‘Clean up toxic politics’

MASERU – LEBOHANG Thotanyana, the Basotho Action Party (BAP)’s secretary-general, has had a taste of both the government and the private sector. He knows the struggle of building a business from scratch in a country where access to capital and opportunities are hogged by a select few.

As a minister, he witnessed how vested interests sabotage government policies and hurt the poor. He has been on boards of private companies, parastatals as well as local and regional institutions.
What he has learned in all those positions is that nearly everything rises and falls on politics.

“Everything is political. If the politics of the country is wrong nothing much moves the government, even the private sector,” he says.

“Lesotho is in this mess because of a political culture and leadership whose toxic nature permeates every facet of our society, government, national institutions and private sector.”

Thotanyana says the “rotten political system has created an environment in which corruption, rent-seeking and patronage festers”.

“We now have a situation where everyone has to be in politics or be connected to political players to be part of the select few enjoying the national cake at the expense of the majority.”

“But as that cake continues to shrink even those eating more than their fair share start to feel threatened because they want it all for themselves”.

He says this explains the birth of the Revolution for Prosperity (RFP), a party founded and dominated by some of the richest people in Lesotho.

“In essence, the entire private sector of Lesotho is now in politics because we have a system in which prosperity is based on either political office or political connections.”

“By joining active politics, the business people are confirming that the money is in politics. They are admitting that there is only one pot in this country and it is in politics.”

Thotanyana worries that once the lines between politics and business are blurred, corruption will intensify as those who make the policies are the ones who stand to benefit the most from them. The danger, he says, is that once in power the business people will turn the cabinet into a boardroom driven by profit rather than the people’s welfare.

“The rich people are not joining politics to serve the poor but to protect and shore up their interests.”

“We have entered a dangerous era in which those who have benefited from their political connections are now seeking to use the proceeds of their corruption and patronage to take the reins of power.”

“If business was more profitable than politics none of those rich people would invest their time and money to seek political office.”

He predicts a “disaster if the RFP becomes government because that would mean that money and political power are held by the same people”. The problem with that, Thotanyana opines, is that those same rich people have always used their money to influence the politics of the country to push and protect their personal interests.

“Only a few of them can claim to be self-made business people. The majority built their empires on their dealings with the government.”

“They helped corrupt the government but now claim they can help clean it up. Imagine what would happen when they now control the levers of power that helped them become rich?”

He says most of these in the RFP have continued to amass wealth through government connections even when the economy has been shrinking and the gap between the poor and the rich widened.

To illustrate this he points to the fact that Lesotho is ranked eighth among the most unequal societies. He says while the majority has been sinking in poverty, the few business people have become richer mainly because of government contracts.

“The same people who have benefited from a rigged system are now seeking to take over the system. We should be very afraid.”
Thotanyana believes the solution to the country’s ills is not the private sector joining the government but reforming the whole political system.

“You don’t reform politics by turning the private sector into a political party.”

He believes his BAP is better positioned to change the politics of this country. He says BAP wants to build a government “that puts Basotho first and is anchored in pro-poor policies”.

It is a message that the BAP has been trying to drive home even as the arrival of the RFP has drastically changed the political landscape ahead of the October elections.

Thotanyana says although money seems to have taken over Lesotho’s politics, meaningful change will come from political parties rooted in sound policies to grow the economy, rid the government of corruption and respect the rule of law.

The current government, he says, has failed to curb corruption and build a just society.

“The government is not meeting its obligations to both the masses and the business community. The civil service is polarised from the minister right to the lowest ranks.”

“No one is accountable. We want to be a government that gives Basotho opportunities and services without discrimination on any grounds.”

The former Minister of Mines says in addition to favouring a few local business people, successive governments have created an economy in which foreigners have a better chance of thriving than locals.

Basotho have been crowded out of small businesses that have always been ring-fenced for them. He says the governments have bastardised the meaning of foreign direct investment to mean any small capital that comes into the country.

The result, he explains, is that foreigners are opening bars, saloons and tuckshops in the name of foreign investment. At the same time, key sectors of the economy are still dominated by foreign-owned conglomerates that do very little to promote local entrepreneurs.

Thotanyana points to the retail sector which he says is dominated by the South Africans and Asians.

“Lesotho is not growing because it has surrendered its manufacturing capacity to foreign companies. Because we have not built our industries, we have to rely on imports”.

He says the tide of imports extends beyond manufactured products. It frustrates him that Lesotho still imports cereals, meat, eggs, dairy products and vegetables. This, he argues, is not because Basotho are not farming.

“It’s just that the marketing system is rigged in favour of imports. The retailers are not compelled to buy local because there are no regulations to support such policies. The Covid-19 pandemic showed that we are helplessly beholden to imports.”

He says the dominant retail shops are allowed to get away with lame excuses to avoid supporting local farmers.

“They will tell you about standards and packaging. Yet we all know that they don’t apply the same standards when it comes to South African farmers.”

“If the government limits imports, the retail shops will be forced to buy local. It is through their support that the farmers can attain the standards they demand.”

He however admits that for that to happen the government should support farmers to scale up their operations and build the value chain. He says subsidies will help but the real solution lies in improving the farmers’ access to finance. Thotanyana is sceptical that the commercial banks will support local farmers.

He notes that even after measures to help Basotho acquire the collateral and identity documents, and credit information – all crucial to getting loans – banks are still shunning local farmers and entrepreneurs.

“But ten years later their lending to the local market has not changed. They are still lending to a select few. An ordinary Mosotho will not get funding from the commercial banks.”

“This is why the BAP government will create a development bank. Most African countries have such banks because commercial banks do not support local investors. It’s particularly urgent in

Lesotho because the commercial banks are controlled from South Africa.”

He wants to see the Basotho Enterprise Development Corporation (Bedco) playing a bigger role in funding and nurturing businesses. He is however quick to point out that funding alone will not guarantee the success of local businesses.

“We will train artisans through technical colleges to bridge the skills gap. Part of the reason we have high unemployment is due to our unhealthy fixation with degrees. We should be doing more to equip our people with practical skills.”

“Today the government has so many vacancies that cannot be filled because we don’t have people with the right skills.”

Thotanyana says the success of these policies will however depend on building a strong party that will be stable enough to last in government. The BAP, he says, is not only deepening its roots in the communities but also strengthening its structures and procedures to avoid the pitfalls of internal strife that have felled other parties.

He believes that internal squabbles are about processes and procedures.

“The other cause of disputes is that people create artificial challenges because of self-interests. Whenever there is self-interest the outcome will always be disputed.”

“We also have to understand that Lesotho’s problems are caused by a battle for the limited resources. When the resources and opportunities are few, people fight for political office because they believe that gives them access.”

“This is a result of our failure to grow the economy and expand the national cake”.

Staff Reporter