Lesotho: DC Accuses NSS of Interference

THE main opposition Democratic Congress (DC) has alleged that the National Security Service (NSS) is threatening its upcoming youth league elective indaba.

The DC youth league elective conference is slated for tomorrow till Sunday at the Moshoeshoe II High School Hall in Matsieng.

The conference is mandated to elect a new DC national youth committee as prescribed by the party’s constitution.

The youth league works hand in glove with the national executive committee (NEC) and the party’s women’s league.

DC Secretary-General, Tšitso Cheba, told the Lesotho Times this week that NSS officers had been to different DC constituency offices, quizzing party officials there about the composition of youth delegates to be deployed by their constituencies to the conference.

According to Mr Cheba, the DC felt intimidated because the NSS operatives wanted information involving among others, names of delegates selected to attend the conference, the times they would depart for Maseru from their respective constituencies and the registration numbers of vehicles that would ferry them to the conference.

Mr Cheba, who is the DC’s ‘Makhoroana constituency legislator, said the NSS’s actions were not only uncalled for but also constituted serious intimidation on the party’s youth cadres “who are still learning the administration of the country”.

The DC SG told the Lesotho Times that he had received reports from two constituencies over the weekend, that NSS members were quizzing and trying to pry details out of them, on the delegates and logistics. The NSS operatives, Mr Cheba added, also wanted to be furnished with information on the identity of people who would be funding the conference.

The Lesotho Times contacted NSS spokesperson Limpho Gugushe, to establish if it was the NSS’s mandate to demand such information from all political parties holding conferences.

All Ms Gugushe could say was that she was not in a conducive space to take a call. She had promised to return this journalist’s call but did not do so.

Further efforts to get her to comment failed as she was now ignoring calls.

This is the same behaviour exhibited by acting NSS Director-General, Lebohang Mafisa, who had initially promised this publication an exclusive interview to respond to questions about the paralysis in the NSS, rendering it ineffective to help fight rampant crime. We are still waiting for the promised interview which has not materialised.

Meanwhile, Mr Cheba further told this paper that he had received reports from two DC lawmakers on the same this week.

“I received a report over the weekend from three constituencies. Today (Monday) I received a report from two DC MPs, making me aware that they had been informed by their constituency officials of the NSS’s interference in our preparations for the national youth committee’s elective conference,” Mr Cheba said.

“According to the MPs, the constituency officials were seeking advice on dealing with NSS members fishing for information.”

Sounding irked, Mr Cheba asserted that the NSS was acting outside the parameters of its mandate.

The NSS, he noted, was mandated to ensure security of the state and “providing tipoffs to the office of the Prime Minister instead of spying on the main opposition….”

“Responsibilities of the NSS include keeping tabs on the state of national security, giving tipoffs to the office of the Prime Minister and other departments that they work with on issues that could pose a danger to the country,” Mr Cheba said.

“Now they have left their responsibility of spying on matters that might pose danger to the country and are focused on the DC. Our party is mandated by its constitution and IEC policies to regularly renew its political structures. DC is doing that by convening elections for the national youth committee.

“Now, the government agencies are trying to go against our youths fulfilling their party’s constitutional requirements. Why would they be trying to find the names of those who will be going to the conference? We wonder what interest NSS has on this issue.”

Mr Cheba also reiterated that the NSS’s snooping constituted serious intimidation against the DC youth “who are on a path to learning about the political administration of their country”.

“This is pure intimidation to our members. These children are still young, and they have just reached the age of maturity. They don’t have much experience in these things. So, it is a serious threat that the NSS wants their names,” he said.

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“What is NSS’s interest In the DC youth’s elective conference?” he asked.

He continued: “These are acts of intimidation, so that we don’t go about our business freely. If the NSS is investigating something or has perhaps heard that something untoward is likely to happen there, they must ask us openly.”

To get to the bottom of the issue, Mr Cheba said they had tried to contact some of the NSS operatives involved.

“We contacted one of the NSS officials from one of those regions and he responded curtly. He said he was busy but confirmed that the NSS had that task. He said we would talk later because he had picked the call when he was at an awkward position,” he said.

“We are living in very volatile times of high crime, and it poses a threat when security agencies start asking about the names of people, which vehicles they would be travelling with and the like.

“Those are very private details. It’s sensitive information and very private to us…”

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