OWN CORRESPONDENT, Maseru | Tuesday 7.00pm.
THE Lesotho Parliament cancelled its sitting on Tuesday after a day of protests by opposition party supporters in Maseru.
In the morning, army and police intervened when government vehicles were seized by youths and driven to the royal palace in protest against the delay of the release of the Langa report on possible electoral fraud in the May general election.
But by Tuesday afternoon security force members appeared to be ignoring the continued seizure of government vehicles.
Lesotho police commissioner Bolutu Makoaba said his officers were too scared to arrest the protesters because soldiers were assisting them. Police stood back and did not interfere because of past tensions with the Lesotho Defence Force, he said.
Mokoaba said he was unable to take up the matter with the defence force because its chief, Lieutenant-General Makhule Mosakheng, was last Friday forced at gunpoint to step down by mutinous officers.
“Who do I speak to?” Makoaba asked.
Mosakheng’s apparent successor, Lieutenant-General Anthony Thibedi, was apparently not in control of the army, he said.
Opposition protesters condemned the recent visits of South African Defence Minister Joe Modise to Lesotho. The statement said South Africa’s involvement was “an unwarranted interefence in the affairs of Lesotho”.