US embassy cable - 05MASERU563

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MASERU 000563 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
FOR AF/S 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KDEM, PGOV, EAID, LT 
SUBJECT: MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND MCC ISSUES. 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (SBU) Ambassador took advantage of October 18 and 25th 
meetings with the Minister of Local Government (then Acting 
Minister of Foreign Affairs) to raise not only multilateral 
issues but to seek her thinking on the consultative process 
essential to the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) process in 
Lesotho.  Minister Sekatle in her role as the Minister of Local 
Government has the responsibility to maintain constant 
communication with the 128 community councils in 10 districts 
that comprise Lesotho.  In that regard, the Ambassador and the 
U.S. Mission have provided substantial support through training 
and decentralization workshops prior to the 2005 local 
government elections.  Using these elections as a starting 
point, she re-emphasized the importance of decentralization and 
consistent communication with constituency as the government of 
Lesotho continues to carry out the proposal development stage of 
the Millennium Challenge process.  The Minister also raised the 
need for land reform and accurate registries to develop housing 
mortgage sector.  MCC's Country Representative Deidra Fair 
participated in the October 25 meeting.  End Summary. 
 
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ELECTORAL SUPPORT 
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2.  (SBU) Minister Sekatle expressed her deep thanks to the U.S. 
for its strong support before, during and after Lesotho's first 
local government elections since independence.  She said that 
the leadership role of the U.S. within the donor community had 
been an essential element in Lesotho's formal and peaceful local 
elections which resulted in over 50 percent of the seats being 
captured by women candidates.  She elaborated that without this 
type of international assistance, it would be difficult for 
Lesotho with its limited outreach and communication network to 
carry off such democractic processes in a comprehensive manner. 
Dr. Sekatle alluded to her country-wide travels as well as those 
of U.S. consultants in the electoral process.  The Ambassador 
responded that democracy building and support for gender equity 
are key elements of our foreign policy and strongly apply to 
countries like Lesotho who are in the process of further 
institutionalizing democracy.  She further indicated that with 
the 2007 national elections approaching, the U.S. would seek to 
provide continued support to Lesotho in the arena of democracy. 
 
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CONSTITUENCY OUTREACH 
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3.  (SBU) In that regard, the Ambassador reminded Minister 
Sekatle that consultations with the involvement of local 
communities remained essential, not only during electoral 
seasons, but should be a permanent hallmark of government 
decision-making particularly in the area of eliminating poverty 
and impaired quality of life in areas of water, housing and 
education.  The Minister stated she has been soliciting feedback 
from constituents in local government for nearly a year.  This 
was particularly applicable within the context of Lesotho's 
eligiblity for the MCA.  The Minister said that she felt a deep 
responsibility herself to do so, but was concerned that her 
Ministry had not been as integrated into the MCA sub-cabinet 
meetings as it should have been.  The Ambassador encouraged the 
Minister to make her opinions known and, since she was acting as 
the Minister of Foreign Affairs, she would be chairing the next 
sub-cabinet meeting on the Millennium Challenge Account proposal 
of Lesotho. 
 
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MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE ACCOUNT 
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4.  (SBU) In a follow-up meeting on October 25, the Ambassador 
reiterated the necessity for the collaborative process, and 
Minister Sekatle responded that she felt she had made 
substantial progress with the sub-cabinet group.  (Note: 
Ambassador invited MCC Country Representative Deidra Fair to sit 
in on the Ambassador's discussion with the Minister.  End Note) 
Dr. Sekatle felt that she had been empowered to make her 
interest known to the Cabinet as a whole and that she was fully 
committed to carrying on with the decentralization and 
communication process.  Minister Sekatle was also reminded of 
the necessity for coordination between her Ministry and the 
Ministry of Finance, which has the lead on the Millennium 
Challenge process.  The Minister then invited her Principal 
Secretary Mrs. Matabane to join the meeting.  During the 
 
SIPDIS 
remainder of the discussion, Ambassador also asked that the 
Minister try to work out with her team and Ministry of Finance 
team a concrete schedule aimed at surveying the 128 
constituencies to continue the consultative process that she had 
been very much engaged in during the past year concerning their 
specific needs as outlined by the Basotho, i.e. economic 
development, eliminating poverty, developing housing and 
 
MASERU 00000563  002 OF 002 
 
 
democracy building.  The Minister reiterated her support for 
this process and enthusiastically raised the issue of land 
reform and development of a functioning registry of property 
throughout the country.  We re-emphasized the importance of the 
Land Reform Act in Parliament; the Minister stated, as had the 
Minister of Finance in numerous conversations in concert with 
the Minister of Trade (reftel), it is in their best interest to 
see that this law would in Parliament.  (Note:  Finance Minister 
Thahane reiterated October 31 his intent to present the 
legislation during the current Parliamentary session.  End Note.) 
 
5.  (SBU) Firm agreement was reached on meetings to be held 
between the working groups of the Minister of Local Government 
and Finance at the appropriate levels with feedback and further 
information from the U.S. Ambassador as needed and requested. 
 
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COMMENT 
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6.  (SBU) We believe that some of the internal tensions that 
have existed between the Ministries of Local Government and 
Finance -- both crucial to addressing the issue of poverty 
elimination -- have been substantially alleviated.  On October 
26, the Ambassador spoke with the Minister of Finance and 
informed him that poverty elimination and consultancy had been 
raised with his colleague, the Minister of Local Government.  We 
believe that there is now a clearer understanding of U.S. goals 
and objectives and we hoped that this would translate into 
collaborative work on the part of Lesotho's varied ministries to 
achieve those objectives.  Finance Minister Thahane responded 
that he was indeed aware that we had consulted with relevant 
ministries, was grateful for the intercession, believed our 
intervention had been positive, and would assist the Cabinet 
Subcommittee in advancing its teamwork on the issues of poverty 
reduction, land/housing reform, gender equity, and the 
consultancy process. 
 
7.  (SBU) On October 28, in a follow up discussion with MFA 
Moleleki, he also noted the positive role played by U.S. 
representatives in keeping various elements of the GOL apprised 
of U.S. policy direction and stated that the GOL's internal 
coordination benefited from a deeper understanding of our 
overall goals and objectives which MFA characterized as 
consistent with Lesotho's own national vision for the next 10 
years.  (This message was cleared by MCC Country Director Deidra 
Fair.)  End Comment 
 
 
 
PERRY