God save the King!

I see them march in neat formation on the parade grade, and the landscapes of summer are as dry as the barren days of deep winter. Then I get the thought that the man that is concerned and worried about the future of their land knows that the time has come, that the moment is here to understand the true meanings of the term patriotism. That the time has come when the citizens should take their white gloves off and get to work or go to war with whatever it is that is calling the vultures from their perches high on the red cliffs to circle the skies of this mountainous land. I see the sight of the newly elevated privates on this day of the pass-out ceremony as similar to that of a woman heavily pregnant, a huge calabash of freshly drawn water on her head. She walks with the heavy gait of someone weighed down by the heavy bucket of water, weighed down by the promise of a better future slowly growing in her belly. I see a woman worn and tired by the long distance she has had to travel to get to the trickle of water whose sources are slowly drying up in the heat of the sun and the incessant sandstorms. This is the song that drives these young men and women that have been hard at training in the Makoanyane Infantry School and other training locations for the past 11 months. One can tell from the beauty of their marching formations that they speak in one tongue; in the language of the patriot that knows unity in movement equals progress. The wells in their home villages may have all dried up; the wells in the next village are all dried up too, so the soldiers have had to walk the many kilometres to a riverbed whose flow is a thousand trickles less than that of a weak stream in winter. I see the expression on their faces and, I realise that they are not just tired… the fiery flicker in their eyes is the same as one sees in the eyes of those that will fight to the end for their land that has been ravaged by a civil war driven by poverty and starvation. The skies above are dotted with pale cirrus clouds scattered in patterns that promise no rain, there was just a slight drizzle on this morning of the 30th of October, 2020 when the crowds of spectators come to watch the pass-out ceremony arrive. It has not rained this year, and I frankly believe this is what the whole country should be worried about. Political rigmarole discussed by pseudo-politicians cum radio personalities just won’t help any one of us faced with the worst drought in our region this time around. Political wrangling as hinted in the speeches of the day should not rob the young privates of their commitment to serving the country and the kingdom to the best of their ability. Politics in Africa have generally not helped anyone with anything except to give them endless worry and uncertainty. The politicians come, and they go, and in their wake leave the problems of the previous political era. To me, the fervour and fanaticism at election time is just another badly scripted performance of a lame Scaramouch in which the actors dismally fail to understand their given parts and roles. The young soldiers burning the grade on the Makoanyane parade all understand their role and parts if the display of orderliness is to be taken to heart. Their call is unlike the promises made at campaign rallies that are just like cotton candy; it promises to be a huge ball of sweetness that soon melts on your tongue and leaves you feeling sick… not wanting to ever eat it again. And if the campaign lasts as long as it does like it seems to be happening with some of this country’s personalities, then one is forced to take their white gloves off, and put on their steel-toed boots and knuckledusters and punch the bedevil out of a media that seems to have forgotten their right role in society. Most of the country’s politicians disguised as radio personalities have forgotten their right role in society; they have instead bellicose political ambitions in its place. And the mantras which they chant about instability threaten the very ‘democracy’ they want to stabilise, because the institutions of security are often short-changed when it comes to compensation for efforts made. We have the most underpaid officers on average in the world, and this is not equal to the expectations we have of them to uphold law and order. My question to the politicians in this land is: Do you know what ‘democracy’ in a kingdom means? Do you know what democracy ‘basically’ means? One has to warn these seemingly ‘war-mongering’ smart alecs that their verbose and loquacious statements on radio and other media are corrosive to the substance of our much-needed democracy. Democracy even in its simplest form is much broader than just a special political form, and it is not just a method of conducting government, of making laws and carrying on governmental administration by means of popular suffrage (poll) and elected officers. This seems to be the religious code and belief for many of these fake dimwit politicians in the cloth of newsmakers. Democracy is much, much broader and deeper than the definition above. It is even deeper, considering that this country is a kingdom where there are voting and non-voting citizens whose interest in politics is limited and subliminal. John Dewey defines democracy in ‘human’ terms as: “The necessity for the participation of every mature human being in formation of the values that regulate the living of men together; which is necessary from the standpoint of both the general social welfare and the full development of human beings as individuals.” Democracy is not exclusive (it does not include only the voting citizens and party members) but involves those little children who have not reached voting age, those mentally ill individuals that walk our streets, senior citizens whose age and state prevent them from going to the polling station on election day, foreign immigrants and émigrés who cannot vote due to their state of citizenship, and those individuals who consciously choose not to be involved in the political phase of government and citizenship. Democracy includes all, considers all… if it is executed the right way. That some individuals feel or behave in a manner that says only their political will needs to be expressed in any manner they wish at any moment is at best obtuse and unpatriotic. Such is the behaviour of individuals that believe more in the colours of their political party than in the colours on the flag of our sacred kingdom; lacking in honourable essence as human beings and as good citizens. The separatist manner in which politicians conduct their interviews or talk-shows is full of divisive ideas and attitudes that sow seeds of dissent in their supporters. And they are executed in a manner that is condescending to those that happen to disagree with them. In blunt terms; what these personalities air as political view is insulting to the political intelligence/s of those that understand the true gist of political democracy in a monarchy like ours. Political opinion, thought, policy and philosophy should never be seen as surpassing the authority of the kingship that in reality begot us this beautiful kingdom under the perilous circumstances of the Lifaqane wars and marauding gangs of greedy colonisers. Morena Moshoeshoe oa Pele and his progeny (which amazingly includes all citizens of this here land of Lesotho) must not be harangued and abused by ‘celebrity’ radio and media ‘personalities’ that celebrate not the sanctity of political freedom or the persons of the king and his subjects. Political democracy and its personages is a temporal affair (it lasts a mere five years or less) that should not in any way threaten the guiding wisdom of a kingdom and a monarchy that has lasted close to two centuries. That some plebeian riff raff who has read an obscure passage in a book by some charlatan philosopher of vague and questionable origins thinks they can impose some inane political view as change is an insult to Basotho. It is also against the spirit of patriotism that is fostered by believing in oneness as the soldier boys and girls have always held since the inception of the current defence force in 1978. Basotho do not need a change that will lead to their separation as a tribe, nation, or people; not when so many of their true patriotic forefathers bled and sweated to keep this kingdom united. The countenance of Moshoeshoe I should be the only totemic figure we should revere as a people (if we are true to our Bosotho). His all-embracing leadership formula and the basic but universal philosophy of true forgiveness he taught and acted in his lifetime, should be what guides the thought, the act and the interaction of his Basotho people and those who come to visit Lesotho. Be aware that King Moshoeshoe had no concept of the ‘other’ guiding his sacred kingdom in his lifetime. He saw all men as equal and the same no matter their place of origin or tribe; he taught and acted out the fact that all of us are at the end of the day just human, human enough to live in peace if we stopped denigrating each on the basis of origin, religious tenet, or belief. Politics have taught polarisation from the first day they began in this country; politics have taught that party colour, emblem, and slogan makes men different;take the ‘congress and national’ debate that is now 54 years old as a living example. I choose not to believe this lie, because I have seen the real truth, and the truth is that the essence of my Bosotho may lie in watching how united in formation and discipline the soldiers of this here land are when it comes to dealing with safety and security issues of our land. Any and every politically driven fanatic must remember a few things first before giving their half-baked and untested view. First, they should remember that this is the land of our forefathers who had King Moshoeshoe I as their sovereign king. Morena Moshoeshoe oa Pele and his progeny in the royal house are of more relevance to the Basotho than the passing five-year (or less) political term in office or government. Third, politics in Lesotho are really (not relatively) young and can therefore not inform the proper essence of the government of the Basotho. If we go on raving and ranting about freedom but starve our soldiers, correction service officers and the police, our words are reminiscent to the screams of a hypocrite. Fourth, we have an ‘established’ system of social hierarchy which politics has managed to desecrate to the shabby state it is now in; where disorder in many social practices is now a ‘new usual’. We have children to protect from future hopelessness, and we have a social system under the guardianship of our king and the security forces under his watch. There is need therefore to prevent further damage by politics because the value of the security forces to our democracy is priceless. Our sense of patriotism should teach us that they should be addressed or referred to in a manner appropriate to their status in society or family. Remember that politics as mentioned earlier is in reality a new method and practice of governance to the Basotho. Thinking and believing that it will erase the essence of Bosotho from the Basotho is as futile as thinking that a toddler can relate a better life story than a 70-year-old grandfather. The campaign trails blazed by politicians should at some point be forgotten and the focus should be on progress. Incessant screaming and raucous caucuses on the air about political injustices must be forgotten this time, for they are futile, futile as spitting into the wind and expecting the wind to be disgusted by your spit. Believe me, the wind will just blow that spit back into your ungrateful face. Incessant bickering is similar to the proverbial whining of a stooge; it is soon dismissed as the nagging of the foolish that should be forgotten for sake of our national sanity and integrity as per the call of the security services officer and the structures that command him. It is time that we reflect on how we will support the campaign known as national reforms for the sake of the spirit of patriotism. God save our king and the Basotho people from this spirit of dissent sown by political corruption that has given birth to the poverty and starvation we see. Tšepiso S. Mothibi