Pheta stays FAL president 

NTHAKO MAJORO

MASERU – Embattled athletics administrator, Tšeliso Pheta, was re-elected as president of the Federation of Athletics Lesotho last Saturday, securing a second term in office. This came after Pheta, who also serves as treasurer for the Lesotho Sport and Recreation Commission (LSRC), was defeated in the Lesotho National Olympic Committee (LNOC)’s election for president few weeks ago.

Pheta received only one vote in the LNOC election, in which Letsatsi Ntsibolane was elected president, and many people had predicted that Pheta would also lose the FAL election.

He defied expectations by defeating athletics veteran manager Kenneth Hlasa to secure his position as president of FAL.

Sefali Sefali and Nkoebe Makhalemele also retained their roles as Vice President and Public Relations Officer, respectively, while ‘Mafikile Thabakholo, who previously served as Vice Secretary, has been elected as a member.

Meanwhile, former Secretary General Makara Thibinyane withdrew from the elections run just a few days before the voting day. 

That came after Thibinyane was elected as a new member in the LNOC election few weeks previously. 

However, Thibinyane claimed it was not the reason he withdrew from the electoral contest.

“Given that I had already served two terms and that there were five of us running for the position of Secretary General, I have decided to withdraw as it may be that I was not managing things effectively,” said Thibinyane in an interview with Public Eye.

In fact, Thibinyane said he had considered resigning prior to the most recent FAL elections, but he was advised to hold off until the end of his tenure.

“That was not because I was elected as a new member of the LNOC executive board. Those who know will confirm that I wanted to resign even before, but I was asked to wait until the term of service was over,” he said.

However, according to sources within athletics, Thibinyane was no longer with Pheta’s camp going to the recent FAL elections, but with the opposition camp initially belonging to Dr Mohale Mabaleha, who at the time was challenging Pheta for the presidency until he withdrew to contest for Secretary General at an eleventh hour.

“Thibinyane was no longer aligned with Pheta’s camp. He had since joined the faction led by Dr Mabaleha where he was expected to retain his role as Secretary General and serve under Dr Mabaleha, having initially challenged Pheta for the presidency,” said one source.

As a testimony to that, Dr Mabaleha was surprised to learn of Thibinyane’s withdrawal from the race during a live interview with Public Eye Online last week.

That saw Dr Mabaleha also withdrawing from the presidential race and instead ran for the Secretary General’s position, which was ultimately won by Khauta Makhooana.

Leeto Ramorara was elected as the new Vice Secretary, while former Lesotho international athletes Mabuthile Lebopo and Tiisetso Ramokheseng were elected as new members.

Other members of the newly elected FAL executive committee include Eketsang Mpota as Treasurer and Lineo Mokoatle as a member.