Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, Limpho Tau, recently blocked National Security Service (NSS) Acting Director-General (DG), Lebohang Mafisa, from forcefully redeploying 16 officers.
Minister Tau's move was in response to the turmoil at the NSS, the national spy agency Mr Mafisa has been accused of running into the ground. Mr Mafisa had sought to effect the re-deployments to consolidate his power in anticipation that he would be appointed to become the substantive DG. The redeployment move did not go down well with some of the affected officers who opposed it. Others, who were to be put in strategic positions, allegedly because they are Mr Mafisa's cronies, had welcomed the move.
Mr Tau has since placed media advertisements in local newspapers calling for applications for the NSS's DG post as Mr Mafisa's acting contract is expiring. The NSS has largely been a bystander as crime has taken root in Lesotho. Like other competent spy agencies elsewhere in the world, it has been unable to infiltrate and pre-empt violent famo gangs accused of fomenting crime. This is largely because morale is at rock bottom in the NSS and Mr Mafisa is hugely unpopular among his staff as this publication has previously reported. Still, Mr Tau says Mr Mafisa is free to apply and compete with others if he wants to be substantively appointed.
The Lesotho Times (LT) 's Deputy Editor, Bongiwe Zihlangu, caught up with Mr Tau this week for a wide-ranging interview on the paralysis at the NSS and other governance issues.
Excerpts:
L.T: Not so long ago you blocked transfers/redeployments of 16 NSS operatives that were instigated by Acting DG Lebohang Mafisa. Why did you do that?
Tau: Let me start here. I must state that this government wants Lesotho to have stable security agencies. You will recall that when we came in, we had the commissioner of police, director general NSS and army commander who had been appointed by previous governments. Our undertaking as the government has been that those people are Basotho, whether they have been appointed by XYZ political party or EFG political party, they are Basotho who have a right to work. We called them in, told them that they knew the requirements of the positions they had been appointed to. We advised them to please, execute 'your duties to your maximum potential. You are not politicians. Politicians are us, not you, so, do your work'. So, I think that was enough because in the past, whenever a new government came in there was a change of command in the security agencies to control and direct their work.
But we avoided that as much as possible because we believed that we should give them the confidence to do their work and serve the nation without pandering to sectorial party interests... We said to them 'you know why you are there and your terms of reference. ....You don't owe politicians anything'. We did this because we really wanted stable security agencies. You will recall that in some of these institutions, people were appointed to the helm after jumping several ranks. And we told them that we did not put them there, but previous regimes did. But they know what they should be doing, and we won't remove them because they were not appointed by us. But they know what they should be doing because they took an oath to serve .....They must forget the politics and politicians that put them there. They must remember to put Basotho and Lesotho first.
LT: So, was your move to halt the controversial redeployments an attempt to stabilise the NSS?
Tau: So, when these things happened in the NSS, that we believed were bringing once again, the old skeletons of instability, we felt that we had to stabilise the institution. We couldn't just sit and watch as things went wrong. It is not that I blocked the transfers. Like I said, those transfers should be put on abeyance. Just suspend them so that we can address the problem. We were aware that there was disgruntlement, and the media reported on how the NSS was in total paralysis and the rot therein. And as civilian authorities in charge of those institutions, we could not just sit back and watch, thinking the problem would just resolve itself. Otherwise, we'd be perceived as the most ineffective government. So, we had to step in and say, please put those transfers on hold and make sure that when they finally happen, it is in a manner that is proper and acceptable to everyone. It was not me necessarily blocking them. It was simply to say, hang on, let's suspend that until we have dealt with the root causes of the problem here.
LT: There's a school of thought that the NSS is no longer fit for purpose as it is failing to deliver on its mandate. What's government doing to rebuild the NSS and restore its integrity?
Tau: That very move I made, of saying let's put in abeyance any plans that are already in motion here, any appointments and shifts within the institution, it was meant to address such perceptions. We want an NSS that the public can have confidence in. It's very important. We need institutions that Basotho can be proud of and can assist government to curb crime, potential terrorism and help our communities which are flooded with drugs. You know the drug problem is very bad, so we need institutions that can respond to such challenges.
The fact that the government has now stepped in, it is to ensure that the NSS regains an understanding of its mandate and executes it fully to the benefit of Lesotho and Basotho. It speaks volumes. It is our intention to achieve just that, and that's why we moved in. Lesotho is facing a myriad challenges when it comes to crime, especially rape and murders. And the ideal approach to deal with those, would be to have well capacitated institutions in terms of intelligence. If such crimes are happening all over the country and there is no proper intervention to that, then it means there is something wrong with some of our institutions. It is the government's responsibility to ensure that those institutions have capacity in terms of skills, resources and stability, so that they can then focus on their mandates.
LT: You have touched on the contentious issue of individuals from within Lesotho's security agencies, climbing the ranks due to favours from politicians. Please elaborate more on that.
Tau: There's been a very bad practice throughout the years, whereby people within some of these security agencies, think that to climb the ladder, they need favours from politicians. And I told them that, do not dare approach any of us to ask for promotions. Believe you me, there are people who have come to tell me, to say minister, I have been holding the same position for so many years, please assist me. And I said, I only talk to the NSS DG and nobody else. In the army I talk to the commander only. I don't know what is happening in the police service because it is not under my jurisdiction. It's not part of my responsibilities. But there have been attempts regardless, of people telling me how long they have been senior inspectors or intelligence officers for so many years without promotion because so-and-so did not like them. But I told them that while I would not tell anyone about their approaches, they should never again come to me with such requests. I talk to one person in the NSS. I talk to one person in the army. I then realised, obviously this has been happening, people actually get favours through their political connections. It is one of the factors that have brought these institutions into disrepute and into low levels of efficiency.
LT: But there's a belief that the advertisement announcing the NSS DG post, is tailor-made for certain individuals while closing the door on other aspirants. How do you respond to that?
Tau: The NSS is governed by the National Security Service Act of 1998 which is currently in force. It entirely gives the prime minister the latitude to appoint the NSS DG. And it does not say how, except to prescribe that such powers are vested in the PM. It also prescribes the functions of the DG. It also gives the prime minister the prerogative to announce the vacancy; and for whoever deems themselves fit to apply for the post, to do just that. Remember, he (PM) has got the powers to appoint. And that belief that the advert is tailor-made for a particular individual is misguided. The PM could have just appointed a person of his choice without announcing the vacancy.
But through the advert, the PM is indicating that he is opening the floor for any person who has the requisite experience. And there will be a team that will assess those people who will have expressed interest. Now, why would the PM then waste time and resources to tailor-make the advert when the Act gives him powers to appoint directly?
It's only people who have previously appointed individuals to certain positions on political motivations, who can think that way. There's absolutely no reason for the PM to waste his time doing that. If he wanted to appoint any of those names you mentioned, he could have just appointed them. Why would he use public resources to pay for the adverts in the media, which don't come cheap? I don't know how much an advert costs, but if the PM says, minister place that advert in as many newspapers as possible, it means that we have spent in the region of M50 000 to M60 000. So, it's only people who have previously appointed people politically, and only people who have got an interest in an area that Basotho have not voted them into, who will start speculating, in the process sowing dissatisfaction and dissent in the NSS. Look, the position has been advertised and that's it.
LT: The same advertisement has been criticised for being discriminatory as it restricts applications only to individuals with 20 years' experience. Your response to that?
Tau:. Once the PM directed me to advertise the NSS DG vacancy, I went there (NSS) to the Human Resource Department to ask for the director general office's job description, and they guided me. They told me that the job description was contained in the NSS Act. I also asked for that of the deputy DG and was told that their job description required fifteen years of experience, five of which should have been in a managerial position. You can't have the same requirement for the DG, no! You need better experience than that. Surely someone who has worked for an institution for fifteen years has lesser experience than the one with twenty years! So, it defeats logic to say you need the same level of experience for positions that are different.
LT: Why is recruitment for the current DG restricted to NSS operatives only? In the past, army officers and civilians have served in the post, such as former Military Intelligence head, Tumo Lekhooa and ex-NSS boss, Pheello Ralenkoane. Why the change?
Tau: Intelligence is not just any other career that anyone can pick. You need requisite experience to do the work. You need an individual who has been in the NSS and gone through all the structures and holds necessary qualifications. It is stipulated in the advert that the position requires a person of a master's degree level in Political Science and Public Administration, or security studies and intelligence, and can make a proper analysis of the political environment.
If you do what previous governments did, appointing people from the military to head the NSS, then you would be militarizing the intelligence service. That is why the army has its own intelligence which is far different from the NSS. The army intelligence is for the purpose of army operations. NSS doesn't do military-style operations, no. They have got what can be referred to as soft approach to counter crime. And, if you pull somebody from the military and put him there, you are basically militarizing the NSS. Look at what happened in 2015-17 (with the appointment of former military intelligence head, Tumo Lekhooa) and even the recruitments he made which were nullified. So, the entire approach would not be ideal.
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Then, you pick up an ordinary civilian with no intelligence experience. It's a daunting task for them, it's challenging. So, you need an individual who has been in there, who is familiar with the structures and demands of the job but is also mature enough and has proper academic qualifications. That's it.
LT: Why didn't the PM just confirm Acting NSS DG, Lebohang Mafisa, instead of advertising the post? Is government not satisfied with him?
Tau: He has got the opportunity to apply. He can apply like everybody else if he wants. We just wanted to make it more open, more transparent and to give everybody a chance. For each applicant to come, sit here and prove themselves before a panel of judges. He can easily bounce back if he passes the interview.
LT: Some members of parliament in the Prime Minister's Ministries Cluster portfolio committee, who spoke to the Lesotho Times this week, are of the opinion that the appointment of the NSS DG should be held in abeyance until after passage of the 10th Amendment to the Constitution. What's your take?
Tau: It's one of the many concerns raised by the opposition, that the government should halt making permanent appointments pending conclusion of the national reforms. I was in the 10th Parliament as part of the opposition, so to speak. And it's one of the weapons we used to politick against previous governments. But then, let's remember former Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro's regime. They continued to make appointments even after the October 2022 elections. They assigned people to foreign missions, buying them flight tickets using state resources. That was despite it being clear that the RFP was coming to power. This government turned a blind eye to that. Yet we knew they were appointed on the eve of this government coming into power. Those people who were sent to the embassies, their three-year contracts are expiring soon. We did not recall them because we understood that they are Basotho who deserve to work.
LT: So are you saying that Lesotho will definitely have a new NSS DG on the 1st of November 2024?
Tau: Hopefully, yes. We hope so. The Acting DG's contract expires at the end of this month.
