Maseru, April 02 — Professor Ntoi Rapapa is the new Alliance of Democrats (AD) Leader after beating his two competitors Dr Monyane Moleleki as well as Mr Mokoto Hloaele for the presidency position in the elective conference held at Leqele High School which ended on Sunday.
Prof. Rapapa was officially announced the AD Leader and was received with ululations, dancing and whistles inside a full house at Leqele High School hall after receiving a total of 1191 votes while his closest challenger Dr. Moleleki settled for 586 votes and Mr. Hloaele could only get two votes.
In his maiden speech as the new AD Leader Prof Rapapa urged the party members to still give Dr. Moleleki the respect he deserves as the party founder.
He also commended Dr. Moleleki’s loyalist Mr. Thuso Litjobo who despite having lost the position of party’s conference chairperson stayed behind throughout the announcing of the election results and even congratulated his challenger Mrs. ‘Maboiketlo Maliehe.
The new party leader urged the newly elected National Executive Committee to work based on the party’s constitution in order to be on the right track.
He appealed to the delegates to also return to their constituencies to work hard in order to ensure AD increased its constituencies in the National Assembly and to get a few cabinet positions.
“If you would like to be elected as community councillors in the upcoming Local Government Election elections which will be in September this year, you should start working hard now to increase AD membership” he highlighted.
Prof. Rapapa also appealed for the unity of the party, saying prior to the elective conference things were not going well due to vigorous campaigning to the extent that he almost left the conference fearing for his life but resolved to stay throughout the electioneering process.
However, things almost got out of hand with some AD members who were not satisfied with the announcement of the results disrupting the official announcement and had to be calmed down by the members of Lesotho Mounted Police Service present at the conference.
Prof. Rapapa who has been Deputy Leader, is now deputised by Dr. Thabiso Lebese and Secretary General is Mr. Tieho ‘Mamasiane and Mrs. ‘Marapelang Raphuthing is the new Treasurer, with Mrs. Maliehe retaining her position as chairperson.
AD has five seats in the National Assembly two of which are constituencies of Mosalemane and Malibamatsó while the rest are Proportional Representation (PR) seats.
AD is one of the three coalition partners following the October 7, 2022 General elections, together with Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) and Movement for Economic Change (MEC).
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