NGOs, media groups fight Lesotho govt’s attempted blackout of Famo music ‘terrorists’

Members of the Terene, a Lesotho group rooted in Famo, dance at The All Basotho Convention (ABC) electoral campaign rally in Maseru ahead of elections in 2022. (MOLISE MOLISE / AFP)

• The Lesotho government declared 12 Famo music groups illegal terror gangs.
• The media and civil society accuses government of promoting a dangerous precedent for censorship and the suppression of free speech.
• Politician Nkaku Kabi’s All Basotho Convention party is against the government’s banning of Famos.

Journalists and civil society in Lesotho are fighting a government demand for a media blackout of Famo music groups turned gangs.

Acceding would set a dangerous precedent for censorship, they say.

The media must “resist this blatant intimidation and to continue their crucial work of providing unbiased and comprehensive news coverage”, said Kananelo Boloetse, the chairperson of the Lesotho chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) said.

In early May, the government outlawed 12 Famo music groups, with Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs and Police Minister Lebona Fabian Lephema declaring them illegal entities.

A week later Mahlape Morai, then acting as Lesotho Mounted Police Service boss, told the media that it was a criminal act for journalists to publish interviews with the banned music groups.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reached out to Morai, who held firm, telling the organisation, “whatever you do, make sure you do not encourage or promote the illegal activities that are done by the Famo”, the CPJ said in a statement.

The CPJ’s Africa programme co-ordinator, Muthoki Mumo, argued that the police had no business dictating who journalists may or may not interview.

He also urged the police to “desist from any attempts to censor the press”.

The Transformation Resource Centre (TRC), a human rights group in Lesotho, said the government was using the 1984 Internal Security Act, “meant to operate in an authoritarian setting that does not subscribe to fundamental human rights and freedoms”, to enforce the blackout.

Famo gangs

Famo is a music genre that originated in Lesotho, featuring singing backed by an accordion, a drum, and sometimes a bass. 

It began in the drinking dens of Basotho migrant labourers in the 1920s.

But over the years, the music has come to be associated with gangs primarily linked to illegal gold mining in Lesotho and areas in South Africa bordering the mountain kingdom.

An Al Jazeera documentary last year traced the current spate of violent turf wars to Famo.

Lesotho Prime Minister Sam Matekane has since declared war on Famo gangs, calling them terrorists. 

In 2021, Lesotho’s murder rate was the 6th highest in the world. It was partly blamed on the rise of Famo vigilantes.

Famos have become a prominent feature in Lesotho’s social and political spaces. 

The All Basotho Convention (ABC) party of Nkaku Kabi is accused of supporting Famos because they allegedly fund the party.

Last week, Kabi condemned Matekane’s government for declaring Famos to be terrorist outfits.

Kabi’s main argument was that the music of the Famos is directly linked to the culture of the Basotho.

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