assistance has served as a convenient focus point
in the latest set of salvos between the GOL and opposition
parties, there has been no fundamental change in the country's
unresolved political stalemate. END SUMMARY.

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Opposition Asks for MCC Suspension
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2. (U) On July 19, four days prior to a signing ceremony in
Washington for a Millennium Challenge Account Compact for
Lesotho, Embassy Maseru received a letter from the country's
five primary opposition parties requesting that the MCC "halt
the award to Lesotho in order to assist the current efforts of
building political dialogue between the ruling party and
opposition parties." The letter cited alleged human rights
abuses by the GOL, an attack on the residence of ABC leader
Thomas Thabane, and negative developments on governance issues
in the Mountain Kingdom. Similar letters were sent to other
donors (UN, EU, Irish) demanding a generalized suspension of
foreign assistance. The Charge responded to the signatories of
the letter inviting them to discuss the matter in person.
Opposition leaders released their letters to the media, and
Lesotho's most read newspaper, Public Eye, carried a front page
story on the issue on August 3.

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Opposition "Therapy" At Embassy Maseru
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3. (C) On August 7, Charge and Poloff (notetaker) met ABC Leader
Thabane, Basotho National Party (BNP) Leader Major General
Lekhanya, Alliance of Congress Parties (ACP) Deputy Leader Dr.
Ralitopole, Marematlou Freedom Party (MFP) Leader Malebo, and
the son of nonagenarian rump National Independent Party (NIP)
Leader Manyeli. Thabane stated that the opposition was pleased
with the U.S. commitment to aid Lesotho and with the scale of
the MCC compact. He stated, however, that a "temporary
suspension" of foreign assistance was necessary because "if the
aid flow came in without us first cleaning house, it may cause
even more problems." Thabane, a former GOL minister, expounded
upon a litany of complaints against the GOL, including the
alleged disappearance of several ABC party members, the Lesotho
Defense Forces' (LDF's) use of torture, the GOL's lack of fiscal
accountability, a deterioration of press freedom, an attempted
assassination against him, and the politicization of food aid.
He concluded by saying that the U.S. Government should address
these issues by delaying MCC funding.


4. (C) MFP Leader Malebo said he was "appalled by the way this
country handles its finances." Stating that Lesotho's executive
branch is "running like a wild bull," he spoke disparagingly of
Prime Minister Mosisili's congratulations to the LDF on a "job
well done" (in recovering stolen military weapons) after his
return from Washington, despite allegations of torture. The
BNP's Major General Lekhanya seconded many of these sentiments,
stating that "aid goes to the greedy, not the needy." In
summation, ACP Deputy Leader Dr. Ralitopole stated that
democracy returned to Lesotho after years of military
dictatorship due to outside pressure, and that more outside
pressure is needed to get Lesotho back on the right track. She
remarked that the primary value of the session with the Charge
was simply as "therapy" for opposition leaders to vent their
frustrations.


5. (C) Charge thanked the political leaders for expressing their
concerns, and reiterated the need for GOL-opposition dialogue on
these issues. He emphasized that as parliamentarians, the
opposition had a role in insuring the effectiveness of MCC
spending in Lesotho. Indeed, the Compact itself was the result
of proposals and consultations generated by stakeholders inside
Lesotho, including political leaders and civil society
representatives. Charge discussed the mutual interests which
the United States and Lesotho share in ensuring that
implementation begins on schedule, and shared a list of MCC

MASERU 00000476 002.2 OF 002


safeguards to ensure fairness and transparency built into the
procurement and financial regulations. The Charge also discussed
how human rights issues are ingrained in the MCC eligibility
criteria, which countries must meet annually even after compact
signing, through the organization's 16 indicators. Charge also
noted, however, that the strategy to encourage the international
community to deny Lesotho foreign assistance was a disservice to
the humanitarian and development needs of the Basotho people.
Charge added that a healthy, productive, democratic, and
peaceful Lesotho was in the national interests of the U.S., and
that U.S. assistance was designed to help the country reach
these objectives.

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The Colorful Minister Moleleki
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6. (C) On August 8, Charge and Poloff met with Minister of
Natural Resources Moleleki to discuss the opposition's demand
for the suspension of foreign assistance, including MCC funding.
After congratulating Minister Moleleki for the Prime Minister's
visit to Washington for the compact signing (an event which
Moleleki said "surpassed his wildest expectations"),Charge
noted that although major donors were not giving serious
consideration to opposition demands to suspend foreign
assistance, the political parties had raised a variety of
concerns regarding process and human rights that the GOL should
address. Moleleki launched into a lengthy excoriation of
Lesotho's political opposition, stating that the current
political crisis was initiated solely by the opposition, who
have "bloody hands" from their work with previous dictatorial
regimes. In line with his personal style, the Minister made a
number of tabloid-esque accusations of varied reliability aimed
at his perceived opponents (i.e., that Lesotho's Commissioner of
Police is engaged in a sexual relationship with ABC Leader
Thabane and that BNP Leader Lekhanya murdered a young man while
leading Lesotho's military government in the 1980's).


7. (C) Notably, Minister Moleleki acknowledged the LDF's
possible use of torture, stating, "We are aware that the
military tortured people, but how else could they get back their
weapons?" Moleleki stated that Lesotho's political opposition
leaders were directly responsible for attacks on ministerial
residences, and that "the conspiracy has permeated the
judiciary." He stated that the LDF is not fully under the
civilian control of the GOL, and accused the Lesotho Mounted
Police Service (LMPS) of unprofessional conduct and being
"politically unwilling" to find the perpetrators of recent
attacks. (Note: Interestingly, ABC leader Thabane complained
to Charge that the opposition believes the defense forces are
"too supportive of the LCD government." End Note.) Charge
advised Minister Moleleki that the GOL, like any government,
should acknowledge widespread allegations of human rights abuses
and support the full application of the rule of law and
transparent investigations to determine their veracity.
Moleleki conceded that the GOL should not "sweep such
allegations under the rug" and risks damaging relations with the
international community by doing so.

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Entrenchment and Stalemate
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8. (C) COMMENT: Despite Maseru's status as a small town in which
members of the political and business elite are well known to
each other, dialogue between the GOL and Lesotho's opposition
remains elusive. The meetings of August 7-8 demonstrated that
each side remains entrenched. It is unlikely that the
opposition has any expectation that donors will respond
affirmatively to their strategic appeal to halt aid, but the
opposition demonstrates a willingness to use virtually any means
possible to achieve a stronger foothold in parliament and
undermine the LCD government ("We won't use force, however,"
insisted the ABC's Thabane). Minister Moleleki's candid
recognition that the LDF employed torture, and his sentiment
that it was justified, is troubling. While foreign assistance
has served as a convenient focus point in the latest set of
salvos between the GOL and opposition parties, there has been no
fundamental change in Lesotho's ongoing political stalemate.
END COMMENT.
MURPHY