MASERU, February 11 (ANA) – Southern African Development Community (SADC) facilitator and South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa will pay a working visit to Maseru on Sunday to receive and welcome three returning exiled Lesotho opposition leaders, the presidency said.
The three opposition party leaders were former prime minister Tom Thabane, Theselle Maseribane, and Keketso Rantsho, his spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said on Saturday.
“The return of the three opposition leaders back to Lesotho is a culmination of decisions of the SADC double troika summit held in Gaborone, Botswana, in June 2016, which mandated Deputy President Ramaphosa, among others, to facilitate the return from South Africa of opposition political party leaders back to the Kingdom of Lesotho,” he said.
“In pursuit of this mandate, and to assess progress regarding the constitutional and security sector reforms and the implementation of the Phumaphi Commission of Inquiry, Deputy President Ramaphosa paid a working visit to Maseru on Friday 10 February 2016.”
Against this background, Ramaphosa paid a courtesy call on Lesotho King Letsie III, held bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili, and held meetings with government coalition party leaders, opposition party leaders, the Council of Churches of Lesotho, the NGO sector, and representatives of the College of Chiefs.
Ramaphosa would be supported during the function to welcome the leaders of the All-Basotho Convention, Basotho National Party, and the Reformed Congress of Lesotho by members of the SADC oversight committee, Mamoepa said.
– African News Agency (ANA)
