Troubled Lesotho buckles under regional pressure
News
Minister Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi has revealed that the Prime Minister of Lesotho Pakalitha Mosisili has averted possible sanctions by the regional bloc Southern African Development Community (SADC) on the tiny mountain kingdom by finally accepting the SADC commissioned report.
Venson-Moitoi said that the possibility of imposing sanctions on Lesotho had crossed the table of discussion as Lesotho had been reluctant to receive the report citing a court case currently underway at home.
She said that Lesotho would still not budge even though SADC advanced reasoning that the regional bloc was immune and protected against the courts of law of member states and that the treaties signed by member states would protect decisions of SADC as well as the decisions of the Commission against any ruling from the Lesotho courts.
The meeting according to Venson-Moitoi still ended without an agreement between Lesotho and the SADC troika.
Venson-Moitoi however said that, the “conclusion was neither the best conclusion nor a conclusion that members states favoured because everybody wishes to see SADC succeeding.”
She continued that member states had for quite a time pleaded with Lesotho to see rational reason before arriving at a dreaded end where they discussed the imposition of biting sanctions, restrictions, limitations and the exclusion of Lesotho from the regional bloc as a proposal for the next SADC summit.
She continued that she believes, President Ian Khama who is also the SADC chairperson, sensing the palpable mood of the member states tailed the issue further beyond the stalemate. She also believes that Pakalitha Mosisili also sensing the sulk atmosphere among the regional headship did not immediately depart for home and joined the chairman for a private meeting the next morning.
Venson-Moitoi says that the meeting between SADC chairman Ian Khama and Mosisili fundamentally changed the complexion of the previous day’s hard line trajectory that had mulled over imposition of sanctions as well as the expulsion of Lesotho from the regional community, removing the likelihood of a suspension that would have been concluded.
She also says that Mosisili accepted the report on condition that as a head of state leading a coalition government, he would not unilaterally accept the report as he had to go back home to consult his coalition partners before reaching an agreement with the chairman to issue a response to the chairman of the organ and President of Mozambique Felipe Nyusi within 14 days. Nyusi is head of the SADC organ on Politics, Defence and Security.
Venson-Moitoi also said that had Lesotho not accepted the commission’s report SADC was to publicise the report but since it had accepted it the onus falls on Lesotho to publicise it after 14 days. The 14 days agreement also stipulates that Lesotho has to show how it intends to execute constitutional public sector and security sector reforms that came as recommendations from findings of a report by SADC facilitator and South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, for Lesotho to come back into proper democratic governance.
Justice Mpaphi Phumaphi of Botswana had led a 10 member strong commission to investigate among other things; the rupture of political stability in the mountain kingdom and the assassination of Lieutenant-General Maaparankoe Mahao who was killed on the 25th of June 2015. General Mahao was killed on his way from his farm in an operation to arrest soldiers suspected of being involved in a plot to topple Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) military command. Ironically, General Mahao was in 2010 posted at the SADC headquarters in Gaborone as Chief of Staff-SADC Standby Forces (SSF) where he worked for a couple of years. He was also the scion of an accomplished Lesotho family as a brother to National University of Lesotho Chancellor Professor Nqosa Mahao.
The Lesotho government had stalled accepting the Phumaphi Commission of Enquiry report citing a court case in which LDF’s Special Forces Commander Lieutenant-Colonel Tefo Hashatsi accuses the commission of being biased against him to the point that Justice Phumaphi had bordered on accusing him of participating in Mahao’s assassination. Mahao had survived at least one assassination attempt where his family dog was gunned down as the political situation in that country spiralled out of control.
The Lesotho political and state security sector had been severely fractured with the Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS) and Gen. Mahao said to be allied to former Prime Minister Tom Thabane.
Thabane promoted Mahao to the rank of Lieutenant-General in the LDF after a failed military coup d’état resulted in the sacking of Lieutenant-General Tlali Kamoli who is said to be allied to incumbent Prime Minister Mosisili. Gen. Kamoli is also said to be a distant cousin to Prime Minister Mosisili. After winning power in a snap general election Mosisili reinstated Kamoli to the top military post defying SADC facilitator Cyril Ramaphosa who warned that his entry had the potential to spark further political instability in the country.
The Phumaphi commission report was completed on the 23rd of October 25 2015 and handed to SADC on the 6th of December of the same year. Unconfirmed reports indicate that that the Phumaphi commission urges SADC to call for strictly monitored elections in Lesotho, and further calls for the dismissal of some military chiefs in that country.
This publication learns that Lesotho has been given fourteen days to study the report and comply. The Lesotho cabinet is said to have held an emergency meeting on Wednesday and they now realise the seriousness of SADC leaders.
News
ENVIRONMENT ISSUES: Masisi asks Virginia for help
President Mokgweetsi Masisi says the issue of sustainable natural resources management has always been an important part of Botswana’s national development agenda.
Masisi was speaking this week on the occasion of a public lecture at Virginia Polytechnic, under theme, “Merging Conservation, Democracy and Sustainable Development in Botswana.”
Botswana, according to Masisi, holds the view that the environment is fragile and as such, must be managed and given the utmost protection to enable the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“It is necessary that we engage one another in the interchange of ideas, perspectives, visualizations of social futures, and considerations of possible strategies and courses of action for sustainable development,” said Masisi.
On the other hand, dialogue, in the form of rigorous democratic discourse among stakeholders presents another basis for reconfiguring how people act on their environments, with a view to conserving its resources that “we require to meet our socio-economic development needs on a sustainable basis,” Masisi told attendees at the public lecture.
He said government has a keen interest in understanding the epidemiology and ecology of diseases of both domestic and wild animals. “It is our national interest to forestall the dire consequences of animal diseases on our communities livelihoods.”
President Masisi hoped that both Botswana and Virginia could help each other in curbing contagious diseases of wildlife.
“We believe that Virginia Tech can reasonably share their experiences, research insights and advances in veterinary sciences and medicines, to help us build capacity for knowledge creation and improve efforts of managing and containing contagious diseases of wildlife. The ground is fertile for entering into such a mutually beneficial partnership.”
When explaining environmental issues further, Masisi said efforts of conservation and sustainable development might at times be hampered by the emergence and recurrence of diseases when pathogens mutate and take host of more than one species.
“Water pollution also kills aquatic life, such as fish, which is one of humanity’s much deserved sources of food. In this regard, One Health Approach imposes ecological responsibility upon all of us to care for the environment and the bio-diversity therein.”
He said the production and use of animal vaccines is an important space and tool for conservation, particularly to deal with trans-border animal diseases.
“In Botswana, our 43-year-old national premier pharmaceutical institution called Botswana Vaccine Institute has played its role well. Through its successful production of highly efficacious Foot and Mouth vaccines, the country is able to contain this disease as well as supply vaccines to other countries in the sub-region.:
He has however declared that there is need for more help, saying “We need more capacitation to deal with and contain other types of microbial that affect both animals and human health.”
News
Masisi saddened by deaths of elephant attacks
President Mokgweetsi Masisi has expressed a strong worry over elephants killing people in Botswana. When speaking in Virginia this week, Masisi said it is unfortunate that Batswana have paid a price with their own blood through being attacked by elephants.
“Communities also suffer unimaginable economic losses yearly when their crops are eaten by the elephants. In spite of such incidents of human-elephant conflict, our people embrace living together with the animals. They fully understand wildlife conservation and its economic benefits in tourism.”
In 2018, Nthobogang Samokwase’s father was attacked by an elephant when travelling from the fields, where he stayed during the cropping season.
It was reported that the man couldn’t run because of his age. He was found trampled by the elephant and was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.
In the same year, in Maun, a 57-year-old British woman was attacked by an elephant at Boro and died upon arrival at the hospital. The woman was with her Motswana partner, and were walking dogs in the evening.
Last month, a Durban woman named Carly Marshall survived an elephant attack while on holiday in the bush in Botswana. She was stabbed by one of the elephant’s tucks through the chest and was left with bruises. Marshall also suffered several fractured ribs from the ordeal.
President Masisi Botswana has the largest population of African elephants in the world, totaling more than 130 000. “This has been possible due to progressive conservation policies, partnerships with the communities, and investment in wildlife management programmes.”
In order to benefit further from wildlife, Masisi indicated that government has re-introduced controlled hunting in 2019 after a four-year pause. “The re-introduction of hunting was done in an open, transparent and democratic way, giving the communities an opportunity to air their views. The funds from the sale of hunting quota goes towards community development and elephant conservation.”
He stressed that for conservation to succeed, the local people must be involved and derive benefits from the natural resources within their localities.
“There must be open and transparent consultations which involve all sectors of the society. It is against this backdrop that as a country, we lead the continent on merging conservation, democracy and sustainable development.”
Masisi stated that Botswana is open to collaborative opportunities, “particularly with identifiable partners such as Virginia Tech, in other essential areas such as conservation, and the study of the interplay among the ecology of diseases of wild animals and plants, and their effects on human health and socio-economic development.”
featured
Gov’t commit to injecting more funds in fighting HIV
Minister for State President Kabo Morwaeng says government will continue to make resources available in terms of financial allocations and human capital to ensure that Botswana achieves the ideal of eradicating HIV and AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
Morwaeng was speaking this morning in Gaborone at the High-Level Advocacy event to accelerate HIV Prevention in Botswana. He said the National AIDS and Health Promotion Agency (NAPHA), in partnership with UNAIDS, UN agencies, the Global Fund and PEPFAR, have started a process of developing transition readiness plan for sustainability of HIV prevention and treatment programmes.
“It is important for us, as a country that has had a fair share of donor support in the response to an epidemic such as HIV and AIDS, to look beyond the period when the level of assistance would have reduced, or ceased, thus calling for domestic financing for all areas which were on donor support.”
Morwaeng said this is important as the such a plan will guarantee that all the gains accrued from the response with donor support will be sustained until the end when “we reach the elimination of HIV and AIDS as a public health threat by 20230,” he said.
“I commit to continue support efforts towards strengthened HIV prevention, accentuating HIV primary prevention and treatment as prevention towards Zero New Infections, Zero Stigma, Discrimination and Zero AIDS related death, to end AIDS in Botswana.”
He reiterated that government commits to tackle legislative, policy and programming challenges that act as barriers to the achievement of the goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat.
In the financial year 2022/2023, a total of 119 Civil Society Organizations, including Faith Based Organizations, were contracted with an amount of P100 million to implement HIV and NCDs prevention activities throughout the country, and the money was drawn from the Consolidated Fund.
Through an upcoming HIV Prevention Symposium, technical stakeholders will use outcomes to develop the Botswana HIV Prevention Acceleration Road Map for 2023-2025.
Morwaeng stated that government will support and ensure that Botswana plays its part achieving the road map. He said there is need to put hands on the deck to ensure that Botswana sustains progress made so far in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
“There are tremendous achievements thus far to, reach and surpass the UNAIDS fast track targets of 95%- 95%- 95% by the year 2025. As reflected by the BAIS preliminary results of 2021, we now stand at 95- 98- 98 against the set targets.”
“These achievements challenge us to now shift our gears and strive to know who are the remaining 5% for those aware of their HIV status, 2% of enrolment on treatment by those aware of their status and 2% of viral suppression by those on treatment.”
Explaining this further, Morwaeng said shift in gears should extend to coming up with robust strategies of determining where these remaining people are as well as how they will be reached with the necessary services.
“These are just some of the many variables that are required to ensure that as a country, we are well positioned to reaching the last mile of our country’s response to the HIV and AIDS pandemic.”