Complacency will sink the ABC

Believe it or not, I was once a top tennis player. Well, maybe not top-top but talented. However, one thing that I lacked was a secret ingredient named discipline and this used to get me in endless fights with my coach, Sekhobe Moshoeshoe. So, Abuti Sekhobe as he was affectionately known at the National Tennis Courts, would shout at me and say, “uena monna ‘Mako, u tseba tennis feela ha u na discipline”. Well, those words fell on deaf ears because I knew I had talent over everything and this resulted into an element of complacency and a spice of arrogance. Back in the 1990’s, we would all converge at the National Tennis Courts in the winter season, around June to be specific. There used to be a tennis tournament named the Lesotho Open and it was a big tournament when Lesotho was still alive before 4+1 cabs arrived. I entered the tournament and was paired to play against one good friend of mine that shall remain anonymous. Mainly because his uncle said he’s a loyal follower of these opinion pieces so I don’t want to embarrass anyone in the family. So, this was around 1997, first round, first match, I thought, no man, I’ll take this as a practice match because my friend was just so bad at tennis, I could even defeat him playing with my eyes closed. That’s how bad he was. To win a match, one had to win three sets. Then we started and I bagged the first two sets with relative ease. Smooth-sailing. On the third and deciding sets, arrogance came in and I thought, this would be a good chance to showcase my tennis skills. We call it showboating in soccer. I started hitting the tennis with the racket from the back. Then take the racket and hit the tennis ball from between my legs. I don’t know how to best to describe it in words but the sound went something like, “tha, tha, tha”. Well, unfortunately, mistakes crept in. I started making one silly mistake after another and lost the first set. Then lost the second set and drew 2-2. I guess sanity prevailed when I realised that was on the brink of losing. Then anxiety crept in and more mistakes were made until the horror of horrors was witnessed. My friend had defeated me on the first round and I was out of the tournament. Just like that, I was out and straight to the benches. My friend was over-joyed because he had achieved the unthinkable. After each match, as standard procedure, we would be asked to shake hands as a gesture to show good sportsmanship. Guess what, I felt so robbed and decided to walk off. Then my friend, said, “But ‘Mako we were supposed to shake hands”, I replied and said, “Hee monna, voetsek!” and walked away in shame and that was the last time I ever set foot on a tennis court. Complacency and arrogance got the best of me. I felt defeated in a manner that Serena Williams got knocked out by Naomi Osaka in the previous Australian open. She felt so defeated that she even vowed to quit. I guess the thought of being defeated by a 23-year-old got to Serena William’s mind. But the thought of knowing that she’s the best of the best made her complacent. This is the kind of complacency we saw, when Donald J Trump was campaigning for the previous elections. Trump thought in his heart and mind that victory was inevitable and he became arrogant. He even named his opponent, Sleepy Joe. That’s why his supporters wanted to fight. Trump underestimated his opponent and became complacent and this is what I fear might just happen to the All Basotho Convention (ABC) in the coming 2022 elections. The current infighting within the All Basotho Convention has got everyone worried on a number of variables. My main worry is the threat to potential investment that comes with it. As I mentioned in the previous opinion pieces, political instability affects prospects of investment and this in turn has a knock-on effect on prospects of creating jobs. In essence, Lesotho is not creating jobs because there’s simply little to no investment. Political instability affects everyone. It’s not only the political infighting that I see as a problem within the ABC but the level of complacency that has resulted in arrogance to some of the party members. Complacency to some ABC members means, “We are overconfident that we’ll win the 2022 elections.” Complacency could also mean that, “We know we are the biggest party in the country and winning is inevitable.” This mind-set is very dangerous. This is not only dangerous for the ABC but also for the entire nation. In conclusion, my forecast of the 2022 elections is that should the ABC field Dr Majoro as the face of the elections, defeat is inevitable. That is the undeniable truth because Dr Majoro is unknown at the grassroots level. If I knew Dr Majoro on a personal basis, I would advise him to resign or step down after qualifying for his benefits as the PM. This will give the ABC party space and time to decide its destiny. Dr Majoro should just go home and enjoy his benefits of being a former PM. This will also protect his integrity after the ABC loses elections. A itulele foranteng, a itjelle morara and avoid the stress of campaigning for the next elections. He will age before his time. The ABC will have no one to blame but itself after the inevitable defeat. Scenario two; Should the ABC field Professor Mahao as the face of the 2022 campaign, defeat is inevitable as well because he’s totally unknown to the electorate. This then leaves the ABC in a very tight corner without credible options. At the same time, the ABC has urgent matters to deal with. These are matters such as the pending legal matters surrounding Ntate Tom and Mme ‘Maesaiah. Unfortunately, as much as Mme ‘Maesiah is positioning herself to be prospective MP in Mokhotlong, the electorate may see her as a huge liability. The question still remains, what will the ABC report back to the electorate in the 2022 elections? Time has run out without delivering on any of the promises made in 2017. As the last word, I think we might witness a surge of small parties in the coming elections. Small parties may just outmaneuver the big parties to form a coalition government ea mokou yet again. ‘Mako Bohloa