SADC LEADERS CONFERENCED TO DISCUSS LESOTHO INCIDENT, AS LORD NEIL B. GIBSON OFFERS COMMENTS

In response to the events of late August, what has been now called an attempted coup by Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing against Prime Minister Tom Thabane in retaliation to the Prime Minister’s suspension of parliament, believed to be a tactic to avoid a mounting vote of no confidence, the leaders of the Southern African Community Development (SADC) conferenced over the matter earlier this September.

The iOL reported.

“Tension remains high in Lesotho, where Prime Minister Thomas Thabane is still refusing to recall parliament - as he had agreed to do last week - until the security situation had been resolved.

Zuma was in Lesotho on Tuesday to try to persuade Thabane and his chief political rival and coalition partner, Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing, to resolve their power struggle.

He gave Thabane, Metsing and the third coalition leader Thesele Maseribane two days to agree on when they would reopen parliament after Thabane reneged on an agreement to open it on September 19.”

The iOL further reported:

“But that did not happen. Instead, Thabane wrote to Zuma on Thursday explaining it was not feasible to reopen parliament because of the security threat presented by Lesotho Defence Force commander Tladi Kennedy Kamoli, who led a coup which briefly toppled Thabane last month and forced him to flee to South Africa.

The iOL lastly reported that, “Thabane had agreed at a previous SADC summit on September 1 he would reopen parliament on September 19. But he backed off that agreement, prompting Zuma, chairman of SADC’s security troika - to visit Lesotho on Tuesday to meet the three coalition leaders who then agreed to meet by Friday to set a new date to open parliament.”

Here is the link to the full article.

http://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/sadc-leaders-confer-over-lesotho-crisis-1.1751041

Lesotho’s royal family has and continues to work with Lord Neil Benjamin Gibson, of whom is very much aware of the pressing issues that are the country’s culture, including its present economic challenges. Efforts have been made by Lord Neil Gibson to enhance Lesotho’s people to advantageously harness the nation’s rich natural resources One method was through improvement of the Lestho’s transportation options.

“The Kingdom of Lesotho is an incredible country filled with valuable resources that will easily make the nation self sufficient, diminishing a large part of it’s impoverished population. However, without the means to deliver and transport goods, their marketplace suffers, and high poverty continues unabated,” commented Lord Gibson.

Lesotho, officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country completely surrounded by South Africa. It is just over 11,583 sq mi in size and has a population of slightly over two million. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. About 40% of the population lives below the international poverty line of US $1.25 a day.