Lesotho has deported the editor-in-chief of radio station Harvest FM,
Reverend Adam Lekhoaba, after being accused of inciting violence and
public disorder during last week’s general election, writes Mzimkhulu
Sithetho.
Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili confirmed at a press conference held 21 February at the government complex that Lekhoaba had been deported to Senekal in South Africa on the grounds he had been working illegally.
He said government could not allow freedom of expression and the media to be misused.
Mosisili also said Lekhoaba had neither a residence nor a work permit in Lesotho.
The radio station was closed on Monday 19th when the final election results were announced. It reopened two days later.
Lekhoaba has claimed he had dual citizenship and was born in Lesotho.
The prime minister said that the radio station had been operating illegally since it failed to renew its licence in May 2006.
He said government would not tolerate the illegal operation of the media in the country. “It would be irresponsible for the government to let go incidences of this nature. We have tolerated these things and we can no longer stand to be an irresponsible government.
“While we acknowledge the right to freedom of expression that all people have to exercise and the freedom of the media, we cannot stand these things,†the prime minister said.
Harvest FM had announced election results as they came from the polling stations and district electoral offices.
Lekhoaba, linked to the new party, All Basotho Convention (ABC) which lost to the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy, had also invited comments on the election, and man callers, especially from opposition groups, had bitterly criticized the way the election was run.
