Matela accuses Majoro of aiding GBV

STAFF REPORTER

MASERU – In a last ditch attempt to salvage her image and clear her name of the publicly degrading corruption charges for which she is currently undergoing a disciplinary hearing, embattled Lesotho Communications Authority (LCA) Director, Advocate ‘Mamarame Matela, has come out guns blazing, painting Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro as monster who would “get rid of anyone who compromises his political ambitions.”

Matela blames Majoro for her woes which could see her ultimately losing her cushy post as the first Mosotho female to be appointed to the helm of Lesotho’s communications authority because she “refused to toe the line” which could suggest that her demeanour was a stumbling block to Majoro’s desired political outcomes. Public Eye understands that the disciplinary hearing in which Matela has been denied access to LCA records critical in her defence, is being speeded up with the intent to have it concluded by the end of this month.

A guilty verdict could see her losing out on terminal benefits. Majoro, who is into his second year as Lesotho’s premier, has before been accused of political interference in the running of government, targeting and getting rid of heads of parastatals who are members of his ruling All Basotho Convention (ABC) but oppose him politically.

Among these includes the former Water and Sewage Company Chief Executive Officer Futho Hoohlo and the former Directorate for Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) Direcotor Advocate Mahlomola Manyokole.

In a letter seen by this paper dated January 17, 2022, and addressed to Majoro, Matela puts squarely on the premier’s shoulders the blame for all the misery she has suffered in the past year, all because the prime minister wants to get rid of her as she is a stumbling block for his political plans.

She makes reference to an electronic meeting on May 11, 2021, where she was summoned by the prime minister, in which she was hopeful that her sexual harassment complaint would be addressed, only for her to be instructed to block the appointment of new LCA management because they were Majoro’s ABC party rivals.

“I record that I had hoped that we would finally discuss the action to be taken in order to resolve the grievance. However, the discussions centred around an instruction to halt the appointment of all management positions within the Lesotho Communications Authority where you instructed me that based on intelligence reports that you had received, the successful candidates were part of a faction within your political party that were against your continued tenure as Prime Minister and leader of the current government that, in your perception, they were fighting,” Matela alleges.

“The instruction was for me to prevent any successful candidate as approved by the Board of Directors of the Lesotho Communications Authority from benefiting from an administration.”

While in her letter Matela makes several references to the instance of GBV in the form of sexual harassment she suffered in the hands of her former principal and Minister of Communications, Keketso Sello, which was extensively reported locally in the past year, Matela’s focus currently is on her portrayal of Majoro as someone who could throw one under the bus for his political advancement.

According to Matela, to save Sello who is his political ally from the sexual harassment complaint, Majoro instead facilitated for her suspension by the LCA Board.

“I confirm that your good office was made aware at all times of these efforts to victimise me for lodging the formal sexual harassment grievance after your good office had ignored the oral report and to date no action has been taken on that front.

“Instead, your good office has condoned same by remaining silent while Hon Keketso Sello unlawfully suspended me with your full knowledge of the background information,” Matela notes.

“On or around 21 May, 2021, I was summoned by your good office to discuss the death threats and security concerns raised in my letter of 20 May, 2021, where you instructed me to rather address all written correspondence electronically as I hereby do.”

She adds: “During the said discussions, I reported to your good office that Hon Keketso Sello had been threatening me on the basis that you had sent him to disband the Board of directors of Lesotho Communications Authority and install a new Board of directors of your choice that would arrange for my removal and suspension from office, which instruction he was not prepared to implement provided I complied with every instruction he gave, which I did not anticipate would involve sexual favours and collusion in corrupt activities.”

Matela puts it to Majoro that she needed security for her family after she lodged the sexual harassment claim against Sello, due to resulting threats on her life, further reminding Majoro of Sello’s innumerable indiscretions before she lodged her GBV claim, for which the prime minister swiftly moved to save his minister.

Matela points to an alleged incident where Sello apparently chased his wife with a gun during a domestic violence incident, had it confiscated by the police, only to have it returned to him after Majoro’s intervention.

“It is surprising that your good office does not receive security from a distance to deter any would-be assassins but you seem to hold the view that my family deserves less than you receive despite the presence of real threats from your political ally whose firearm was confiscated by police a month earlier for chasing his wife along a public street during a domestic violence incident that his wife later withdrew,” Matela says.

“The same firearm was returned to Hon Keketso a week before the sexual harassment incident after he apologized to the Commissioner of Police which fact you were made aware of by intelligence agencies.”

While Majoro was disturbed by reports on Sello’s conduct, Matela tells him, the PM nevertheless went on to protect his ally.

“Although, the report appeared to disturb you at that point, your subsequent actions or lack thereof, revealed that indeed Hon. Sello had taken advantage of an already unfair/unlawful instruction in order to extract sexual favours from me under the auspices of protecting me from your instructions to oust me from office due to failure to implement instructions from your good office,” Matela says.

“Within 14 days of our discussion, Hon Sello had moved with unprecedented speed to discredit me and victimize me at your instance in order to protect him from prosecution or resolution of the sexual harassment/sexual assault charges that I had lodged with the Lesotho Mounted Police Service on 20 May, 2021, as reported to your good office.”

She claims Majoro instructed Commissioner of Police, Holomo Molibeli, to overlook Sello’s criminal behaviour and went on to reassign him to a different ministry after he had suspended her, leading to her case against the minister being compromised.

“Even in those circumstances you turned a blind eye and rather instructed the Commissioner of Police to take no action against Hon Keketso Sello. Instead you went on to protect him by reshuffling him on 3 June, 2021, the very day he unlawfully suspended me without a Board recommendation to that effect, to protect him from answering the grievance or gender based violence criminal charge.

All follow up efforts with the LMPS have proved fruitless to date and officers handling my case have either been re-deployed or have been threatened with transfer by the Commissioner of Police at your instance to protect Hon Sello as your political ally to my personal detriment,” Matela says.

Seemingly emotional and at the end of her tether, Matela makes yet another strong claim, maintaining that Majoro, as per allegations made to her by Sello, could have orchestrated Sello’s sexual assault on her “to break my spirit and desecrate my dignity” as part of his attempts to rid the LCA of her and attain his economic goals in the process of compromising her.

“It is against this backdrop that I have reason to believe in the veracity of the allegations made by Hon Keketso Sello of your plot to oust me and to use any means necessary to do so including to subject me to sexual assault in order to break my spirit and desecrate my dignity as the first female chief executive officer of the national communications regulator in Lesotho and possibly even in SADC and one of a few in Africa to date,” Matela continues.

“It is truly disappointing to realize that the government under your leadership makes concerted efforts to persecute victims of gender-based violence rather than protect them as you have now done in an effort to reach your personal political and economic goals.”