The Commission was appointed under Legal Notice Number 33 of 2000 which reads as follows:-

Transcription

1 Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the events leading to political disturbances which occurred in Lesotho during the period between 1st July to 30th Nov CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1. APPOINTMENT OF THE COMMISSION The Commission was appointed under Legal Notice Number 33 of 2000 which reads as follows:- Commission of Inquiry (Political Disturbances) Notice, Pursuant to Section 3 of the Public Inquiries Act 1994, I Pakalitha Bethuel Mosisili, Prime Minister of Lesotho, appoint a commission of inquiry into the events leading to political disturbances which occurred in Lesotho during the period between 1 July, 1998 to 30 November, This notice may be cited as the Commission of Inquiry (Political Disturbances) Notice MEMBERSHIP The Commission shall consist of: 3. TERMS OF REFERENCE Mr. Justice R.N. Leon Chairman Mr. Justice J. Browde Member Mr. Justice D.L.L. Shearer Member The terms of reference of the Commission are: (a) to investigate, probe, examine and analyse the background to political instability and disturbances which occurred in Lesotho during the period between 1 July, 1998 to 30 November, 1998; (b) to identify the political parties and the persons who spear-headed and participated in such disturbances, the role played by the bodies or individuals who organised, and/or participated in all activities related to the demonstration before the Royal Palace; (c) to investigate and examine as to whether there was a conspiracy to destabilise and overthrow the lawfully constituted Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho; (d) To establish the circumstances relating to the aforesaid conspiracy, to identify the bodies or persons who covertly or overtly participated or assisted in the said conspiracy, including the role played by them in furtherance of the conspiracy to destabilise and overthrow the lawfully constituted Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho; (e) to examine and analyse the role played by the Lesotho Defence Force in the preservation and maintenance of law and order in the Kingdom of Lesotho; (f) to examine and analyse the role played by the Lesotho Mounted Police Service in the preservation and maintenance of law and order in the Kingdom of Lesotho; (g) to examine and analyse the role played by the National Security Service in the protection and preservation of the National Security of Lesotho; (h) to examine, analyse and appraise the various incidents relating to the confrontation between elements of the Lesotho Defence Force and the Lesotho Mounted Police Service which took place in and around the Royal Palace Maseru; (i) to investigate, examine and appraise attacks on some Police Stations and to identify the individuals and bodies who planned, organised and participated in such criminal activities; (j) to investigate, appraise and evaluate the bodies or persons who incited, aided, persuaded and summoned members of the Lesotho Defence Force to stage a mutiny against the Command of the Force and the lawfully established Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho which occurred on 11 September, 1998 and thereafter;

2 (k) to investigate all the circumstances attendant and surrounding the arson and looting of commercial and business establishments in and around Maseru city, Mafeteng and Mohale s Hoek which occurred on 22 September, 1998 and thereafter, the bodies and persons who conspired, planned and executed such criminal activities, to be identified; (l) to investigate, appraise and evaluate any other issue relevant and which may impinge on the foregoing; (m) to make such recommendations as to what action can be taken to prevent a repetition of those events. 4. REPORTING The Commission shall make a written report and submit that report to the Prime Minister within six weeks of commencement of the inquiry, or such other date as the Prime Minister may prescribe. 5. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION The Commission shall exercise all the powers vested in a Commission by Sections 16, 17, and 18 of the Public Inquiries Act, ASSISTANCE TO THE COMMISSION In the performance of its functions, the Commission shall be assisted by Counsel and Attorneys who may be appointed in that behalf by the Attorney General. The Commission may with the approval of the Minister of Finance, engage the services of experts, persons having special technical or other knowledge or any other qualified person to assist in the performance of its functions. 7. PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMISSION Decisions of the Commission shall be by simple majority and in the case of equality of votes the Chairman shall have a casting as well as a deliberative vote. 8. PROTECTION OF THE COMMISSION A member of the Commission shall in the exercise of his duty as Commissioner have the same protection and immunity as a Judge of the High Court. 9. HONORARIUM A member of the Commission shall be remunerated at a rate to be determined by the Minister of Finance. 10. SECRETARIAT In the performance of its functions, the Commission shall be assisted by a secretariat consisting of: (a) Mr. Ts okolo Makhethe, Director of Civil Litigation; (b) Mr Kubutu Makhakhe, Director of Information (Cabinet); (c) a Secretary; (d) a Transcriber; (e) an Interpreter; and (f) such other public officers as may be assigned by the Minister responsible for the Public Service from time to time. PAKALITHA BETHUEL MOSISILI PRIME MINISTER OF LESOTHO 1. SITTING OF THE COMMISSION

3 The Commission sat intermittently to hear evidence for 110 days during the period 25 April 2000 to 10 September Except for one Friday, the Commission did not sit on Fridays but on every second Friday the Members of the Commission worked on the evidence. 2. THE RECORD The proceedings were recorded by Sneller s Recording (Pty)Ltd, to whom the Commission would like to express its indebtedness. The Record runs into 5282 pages and exhibits totalling 159 comprising 1525 pages were handed in. The Commission heard the evidence of 170 witnesses some of whom were recalled for cross-examination. The record of the proceedings is available for inspection at Qhobosheaneng Complex during office hours. 3. SECRETARIAT In the performance of its functions the Commission was assisted by: (i) Mr Ts okolo Makhethe, Director of Civil Litigation who presented the evidence, cross-examined some of the witnesses, and advanced argument thereon; (ii) Mr Kubutu Makhakhe, Director of Information (Cabinet) and later Principal Secretary Cabinet (Admin) and his staff who performed all relevant Secretariat functions; (iii) Mr Sesioana who acted as the Interpreter for most of the proceedings; (iv) Ms Sonja Venter who was in charge of much of the recording on behalf of Sneller s Recording (Pty)Ltd. The Commission would like to record its great appreciation to the abovementioned persons for the able manner in which they discharged their duties. The Commission also had the advantage of legal representation on behalf of certain persons, and the Commission would like to record its indebtedness to the legal representatives who appeared. 4. Before we deal with our terms of reference, we consider it necessary, by way of introduction, to make some preliminary observations. As we have said, this Commission was constituted under Legal Notice No.33 of 2000, and pursuant to Section 3 of the Public Inquiries Act No.1 of Some of the witnesses who gave evidence before us had a misconception as to the true nature of a commission of inquiry, mistakenly believing that it was a court of law with powers to convict and sentence offenders. A commission of inquiry has no such powers. In no sense is it a court of law nor is its function that of a witchhunt. The true function of this Commission, largely in common with commissions generally, was to investigate the matters falling within its terms of reference, to make findings on the evidence adduced before it on a balance of probabilities and, having made such findings, to make recommendations - in this case designed to prevent a recurrence of the tragic events of It was also wrongly thought by some members of the public that the members of the Commission were sitting members of the Court of Appeal. The Chairman and Judge Browde are former judges of the Court of Appeal, while Judge Shearer is a former Acting Judge of that Court. The Commission enjoyed the great advantage of hearing evidence from all the major political parties and many of their leaders, as well as from a large number of members of the public, holding widely differing views. By way of example, we heard the evidence of Messrs Maope, Thabane, Malebo, Majara Molapo and Ms Mamello Morrison. All persons implicated by witnesses were given notice of that fact and afforded an opportunity of cross-examining relevant witnesses and giving evidence on their own behalf. Many availed themselves of that opportunity. The proceedings were conducted in an open and transparent basis and were featured regularly both on radio and television. Our findings are based solely on the evidence before us and our impression of the credibility of the various witnesses, as well as the general probabilities of the case, including such objective facts as are beyond dispute. We arrived at such findings, in the light of the above considerations, to the

4 best of our ability. After the evidence had been led, the Commission adjourned until 3 September, 2001 to hear argument. Such argument was advanced only by Mr Makhethe and Mr Majara Molapo, despite notice being given to all interested parties as to when such argument would be heard. The Basotho people speak one language and are all of the same tribe. Despite this, the evidence revealed Lesotho to be a divided and troubled society, divided by fundamental differences of views on diverse matters and troubled by its failure to reconcile them. This caused the Commission much concern. We have endeavoured to alleviate these problems by our recommendations. The Terms of Reference are drafted in such a way that in certain important instances the one term of reference overlaps the other. In preparing this report, therefore, we found that in regard to certain material aspects of the events covered in the report, repetition was unavoidable. CHAPTER II TERM OF REFERENCE 3(a) To investigate, probe, examine and analyse the background to political instability and disturbances which occurred in Lesotho during the period between 1 July 1998 to 30 November 1998". With regard to this and the other terms of reference, we have considered the evidence of all the witnesses who testified before us but have only referred to some of them in this report. In those matters where no case has been prima facie established on a balance of probabilities against a person, we have not referred to that evidence nor to the witnesses who testified. In other cases, relative to evidence of a general nature which is not controversial, we have ignored evidence which is purely repetitive. With regard to term of reference (a) above, we have come to the conclusion that the matters which fall under (a) are: (i) The general historical background including a brief discussion of the main political parties and what they stand for; (ii) The circumstances under which the Lesotho Congress for Democracy ( LCD ) was established and the probable consequences thereof; iii) The May, 1998 elections which includes, inter alia: (a) The result of that election; (b) The criticisms of that election; (c) The response thereto by the Independent Electoral Commission; (d) The report of the Langa Commission, and the comments thereon; (e) The consequences of the election result; and (f) The Commission s approach to that election. With regard to (i) above, we refer below to some of the main witnesses who testified on this topic and we indicate what the general effect and nature of their evidence was. MESHU MOHAU MOKITIMI In 1952, Ntsu Mokhehle was the founder of the Basotho African Congress (BAC), joined at about that time by the witness. The party was said to have communistic leanings, which were opposed by the churches and some of the chiefs, whose political interests resulted in the formation of the Basutoland National Party(BNP). In or about 1956, the BAC under Mokhehle became the BCP (Basutoland Congress Party) and it was successful in the legislative councils election of Some of the chiefs supporting the BAC became disenchanted with the BAC because of its criticism of chieftainship and church practices. They started their own organisation called Marematlou Freedom

5 Party (MFP). All the three (3) parties now wanted independence for their country and the MFP took a strong line against Communism. It drew large gatherings, but in the 1965 elections the BNP won the election by few votes from the BCP, with the MFP winning one seat but crossing the floor and giving the BNP a working majority. The Leader of the BNP was Chief Leabua Jonathan. Mokhehle tried to recapture the support of the chiefs by recommending that the chiefs form a body with powers similar to a Senate, but the chiefs were sceptical. The next election took place in 1970, but no result was ever announced. Chief Jonathan stopped the count, suspended the constitution and declared a state of emergency. The BNP thus held on to power until After the 1970 elections were aborted, Mokhehle and the witness were put into solitary confinement at the Maximum Security Prison and political activity was banned in Lesotho. Others were also imprisoned but all were released in Mokhehle had by then adopted a slogan for his party: Justice to Foe and Friend. The other two parties were not in favour of a democratic system. The conflict of views led to a skirmish between Mr. Mokhehle and the paramilitary (PMU). Under pressure, Mokhehle left this country in The state of emergency continued until 1986 when the military, having unseated Leabua Jonathan, set up a constitutional assembly. Lekhanya led the Government. That rule continued until The witness and his associates in politics lived in fear of abduction. Mokhehle returned in time for the election and his party won every seat (65). During the period after the 1970 election, a paramilitary organisation (PMU), under the leadership of Frederick Roach, was directing a programme of arrests, killing and torture and other activities designed to support the Government (BNP). Support for that party was a pre-requisite to joining the military. In 1994, the King dissolved Parliament. There was a 14 day Government and at this time Moshoeshoe II went to England, exiled. Earlier there had been arrests of the present Prime Minister Mosisili and others, and the Deputy Prime Minister (Baholo) was murdered. In a further period, a JUNTA took over, led by a legal practitioner Hae Phoofolo. SADC intervened and Mokhehle was returned to power. In 1997, the BCP which held all the seats in Parliament, broke up, and Mokhehle formed a new party - the Lesotho Congress for Democracy. The BCP went into opposition and eventually formed an alliance with the BNP and the MFP. In the meantime, the King had been in England and his son had assumed the throne, but the King returned. He was, however, killed in a motor accident and the present King assumed the throne again. In the 1993 elections, the opposition complaint was that, by some mysterious means, a cross placed against the name of a candidate in opposition to the BCP would move and reflect a vote for the BCP candidates. Some of the unsuccessful candidates resorted to re-count but without success. MR KELEBONE ALBERT MAOPE Mr Maope is the Deputy Prime Minister. He stated that Lesotho obtained Independence in October, Before Independence, there were three political parties from 1950 i.e. the Basutoland Congress Party (BCP) which was founded in 1952 as BAC; The Basutoland National Party (BNP) which was founded in 1958/9 and the Marematlou Freedom Party (MFP) which was established in the 1960's. Each party, when formed, wanted Independence for Lesotho. Before Independence, the British used the chiefs to rule on behalf of the Imperial Authority, not the people. Initially, the BCP tried to see that the chiefs were still part of the masses of the people. Later, because the chiefs had been taken over by the colonial administration, the BCP became more radical, demanding democracy in the modern sense. This alarmed the chiefs, leading to the formation of the BNP. The Paramount Chief later became the King. Those who supported the chiefs and the King wanted

6 the King to have executive authority, while those who supported democracy wanted those elected to have executive authority and their head to be Prime Minister. The MFP supported the King. In 1997, the BCP split due to internal divisions and its then leader Dr. Ntsu Mokhehle formed a new party- the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) in Parliament, taking the majority of the BCP with him. In 1998, the parties contested the election as separate parties, the LCD winning 79 seats and the BNP 1 seat. In 1965 general election, the BNP won 31 out of 60 seats, the other two parties (BCP and MFP) 29 between them. After court challenges and an MFP member crossing the floor, the BNP ended up with a majority of 1, ruling uneasily for 5 years. After Independence, the King was forced into exile in Holland and many BCP supporters were arrested and detained for long periods without trial. In January 1970, there was a general election, but before the final results were announced, the Prime Minister, Chief Leabua Jonathan, declared a state of emergency, annulling the election. He suspended the Constitution but this was a coup d etat. The King was exiled again. Persecution of the opposition followed, many being imprisoned. Mr. Maope believes that the real political problems in Lesotho relate not to elections but a difference in political philosophy between democrats and traditional leaders, i.e., the chiefs. When the BCP was in opposition, it supported the King. Now that the BNP is in opposition, it supports the King. In January 1986, the military staged a coup d etat against Chief Jonathan, taking over control. A Military Council ran the country. Divisions occurred in the Military Council. Two former Ministers of the BNP were shot dead. The Chairman of the Military Council, General Lekhanya, was alleged to have killed a student at the Agricultural College. The King intervened but was exiled. A new Military Government was formed under General Ramaema but there was strong pressure for another general election. A general election was held in 1993; the BCP winning 74% of the vote and all 65 constituencies. In January 1994, there was trouble in the army between two factions which fought a battle on the hill on which the Lesotho Sun Hotel stands. The BNP did not accept the result of the 1993 elections, alleging that they had been achieved through some form of magic. (We interpolate here that the BNP challenged some of the results in Court but lost all their cases. The Chief Justice delivered scathing criticisms of the BNP, holding that they had not acted bona fide). Because of the trouble in the army, the new (BCP) Government requested help from the Frontline States (later SADC) resulting in a task force being sent to Lesotho. This was resented by some and public opinion was inflamed by the BNP. In April 1994, a number of Ministers were kidnapped by a faction in the army. The captured group included the present Prime Minister, the present Minister of Justice and Mr Maope himself. Strikes followed. One morning, the King announced on Radio Lesotho that he had deposed the Government for 3 months. Thereafter, a form of Government was led by a lawyer, Mr Phoofolo. The Government was restored but the country remained unstable right up until September, 1998 when the SADC forces entered the country. After the LCD was formed, the BCP remained as a political party but with less support. Prior to the 1998 election, the voting age was changed from 21 to 18 years and an Independent Electoral Commission was formed. In the May, 1998 election, which was overseen by 150 international observers, and 400 local observers, the LCD obtained 62% of the vote compared with 74% in Mr Maope dealt with many of the other terms of reference to which it is not necessary to refer here. Mr Maope was of the opinion that the real cleavage among the people of Lesotho had developed historically. In Europe, there had been a feudal system which, over the centuries, had led to a democracy. Initially, Kings and Queens had executive powers including that over life and death. Now they are ceremonial monarchs.

7 In its early formative years, Lesotho was democratic: The founder of the nation, King Moshoeshoe 1, was never a dictator. The important change came about in 1868 when Britain came to govern Lesotho. At that time, the settlers from the Cape Colony moved into the highlands of Southern Africa. The King sought protection from the British but they had different agendas because the British used the chiefs to govern for them without the consent of the people. The British used the chiefs to collect taxes for them, but not in the interests of the people. The chiefs became alienated from the masses of the people. There had earlier been a political movement called the League of Commoners which was succeeded by the BCP. Its agenda was that the chiefs must cease ruling on behalf of the imperial authorities but must rule in the interests of the people. By the time of Independence in 1966, the King was no longer part of the masses of the people. He wanted himself to replace the departing imperial authorities. This is still the issue today where the present King, supported by the opposition parties, wants executive powers, while the Government wants a ceremonial monarch. This is essentially the great divide in Lesotho. MOTSOAHAE THOMAS THABANE Mr Thabane is the Foreign Minister in the present Government. In his evidence before the Commission, he commenced by giving a short history of Lesotho starting from 1965 just before it gained Independence. At that stage, said the witness, there was an elected government, led by Chief Leabua Jonathan. The then King of Lesotho, His Majesty King Moshoeshoe 11, was in London where constitutional talks were to take place, leading to full independence. The King was seeking to persuade the authorities in London to ensure that he be given executive powers. As the eleven nominated members in the Senate in Lesotho did not support him, the King expelled a large percentage of them and replaced them with nominees of his own choice. The expelled members refused to leave the chamber and this led to a High Court application which was decided in favour of the Government. Relations between the Government and the King were seriously soured. This uneasy relationship between the King on the one hand and the Government on the other, has continued, despite the fact that one party, the Marematlou Freedom Party, stood out as a party that is royalist in principle. In constitutional issues, there has been a serious clash from time to time between the Government in power and the King. Minister Thabane then proceeded to describe the various elections that had taken place since 1965, which in summary are the following: (i) The Independence Government was based on the results of the 1965 election so that the BNP remained the governing party and Chief Leabua Jonathan continued as Prime Minister. The parties which had been in opposition in that election, continued in opposition. (ii) The 1970 elections were annulled by the governing party. Despite apparently peaceful elections and no report of any disruptions, Chief Jonathan, when he realised that he might be voted out of power, declared a state of emergency and later declared the election null and void. He claimed there had been general violence and disturbances which affected the fairness of the elections. (iii) A unit of the Lesotho Police which was known as the Police Mobile Unit (PMU) was mobilised. It went to the villages and terrorised all supporters of the opposition party which had been so close to wresting power, namely the BCP, under Mr Ntsu Mokhehle. (iv) The Constitution of Lesotho was suspended and Chief Jonathan was quoted by the world media as saying he had seized power. According to the witness this was the first coup d etat Lesotho had experienced, because, as he put it, there was a Government in the making through an election and before that Government could materialise, a violent disruption took place - not only violence against people, but violence against the Constitution of the country itself. (v) From then onwards Lesotho was ruled by Orders and the rule of law collapsed, because there were arbitrary arrests, detentions and the courts were rendered helpless. (vi) When the state of emergency was declared, the King complained, and as a result was forced into exile. (vii) The actions of the PMU and the declaration of emergency, led the British Government to withdraw its support of those police officers who till then had served the Government of Lesotho.

8 The witness expressed strong views about foreign governments recognising the de facto running of a country by a government consisting of people who were not accountable to any authority, except themselves. (viii) The Constitution remained suspended from 1970 until it was reinstated in In or about 1976, a new phenomenon came into Lesotho politics, namely an inflow of South Africans, mostly black, who entered the country as refugees. The then South African Government wished them to be handed back as criminals but the Government under Jonathan refused this. This led, inter alia, to an attack in Lesotho by the South African Defence Force in 1982, in which some South Africans and some residents of Lesotho were killed. This caused Chief Jonathan to seek assistance on military issues, and he arranged for North Koreans to come to Lesotho and train the army as a people s militia. This was opposed by the army, and naturally the South African Government was unhappy with the scheme. This led to the army under General Lekhanya, toppling the government. A Military Council was established with General Lekhanya as the Chairman. This Council replaced Chief Jonathan s government and General Lekhanya ran the Military Council with five of his colleagues. As far as the King was concerned, the Military Council, according to Minister Thabane, stated that to show our bona fides, we have placed legislative and executive authority in the King, which he will exercise with our advice. The Military Council started off by passing Order 1 of 1986, which is the year in which it toppled the Government. That order gave almost all the powers to the King and left the Military with very little to do. Order 1 was subsequently replaced by Order 2, the effect of which was to vest the Military Council with legislative and executive powers. Below the Military Council was a Council of Ministers, which was a mixture of civilians and military personnel, who manned Government Ministries in the usual manner. This Council of Ministers were supposed to be answerable to the King and not to the Military Council. From time to time the King gave orders to Ministers that were contrary to the orders of the Military Council and an area of conflict thus arose between the King and the Military Council. In 1990,a major event took place in the Military Council when one member was regarded as now no longer faithful to the Council, but now faithful to the King. Two others followed and this split the Military Council in half. The witness said that the main bone of contention was what should be done about the future in terms of what the King desired and in terms of what the other members of the Military Council felt, which is constitutional rule. Those loyal to General Lekhanya were Colonel, (later General) Ramaema and Colonel Ts otetsi. Those on the side of the King were Colonel Sekhobe Letsie, Thaabe Letsie, and Mosoeunyane. One morning, the latter three were arrested. The King refused to sign the order and he refused to swear in those whom General Lekhanya sought to replace on the Military Council. This led to the King being sent into exile to England ostensibly on a sabbatical. Tension developed in the Military Council, particularly after the death of two former Ministers of Chief Leabua s Government, who were murdered by persons, one of whom was a member of the Military Council. General Lekhanya and his colleagues ultimately bowed to the pressure which was being exerted from all angles that they make arrangements for return to civilian rule, and a constituent assembly was mooted. Mr Mokhehle returned to Lesotho, and a constituent assembly was formed of about 100 people with all the major political leaders agreeing. The 1966 Constitution, which had been suspended by Chief Jonathan, was used as the basis for their work and in 1993 elections were held which were won by the BCP. That party won all 65 seats on offer. These results were contested in the High Court by the BNP, but unsuccessfully. However, Mr Sekhonyana, who was then the leader of the BNP, made it known that Mr Mokhehle was going to dismiss the army and replace them with former members of the Lesotho Liberation Army, which is the force which was formed earlier by Mr Mokhehle to conduct guerilla activities against the forces of Leabua Jonathan. This led once again to serious friction between the Government and the army and between them, the King and the BNP. A temporary Government was installed, led by a local attorney, Mr Phoofolo. Because of the undemocratic nature of the Government, SADC, i.e., Southern African Development Community, intervened and the elected Government was restored. An eight point memorandum was drawn up, which the King signed as did the Prime Minister. This provided, inter alia, for the monarchy remaining neutral and staying within its constitutional limits provided for in the Constitution for a non-executive monarchy. A process was instituted for depoliticising the army and to this end a body was set up consisting of the Principal Secretary for Defence as Chairman, the Commander of the Army, the Commissioner of Police, the Head of the National Security Service, the Attorney-General and the witness. That was the local component. The external component

9 consisted of Three Army Officers one each from Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe who were to give professional advice on how best to professionalise and depoliticise the Lesotho Defence Force. Before the 1998 elections, the BCP, as the ruling party, suffered a split which was caused by a leadership disagreement. There were those who felt that Mr Mokhehle should immediately leave and be replaced and those who felt that he should carry on until the election and perhaps even beyond that time. Because Mr Mokhehle had the support of the majority of Members of Parliament, i.e., 40 plus out of a total of 65", he constitutionally continued to be Prime Minister without dissolving Parliament and going for a fresh election. However, the name was changed of the ruling party, to the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD). Against the ruling party, was the BNP under the leadership of Mr Sekhonyana, the MFP, and the BCP under the leadership of Mr Qhobela and other smaller parties. The main antagonists to Mokhehle were Qhobela, Mphanya, Toloane and Makhakhe. In May, 1998, the scheduled elections took place and were observed by more than 400 international and some local observers. The LCD won the 1998 elections by 79 constituencies to 1, the latter being won by the BNP. VINCENT MOEKETSE MALEBO Mr. Malebo is the Leader of the Marematlou Freedom Party (MFP). He studied abroad and is a trained teacher and administrator. He has been a Minister in Lesotho and has served all his life in the Civil Service. He has served as a Minister of Information, in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Information, also a Resident Ambassador. Presently, he is leading his party as a full time occupation. The witness recounted the history of Lesotho from 1960 when King Moshoeshoe II took over the position of Paramount Chief. The witness is a great admirer of the monarchy. He believes that the period of was the beginning of the instability in Lesotho. The first secret ballot in 1960 and the use of proxy forms led to allegations of abuse and false forms to get into power. Secrecy was subverted and in his words voting became a joke. He referred to the 1970 elections and the assumption of power by Leabua Jonathan as Lesotho s first coup d etat. There were no elections in 1975 nor in 1980 and in 1985 the secret ballot did not work. However, party candidates were required to deposit M and had to be nominated by 500 persons. The BNP candidates paid and were the only ones who complied and were all declared elected unopposed. In 1986 on 20 January, the army took over. The point he made was that up to 1985 every election period was visited by a great sense of foreboding and people resorted to undermining the system whenever they could. He spoke of the exile of King Moshoeshoe ll in 1990 and his return in He described Mokhehle s action in Parliament in 1997 as a violation of the sovereignty of Parliament. He spoke of the breeding of a new menace in his forming of the LCD political party inside Parliament and subjecting Lesotho to the rule of a usurper political party which had not been returned at an election. He suggested that there was great discontent as a result of Mokhehle sending in police to remove BCP Parliamentarians who refused to take their seats as Opposition and the Senate took unkindly to his actions. He stated that this was when the political atmosphere in Lesotho began to be poisoned truly. He then went back to describe the events of 1970 when lives were lost and a lot of property destroyed. Many people went to jail and were kept for a long time in prison without trial. Chief Justice Jacobs closed the courts, thus depriving the people of their right to test the situation by legal means. MOFELEHETSI SALEMONE MOERANE Mr. Moerane was the first President of the BCP Youth when it was formed in He wanted to fill in a historical gap which had not been dealt with in the evidence. That, so he said, concerned the history involving the BCP which was fighting against the incorporation of part of Lesotho into South Africa. It was also fighting for the reincorporation of land from the Vaal River into the Free State which had been taken by the Boers from Lesotho during the Boer War. The philosophy of the BCP was that when Lesotho obtained Independence it should acquire the conquered territories and this was opposed by the South African Government and by the British Government acting together. They also used the Catholic Church to assist them.

10 The BNP took quite a different view and wanted to stay within the control of Britain, according to Mr Moerane, and in this regard he quoted utterances by its first leader, Chief Leabua Jonathan. He also dealt at length with the manner in which the 1965 elections were conducted and he read into the record an extremely lengthy document which had been prepared by the late Dr. Mokhehle, empowered by the Executive Committee of the BCP. That document showed that there had been grave irregularities with regard to the registration of voters. BCP voters had been excluded and some persons who were not entitled to vote but who would vote for the BNP had been included. During the 1965 election, Chief Leabua Jonathan was sent emissaries from the South African Government such as Mr Papenfus and one Serfontein, who were helping him fight the election. They were officials in the employ of the South African Government. Mr. Moerane then said that the United Nations had passed a resolution that the conquered territories should be returned to Lesotho. However, when that went to the Lesotho Parliament and was introduced by the BCP, it was opposed by the BNP and defeated. Unfortunate for the proposed incorporation of the conquered territories, Mr Moerane conceded, was then a resolution of the Organisation of African Unity that the question of fighting over boundaries was a dead issue and would no longer be dealt with. In the 1965 election, the BNP gained an overall majority of two seats over all other parties. Mr. Moerane handed in a document prepared by Dr. Mokhehle which showed that the great saboteurs of the Basotuland Congress Party in the elections, was the British Government through its officials and in collaboration with South Africa. These two countries were responsible for gross irregularities with regard to the registration of voters which the document deals with in great detail. In summary, the document says that the British and the South African Governments, together with the chiefs and the priests, collaborated with the main object of helping the BNP to be in power and to defeat the BCP by any foul means at their disposal. Their fear was that if the BCP won the election, they knew that it would demand the return of the conquered territory and that is why they were helping the BNP in the manner in which they did in order to prevent the conquered territory from being reclaimed. Even though this is no longer an issue according to the decision of the OAU, it has still left feelings of resentment among many people in the Kingdom of Lesotho. The British and South African Governments endeavoured to instil hatred into some members of the Lesotho population against the BCP, going so far as to say that the BCP should be abolished. The BCP were Pan-Africanists who fought against neo-colonialism. That annoyed both the British and the South African Governments. The word went out that the BCP was fighting against the chiefs and the church. Further propaganda against them was part of the thesis of a radio conducted by the Roman Catholic Church. Part of the programme of the BNP was that Government should be by the chiefs and the church. In order to establish this, Mr. Moerane referred extensively to the report of the Commission of Inquiry of the Lesotho Defence Force of 31 January, 1995 which dealt with the fact that the BCP looked for friends outside of the country and, in particular, the Communist Party of South Africa. In the late 1950s, Chief Leabua Jonathan, who was a member of the BNP, was alienated by attacks on the chieftaincy and he and a former British official, Patrick Duncan, drafted the first BNP manifesto. The Catholic group was undertaking a similar scheme and eventually acted in concert with them. This resulted in the fusion of the Christian Democratic Party (CDP) and the BNP. Later, there were conflicts and, in particular, disturbances took place. The army was concerned about rumours that the BCP Government was organising to disband it and replace it with the Lesotho liberation Army (LLA). This, in turn, was one of the prime causes of the army uprising which was the subject of the Commission referred to above. The witness then gave his version of Lesotho s history in which, having been a youth leader for many years, he was invited to stand for election in 1993 but declined. In 1998, he had recovered his uncertain health and stood successfully in the constituency of Koro-Koro. He was first a Minister in the Prime Minister s Office, and then became the Minister of Public Works and Transport. He had trenchant criticisms of the witness Majara Molapo and in fact indicated that the latter s own statement that he had started as a member of the BCP Youth League was untrue. AZAEL MAKARA SEKAUTU

11 Mr Sekautu is the Leader of the United Party in Lesotho. He alleged that it was the BCP Government which had caused divisions in the Army and it was the BCP Government itself that was responsible for, and the instigator of all the disturbances. He claimed that human rights had been trampled upon in Lesotho since as far back as The country was in a state of instability because the leader of the Government did not want peace for everyone, but only peace for a group. Mr Sekautu alleged that he had been responsible for the toppling of the BCP Government some years ago because it had failed to protect the King. He was found guilty of an attempted coup, sentenced to 4 years imprisonment of which he served 14 months. Despite a number of commissions, the country remained unstable because the people would not carry their recommendations into effect. With regard to his conviction, Mr Sekautu stated that it arose out of a broadcast over Radio Lesotho in which it was announced that Parliament was being dissolved and the 1993 Constitution suspended. He himself did not make the broadcast, but was a party to it. One of the reasons for the problems in the Army was that when soldiers committed crimes, it was only the juniors and never the seniors who were prosecuted. He objected to the fact that his party, the United Party, was not represented on the IPA despite a recommendation to the contrary by Mr Mufamadi from South Africa. Finally, he stated that the political disturbances of 1998 would never have occurred if all the people had sat around a table and settled their differences amicably. Such an attempt was made at the Archbishop s house on 14 August, 1998, but the agreement was neither signed nor implemented. TS ELISO MAKHAKHE Mr Makhakhe is the Leader of the BCP. He stated that Mr Qhobela who described himself as Leader of that party was not being truthful. In the movement towards Independence, there were two main forces - external and internal. First, Britain and South Africa. The latter totally surrounds Lesotho. In 1910, Britain and South Africa conspired that Lesotho would eventually be incorporated into R.S.A. because it would provide efficient and cheap labour. The main railways leading to Messina were laid by the Basotho. A major concern was the conquered land - the maize triangle, the corners of which were Lichtenburg, Ermelo and Hobhouse. The BCP party was dedicated to getting this fruitful land back for the country. Britain did everything to thwart Lesotho s Independence. The 1960 elections indicated that the BCP was poised to win the following election (1965). It was now alleged by the BNP that the BCP was anti-church, anti-chieftainship, anti-whites, anti-traders (especially white traders), and reckless, irresponsible and incline to crime. The Police Mobile Unit (PMU) was established by the British authorities to deal with the BCP menace. The BNP, until 1964, opposed Independence. Then it changed and claimed to be anti-communist and pro-chiefs, church, whites and white traders. The PMU was designed to support it, as were the police. The BNP won the 1965 elections. By 1970, the military was controlled by Frederick Roach. Only proven BNP members were brought into the force. Between 1966 and 1970, South Africa provided the appointees of many of the high offices in the administration. A large number of civil servants were seconded. The police treated the locals badly in a pseudo-apartheid manner and the administration was safeguarding the interests of the whites in Lesotho. The schools were either Catholic or Protestant. This fuelled the fire of dislike for the British, who also used the chiefs to collect taxes. The division in the Lesotho people caused them poverty and hatred, while the rulers, their families and favourites were swimming in luxury. The witness then turned to the period and he catalogued the nefarious acts committed

12 during the break in the BCP s administration ( ). He then embarked on a criticism of Majara Molapo s attempts to obscure the acts of the BNP by stories of various acts by the BCP. He said that the BCP won the 1970 elections with 36 constituencies, the BNP 23 and the MFP 1, but the result was never declared as the Constitution was suspended. He describes Molapo s evidence as covered with a white sheet, and then made further tirades against that witness. He believes that the political spectrum would be clearer if there was a general confess. The recipes for the future are: (i) Unity of the nation; (ii) The people must understand democracy; (iii) Elections should bring about transformation; (iv) End of discrimination on any basis; (v) Priests should not be involved in party politics; (vi) No selective recruitment in armed forces and promotion must be based on merit; (vii) General forgiveness; (viii) Investigation into wisdom of locking up soldiers; (ix) An amnesty; (x) Use of Maximum Prison for other purposes like Robben Island; (xi) Each party should put up a manifesto before election; and (xii) Compensation for those killed in states of emergency. The Commission observes that most of the recipe consists of matters which, while obviously desirable, can only be achieved by some degree of consensus. We have the latter in this report recommended as a form of Khotla which we trust would create the opportunity for earnest and ongoing discussion which is an obvious prerequisite to consensus. MAJARA JONATHAN MOLAPO Mr Molapo alleged that Mr Maope had told the Commission a pack of lies. What caused the political disturbances of 1998 was a deep seated political intolerance. They were the direct results of the seed sown by the late Dr Mokhehle, starting in 1952 as Leader of the BCP, and ending in 1997 when he formed the LCD. Dr Mokhehle, impressed by the arrogance of Dr Nkrumah, began a campaign of corruption, destruction, fighting the chiefs and the Roman Catholic Church, saying that the Basotho people must call him the second Moses. Mr Molapo then proceeded to cite numerous alleged examples of BCP s scandalous behaviour including attacks on churches, indecent assault, burning of shops and churches, murders of priests and further examples of brutality which, he said, were committed or ordered by Dr Mokhehle. He stated that the evidence of Mr Maope that people were buried alive under the BNP regime was untrue. He alleged that during the Mokhehle Government conflicts spread, people ceased to trust one another, conflicts arose in the military, between the chiefs and the public, within the teaching organisations and the workers, and between the police and the army. Moreover, according to Mr Molapo, Dr Mokhehle caused some members of the Military to murder one another and he was responsible for the murder of the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Baholo. He referred to an occasion when Dr Mokhehle was placed in a large sack to be killed but was saved by the intervention of Chief Jonathan after having been ambushed by Fred Roach. Some of Mr Molapo s evidence was incoherent, rambling and wandered from one topic to another. He referred to the fact that Dr Mokhehle was persona non grata with the apartheid Government but was, nevertheless, used as a tool by them. The witness exhibited deep-seated hostility and bitterness towards Dr Mokhehle. He accused the BCP of having their hands dripping in the blood of hundreds of innocent Basotho. He laid the blame for many mysterious deaths at the door of the LCD. He implied that King Moshoeshoe ll was murdered but was unable to say by whom nor could he account for the findings of a Scotland Yard investigation which had found the contrary. His evidence on this part of the history was unacceptable. He expressed the view that the formation of the LCD was unlawful, that it had caused great anger,

13 and was one of the causes of the 1998 political disturbances. In this latter respect, he may be correct. Mr Molapo stated that the BNP was not involved at all in the mutiny and denied that soldiers were given lectures to be loyal to the Government of the day. He alleged that such evidence was a lie. A great deal of Mr Molapo s evidence was hearsay, was not objective and displayed great bitterness. His evidence revealed a lack of balance. Some examples follow. He described General Lekhanya as being a puppet of the Boers. When he disagreed with the author of a book he described him as being senile. In a letter which he wrote to the King he referred to that parent of yours. While he admitted that the BNP Leader had been found guilty of sedition, he blamed the BCP for everything. He alleged that the country was in a state of relative calm before the SADC intervention, which was quite inconsistent with overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Mr Molapo made a poor impression as a witness upon the Commission. He appears to us to be an extremely well-educated, articulate but highly volatile person whose obvious, indeed expressed, hatred for Dr Mokhehle and his party has deprived him of the ability to apply any objectivity to the affairs of this Kingdom. This seriously affects his credibility. In our view where, therefore, his evidence is in conflict with that of other more reasoned and balanced testimony, such as that of Mr Maope, which was otherwise unchallenged, we accept the latter and must regrettably reject that of Mr Molapo. SHAKHANE ROBONG MOKHEHLE He was Minister of Justice, Law and Constitutional Affairs. He is a brother of the late Ntsu Mokhehle, the ex-prime Minister. He gave a history of political change in Lesotho, starting with the League of Commoners, a name which was changed to the Basutoland African Congress in 1952, and later to the Basotuland Congress Party (BCP). The BNP was then later the most powerful political party that stood for the rights of the chiefs. The chiefs had been the main agents for administration during this period of colonial rule and the other parties were opposing the powers of the chiefs and the colonial administration itself. The MFP policies were directed to giving the King executive powers. In the 1965 election, the BNP was successful but the 1970 result was not announced. The witness believes the result was against the BNP. Chief Leabua Jonathan suspended the Constitution and imprisoned a number of members of the BCP. The witness was imprisoned in the Maximum Security Prison for two years with no charges laid against him. The BNP rule was characterised by persecution of villagers and there were some killings. When he was released, the witness left for Botswana, and returned in 1989, after staying for a period in South Africa. When he returned, Lesotho was under a military administration, which continued until The witness stated that during the period there was no rule of law and the courts were not working. Elections were held in The BCP s election structure took the BCP s message to all portions of the community and the result was an overwhelming victory for that party, which won all the seats. The new opposition contended that there was some mystical interference with the ballot papers which transferred the cross made by the voters for other parties to the BCP. In 1994, several Ministers were kidnapped and the Deputy Prime Minister was killed. Later, the King announced that there had been a coup. There was an interim period before the BCP was restored to power. In 1997, a faction of the BCP broke away and formed the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) with the remaining members joining the opposition and eventually forming (with the BNP and the MFP) the Setlamo Alliance. The political history of this Kingdom which emerges from the abovementioned witnesses, apart from the testimony of Majara Molapo, is almost entirely uncontested. A clear picture thereof is largely derived from reading the evidence of Mr. Maope as amplified by that of Mr Thabane. This history is clearly redolent of turbulence and seemingly interminable strife associated with a quest for power. It forms a large part of the background to the political instability and disturbances which this Commission has investigated. An example of the strife to which we have alluded is the May, 1998 election and its aftermath, to a