Fired AG wants his job back

Lesotho’s axed Attorney-General Haae Phoofolo has filed an urgent High Court application to try to nullify Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro's decision to place him on ‘terminal leave’ pending the expiry of his contract in February 2021. The leave was with effect from 14 September. Majoro argued that he needed to facilitate the search for a successor. However, ‘well-placed government sources’ told the Lesotho Times that Majoro was under pressure from his All Basotho Convention (ABC). The party considered the 73-year-old as ‘old and incompetent’. It was also angered that he and Acting Chief Justice Maseforo Mahase sat on the Judicial Service Commission in August and recommended the appointment of five new judges. Phoofolo has asked the court to restore him to his post and revoke the appointment of Advocate Tšebang Putsoane as acting Attorney-General.