A party formed by a group of people expelled from the Basotho Action Party (BAP) has already been rocked by fights, barely a week after it was formed. The Transformation for Change (TFC) was supposed to be a new beginning for the former BAP members but, instead, they are fighting. The fights started early last week, just as the party was about to be registered.
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The plan was that Lebohang Thotanyana, the former secretary general of the BAP, would lead the party and Molefi Phamotse would be his deputy.
Things however started going haywire when a leadership battle for the yet-to-be-registered party ensued between Thotanyana and Phamotse.
Now Phamotse says he wants nothing to do with the TFC and is already working on registering his own party which he says will be called the Social Development Party (SDP).
The TFC was registered last Friday.
Phamotse says he has parted ways with Thotanyana because he is a dictator who wanted to load the constitution with clauses giving him sweeping powers to overrule the party’s structures.
“This constitution is making the leader (Thotanyana) a commander, not a political party leader,” Phamotse says.
But Thotanyana has fired back, describing Phamotse, a former MP, as a “power-hungry political novice who had no clue about how political parties are formed or run”.
Their fight started last week as the TFC was submitting its constitution to the Registrar of Societies at the Law Office.
Thotanyana claims Phamotse wanted them to write his name as the party leader on the registration documents.
“Phamotse and his faction lack an understanding of leadership,” Thotanyana says.
“They protested a proposed clause that gives the leader the power to make decisions.”
Thotanyana says Phamotse wants to capture the TFC but they will not let that happen.
He alleged that Phamotse wanted to use the TFC’s constitution and logo.
He mocked Phamotse and his faction for naming their party the Social Development Party.
“They named it after a government ministry. We took a long time to register because we saw from the word go that they would rebel.”
“Phamotse does not even have followers at all. We were just bending backwards in making him the deputy leader.”
Phamotse however says Thotanyana is the problem, calling him a “dictator who wants to take us back to the days when we were in the BAP”.
He says he was not happy that the TFC’s constitution “gives the leader too much power” and suggested that it be reviewed.
Phamotse says after he complained, Thotanyana removed him as the deputy leader and replaced him with Sello Maphalla.
Phamotse, a former MP for Likhoele constituency, denied that he was trying to capture the party on its registration.
“I just wanted some issues ironed out,” Phamotse said.
He says the constitution leaves room for the leader to cancel meetings that could democratically remove him from power.
“We all paid a lot of money to establish this party.”
He said he confronted Thotanyana after he unilaterally decided to go to lawyers to draft the constitution without notifying them.
“I asked why he did that and his faction insulted me and told me to go and form my own party.”
He says Thotanyana rejected his appeal to condemn the insults and “I made a decision to form another party”.
“Thotanyana is making the same mistakes that were made by Professor Mahao and very soon he will face the same fate as him.”
Nkheli Liphoto
