17 Jan 2016

President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama will, today, host five SADC heads of state for an extra-ordinary summit of the Double Troika at the Gaborone International Convention Centre (GICC).

The Double Troika is made up of Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Tanzania and Swaziland.

The summit, which President Khama will chair as SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation chairperson, is expected to review the political and security situation in the region with particular focus on Lesotho.

The summit would be following SADC member states’ concern over the deteriorating political and security situation in Lesotho.

Main opposition leaders have fled the county fearing for their lives.

Former Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) commander, Brigadier Maaparankoe Mahao’s assassination on June 25 last year exacerbated the already volatile situation in the tiny kingdom.

Brigadier Mahao was reportedly shot and killed outside his farm by LDF members who had gone to arrest him for  mutiny.

SADC was forced to intervene, hence establishment of a Justice Mpaphi Phumaphi led commission to probe Brigadier Mahao’s murder as well as the political pandemonium that constantly plagued Lesotho. 

Since then, meetings with South Africa’s deputy president, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa as facilitator, had been held to look into the situation.

A SADC Extra Ordinary Summit of the Double Troika was held in South Africa on July 3 last year to consider reports from the facilitator as well as that of the SADC Ministerial Organ Troika Fact Finding Mission that was dispatched to assess political and security developments in Lesotho.

The summit reaffirmed SADC’s desire to see peace and security restored in Lesotho.

The Pretoria summit urged Lesotho government and all stakeholders to urgently undertake constitutional and security sector reforms.

It also urged Lesotho government to create a conducive environment for all opposition leaders to return home. 

In the meantime, it has been reported that Lesotho’s leaders agreed that the country needed the SADC proposed constitutional and security sector reforms.

Meanwhile, Mr Ramaphosa will take part in today’s summit in his capacity as facilitator on the political and security situation in Lesotho. Ends