MASERU-FOR the 90 minutes that we spent at his business premises in Qoaling on Tuesday morning, Chalane Phori, 44, never stops talking.
He is animated.
He is articulate.

He puts a vigorous defence of some of his controversial policies while he was still serving as a Minister of Small Businesses in the last coalition government.

But what seems to drive him mad is what he says was the shameless act of betrayal of his mentor and leader – former Prime Minister Thomas Thabane – by his colleagues in the All Basotho Convention (ABC) party.
He says although Thabane had clearly indicated that he would step down at the end of July, his colleagues were so impatient with him that they ganged up with their “enemies” and pushed him off the cliff.
That, to him, was unforgivable.

Even though Phori says he is not bitter, he unsurprisingly keeps on harping about how his colleagues in the ABC went on to stab Thabane in the back.
It is worth pointing out that Phori, throughout the interview, fondly refers to Thabane as the “old man”, which is not just an expression of reverence but of how dear he still views him.

He says his relationship with Thabane goes beyond that of a political mentor. It is much deeper than that, as it is closely intertwined with his mentor’s political ideology, vision and dreams.
And when Thabane’s political career was finally snuffed out three weeks ago, so was Phori’s.

With Thabane bowing out of the political limelight, Phori says he has also decided to “retire” from active politics to focus on his vast business empire.
Phori is in the construction and manufacturing business. He also runs a chain of retail shops in Maseru.

Throughout the interview, it is clearly evident that Phori has still not got over what happened to himself and his boss.
Yet even with Thabane down and out, Phori, has remained fiercely loyal to his mentor.
That is not surprising.

When Thabane had his back against the canvass, pounded from every angle by his political opponents, it was Phori and a few others who fought to defend their leader, even when it became clear that the ship was sinking.
It was an explosive, bare knuckle fight that went to the wire.
But that soon invited scorn and derision for the likes of Phori who were seen to be going to ridiculous lengths to defend Thabane.

One of the allegations levelled against Thabane was that he had surrendered state power to his wife, ’Maesiah Thabane, who was now running government affairs from her bedroom.
Phori says that is nonsense.

“All the decisions that the government took were made in Cabinet and ’Maesiah was never there. The decisions that we took as a Cabinet were never changed a day after,” he says.
While ’Maesiah might have had her faults, she never interfered with the running of the government, he insists.

He says it is disingenuous for ABC members to argue that Thabane, who is now 80, should have resigned because of his advancing age since they were the very people “who overwhelmingly elected him Prime Minister just three years ago”.

“When we elected him party leader at the conference (in February last year), we knew how old the man was.”
Phori says to therefore argue that Thabane should have stepped down because of his advancing age was “an act of hypocrisy”.

He insists his party dismally failed to protect Thabane when they needed to.
“We had to protect him by all means and if we had problems we had to sit down as a party and resolve our problems internally.”
The ABC went into a tailspin, buffeted by internal wrangling after a divisive elective conference early last year.

The newly elected National Executive Committee, which was loyal to deputy leader Professor Nqosa Mahao, did not see eye-to-eye with Thabane and his old guard who lost at the elections.
That elective conference brought to the fore the bitter divisions within the party over the issue of Thabane’s successor.

It was only the fear of being completely swept out of power that saw the two factions burying the hatchet and coalescing around Finance Minister Moeketsi Majoro who was elected the new party leader.

Majoro was inaugurated Lesotho’s new Prime Minister a fortnight ago.
That only came after intense pressure was exerted on Thabane to step aside after damaging allegations that his current wife, ’Maesiah, had played a role in the murder of the premier’s ex-wife, Lipolelo Thabane, in June 2017.
While Thabane has not yet been formally charged, the police insist they are keen to interview him over his role in his wife’s murder.

The former premier has vociferously denied that he had any role in Lipolelo’s killing.
“Thabane served his country with respect and honesty but look, they just pushed him out like a dog,” Phori says. “God is going to judge them.”
Having ganged up against Thabane, Phori says he will not be surprised to see the new leadership begin to tussle again for positions of power and influence.

Critics say Phori will be remembered as the minister who crafted pro-Chinese policies at the expense of Basotho.
They cite the Wool and Mohair Regulations of 2018 which they argue created a monopoly that impoverished Basotho.

The regulations, which have since been overturned in the courts, made it illegal for Basotho to sell their wool and mohair outside the country.
Phori says when he arrived at the Ministry of Trade, the Chinese businessman Stone Shi was already in the country having been brought to Lesotho by the previous government led by Pakalitha Mosisili.
He says it was the Wool and Mohair Association that brought Shi to Lesotho only to turn against the Chinese businessman later on.

Phori was however unapologetic about his business connections with the Chinese saying he only “respects business and not the colour of one’s skin”.
“I look at principles and Basotho come first,” he says.
“We bring Chinese investors to Lesotho; we drive on roads built by the Chinese and we argue in a Parliament that was built by the Chinese and at the same time talk ill of the Chinese,” he says.

He says he does not deny that there are rogue Chinese businessmen adding however it would be unfair to blame all the Chinese for the wrongs done by a few.

“The Chinese are my friends; I knew the Chinese before I became an MP and I know Chinese who married Basotho here and I am not going to turn against my friends.”
Phori was first elected MP for Qoaling in 2012 and was re-elected for the third time in 2017. He served as a Minister of Small Businesses from 2017 to May this year when Thabane’s government collapsed.

The biggest lesson he learnt, he says, is that government ministers “are afraid to make the tough decisions”.
“They always preach about the big things they will do but once they are in positions of authority, they succumb to pressure; they can’t stand by their words.”

Phori says the law that governed the wool and mohair industry, which was crafted in 1977, required that the government collect a dipping levy from farmers.
However successive governments had failed to apply the law, resulting in a South African company pocketing the proceeds, he says.
“Basotho were not benefitting from their own product which was being sold on the international markets as a South African product,” he says.
Phori says it was that realisation that pushed him and many others within the government to come up with a new law to benefit Basotho.

“We did a pilot project with Mafeteng, Quthing, Butha-Buthe and Mohale’s Hoek farmers where we sold our wool abroad. We all saw that this was the perfect route and there were no complaints.
“But when we rolled out the project throughout the country, the opposition immediately ganged up against us.”

Phori is still unapologetic over the wool and mohair debacle, while acknowledging that it might have caused some pain for a section of society.
“If there was one policy that generated money for the government and for citizens, it was the wool and mohair policy.”
But why were there so many bitter complaints against the project, we ask.
“The Chinese might have been negligent but not 100 percent. There was a clear case of sabotage,” Phori says.

He blames what he calls “South African proxies who worked with farmers and some elements within the party” to sabotage the programme.
As a result of Lesotho’s unfortunate geographical position where it is entirely surrounded by South Africa, our neighbour shall always retain a keen interest in what happens in this country, he says.

He cites his ministry’s ban of beef imports from South Africa.
He says he wanted to block meat imports from South Africa and create a bustling market for Lesotho’s farmers.
But he was stopped in his tracks.
“They said this boy is becoming too big for his boots and we have to stop him. Unfortunately some of these people were my own people within the party but I have no regrets.”

Phori says what drove him most was a realisation that Lesotho did not manufacture anything of significance and had to rely on imports of even small things like toothpicks.
“I was pushing businesses that would be run by Basotho and that made me very unpopular with foreigners who were benefiting and their proxies here in Lesotho.”

“We have been kept where we are by these proxies run by South Africans.”
Having been so close to the seat of power, Phori admits that it is not going to be easy to change Lesotho’s economic fortunes because of the many competing interests among Basotho.

And when you try to make a difference, they accuse you of working for the interests of the Chinese, he says.
But he says he has no regrets for the decisions he took while he was still Minister of Small Businesses.
“I was there to push policies that would result in the growth of Basotho businesses.”

As a result of his direct, forthright manner, Phori has built an unwanted reputation as a trouble-maker among his political opponents.
But he denies he is out to court trouble.
“Which trouble am I making, I not a criminal,” he says. “If it is political, I take a stand on issues and stand by that decision; I am not a puppet.”
Phori says he is a successful businessman in his own right and was driven into politics to improve the lot of Basotho.

“I’m a reasonable guy, a businessman; I came into politics not to make money but to push the vision of the old man.
“We needed to support that vision and bring changes to the lives of the poorest of the poor.”
But with Thabane out of politics, Phori says he is also done with politics although he will continue to back newly elected Prime Minister Majoro.
That is necessary to keep the ABC intact and keep the DC out of power at the next elections in 2022, he says.
He however says he cannot bring himself to work with the DC in a coalition government because it presided over the killing of people when they were still in power between 2015 and 2017 and sent him into exile in South Africa twice since 2014.
“When politics becomes tough, the DC resorts to violence and now our people connived with them to work with them. I just cannot work with such people.”

“They connived with the enemies of the party which is the DC to bring down our leader. The DC specifically said they would not want to work with myself and Thabane.”

Phori says he was in a faction that backed Prince Maliehe and did not support Majoro for the leadership position adding the former finance boss “caused him lots of stomach aches”.
“But I have healed now and will support him fully as my Prime Minister. I will also support whoever is nominated to stand to stand for the ABC at the next elections.”

Phori was born on March 6, 1976 to a father who was a Basotho Congress Party (BCP) activist. His father was killed for political reasons in 1983.
Without his father who was the breadwinner, Phori says he had to assist his mother from a very young age to help her brew traditional beer which they sold to raise money for the family.
It was a tough upbringing which prepared him for the hassle and tumble of life.

“I never had time to play with other children and that made me grow up fast,” he says.
When other children were busy playing, I was already shouldering responsibilities of looking after my siblings, he says.
“I learnt to be self-reliant from a very young age. That helped me a lot. I do not lean on anyone’s shoulders for support. I fight for whatever I want.
“I don’t follow the crowd. I follow what I think is correct even if I am alone.”

Abel Chapatarongo