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LesothoVictory of the millionaire candidate, but no absolute majority
Sam Matekane, 64, made his fortune in the diamond mines. He won the most seats in parliament on Friday.
Sam Matekane made his fortune in the diamond mines.
AFP
Surprise candidate, the millionaire Sam Matekane, 64, who made his fortune in the diamond mines, obtains the largest number of seats in the Parliament of Lesotho, without reaching an absolute majority, announced Monday the electoral commission. Defying all the predictions of experts, his Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) movement, created just six months before Friday’s poll, won 56 seats out of 120 in total, according to the final results.
The other two parties that have dominated the political landscape so far, the Democratic Congress (DC) and the All Basotho Convention (ABC), won 29 and 8 seats respectively. Mr. Matekane, considered the richest man in the small landlocked country in the territory of South Africa, is expected to become prime minister. However, he will have to form a coalition to govern the constitutional monarchy, marked by strong political instability. “All these successive governments, we have supported them” financially, confided to AFP Mr. Matekane, stocky physique, short hair and fine mustache, the day before the election. “But we realized we had to take matters into our own hands.”
Lesotho, one of the poorest countries on the planet, “is sinking: we businessmen must save it”, said the candidate, a fan of motorcycle racing, who likes to go fast . He proposes to revive the economy, to overcome the public debt, without dwelling on the details or the method. The former herdsman, seventh of fourteen children, grew up in a family of peasants in the highlands, in the center of the country nicknamed “the kingdom in the sky”. He enjoys colloquial jokes and displays uninhibited wealth, though he refuses to give away the amount of his fortune.
“His reputation and anger”
At the head of a myriad of companies gathered under the entity Matekane Group of Companies (MGC), he runs a company operating the Letseng mine where the 5th largest diamond in the world (910 carats) was discovered in 2018. He gained popularity by building schools, a stadium or a theater. It finances scholarships and sponsors the national football federation. During the coronavirus pandemic, he participated in the purchase of vaccines.
In the streets, many were demanding change and better living conditions. The predominantly rural population, more than 30% of whom live on less than $1.90 a day according to the World Bank, is stunned by endemic unemployment at 22.5%. “He will have to work hard to satisfy the people who have shown their trust in him,” notes political scientist Tlohang Letsie of the National University of Lesotho. “His reputation and people’s anger towards other parties allowed him to win votes,” he told AFP. Some 1.5 million voters were called to vote on Friday for around fifty parties.
(AFP)
