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Lesotho election: Prime Minister Mosisili challenged by former allies
Born on February 2, 1967, Metsing is the youngest of the main candidates vying to become prime minister.
He is campaigning on a call for the government to take a majority stake in Lesotho’s mining operations, mainly in diamonds. He has also promised to boost salaries for factory workers, currently at 900 maloti (US$108).
Unions insist on a 2,020 maloti (US$243) basic salary, a demand they pushed in a three-day strike last year that was put down violently, leaving one person dead.
Metsing accuses Mosisili of nepotism, but he faces the tricky task of convincing voters that as LCD secretary general, he had nothing to do with the behavior that he condemns.
“We are one nation. The discrimination that has been going on in this country has not yielded us any fruits. It did not only apply to those of other parties, it extended to LCD members and it is not right,” Metsing said on one campaign stop.
The third horse in the race, Tom Thabane, broke away from the LCD six years ago and now hopes the party’s latest split will create an opening for him.
At 72, Thabane is the oldest of the main contenders. A former foreign minister, he was once seen as Mosisili’s heir apparent.
