/ 8 July 1999

LESOTHO PISSED OFF WITH SADC

LESOTHO lodged a formal objection with the Southern African Development Community on Monday, complaining that the kingdom’s Prime Minister, Pakalithi Mosisili, was excluded from the African economic summit in Durban. Lesotho Foreign Affairs Minister Tom Thabane said on Monday that the SADC’s secretariat in Gaborone invited the country’s finance minister, Leketekate Ketso, to the summit but omitted to invite the Prime Minister. “Lesotho is not blaming the South African government for the omission. We are putting the blame squarely on the SADC secretariat, which was responsible for issuing the invitations,” Thabane said.