Bullets fly at bloody BNP conference

(MENAFN - The Post) MASERU – MACHESETSA Mofomobe says he had to hide under the table as bullets whizzed past him during an attack by a gunman at the Basotho National Party (BNP) elective conference last weekend. A 69-year-old woman, identified as ''Mabuang Mazingo, died following the shooting at the Catholic Church hall in Mazenod on Sunday night.No arrests have been made so far.A 68-year-old man from Ha-Mabote was also shot and was rushed to hospital where he was treated as an outpatient. Mofomobe was elected the new party leader at a conference marked by violence and allegations of skullduggery.The other contestants including ''Machere Seutloali, ''Malineo Motshephe and Lesiamo Molapo withdrew from the race for various reasons.Motshephe and Molapo withdrew when they expressed unhappiness over the composition of the delegates while Seutloali withdrew to throw her lot behind Mofomobe. Seutloali said she was withdrawing because she was ''interested in the unity of the party and nothing else''.Mofomobe won 260 votes while Dr Lehlohonolo Mosotho, who was the closest contender, picked up 60 votes.Dr Mosotho told thepost this week that the slain woman had ''taken a bullet'' that was intended for him. He said the deceased woman was in his camp and had vowed to vote for him during the conference.Dr Mosotho said the victims of the shooting were on his side, adding that ''whoever fired the shots wanted to kill me''.''The bullet went straight to where I was sitting but luckily they were not aware that my loyalists had already taken me out of the premises,'' Dr Mosotho said. He said Mazingo, had pronounced herself publicly that she was going to vote for him, not his opponents.He also said even though he loves the BNP his ''family is no longer happy with that decision'' to continue as a member of the party.He said he was not initially interested in contesting for the presidency but had been persuaded to do so by some party members. ''From the start of the campaign the secretary-general and his deputy made it hard for me to contest, for reasons known only to them,'' he said.He added that Mofomobe and his friends also went to constituencies, ''especially in Butha-Buthe and Leribe where I had (lots of followers) and they changed committees there intending to put their loyalists who would vote for Machesetsa''. He said for the past two weeks he was called by the party's national executive committee asking him not to go to courts as the BNP did not have funds.The constituencies tried to stop the conference through the court but lost.Dr Mosotho said they had been promised that the police would be at the venue but only to find out that they were not there.Asked where he was when the shooting happened, Dr Mosotho said ''it happened after I was made to flee the place''. ''But the victim had always been on my side,'' he said.Mofomobe said ''enemies of democracy had tried to ruin the wishes of BNP members''.''I was afraid and I had to crawl on my belly (to hide) from gunfire,'' Mofomobe said. He said 'some people think they can stop the BNP's wishes through bloodshed'' but party members ''decided to vote for me regardless of the bloodshed''.''There had always been signs that bad things might happen there,'' he said.''I am pleading with the Commissioner of Police to dig deeper in here. Some men had said if the conference took place there would be bloodshed,'' he said. He said one faction that was opposed to him had vowed that there would be bloodshed if the court ruled that the elective conference should continue.He said while he was in the hall he heard three gun shots from outside and that was when he realised that there was an attack.''God knew that things like these would happen,'' he said. ''Our party is Christian and belongs to God. The leadership of this party has always believed in Lesotho and Basotho first,'' he said.In a statement on Monday, Police Minister Lepota Sekola condemned the shooting.''I condemn the act and the police are already investigating the issue, measures are being taken (to arrest the suspects),'' Sekola said. Nkheli Liphoto Like this:Like Loading...MENAFN22062021000229011070ID1102328027