Matekane’s 5-year strategic plan

IN our last week’s edition, we carried a story headlined, ‘‘Matekane’s five-year strategic plan,” which explained how the government intends to develop Lesotho over the next few years.

We must state that the strategic plan really looks impressive. Our only reservation is that the plan looks so broad to the extent that the government seems so eager to do so much in such a little time.

We would have liked the government to break down the plan to a few issues that need urgent addressing and are easier to implement given the state of its finances.

But generally, we are in full agreement with the vision as articulated in the National Strategic Development Plan for 2023/27.

Without a cohesive and cogent plan, the government would be fumbling in the dark and will not be able to bring the necessary changes that the people have been clamouring for the past five years.

Having articulated its vision, the people can see where Prime Minister Sam Matekane wants to take Lesotho which makes it easier for every Mosotho regardless of political persuasion to pull in the same direction.

That is critical if we are, extricate ourselves from the jaws of poverty and put Lesotho on the path to economic development. We need to look at the Rwanda-model to see that it can be possible to have a quick turn-around in economic fortunes.

After reading the document, it has become clear that Matekane is aware of the scale of work that needs to be done to roll back poverty and take Lesotho to the next level of development.

Half of Lesotho’s 2 million people are living in abject poverty. The unemployment rate is currently standing at over 20 percent, according to aid agencies.

Our private sector is so small that it is not creating enough jobs to absorb graduates from universities and colleges.

Without the support of donors, whom we euphemistically call development partners, the majority of Basotho would starve to death. This is the reality that needs to be turned around.

We are excited though that the National Strategic Development Plan for the 2023/27 successfully identifies the problem and goes on to prescribe what appears to be the correct medication to cure what ails Lesotho.

We will only cite two issues in this editorial: the push to revolutionise the agriculture sector and the decision to set up a National Social Security Fund.

The National Social Security Fund will be a contributory scheme for the employer and employee and will pay benefits to workers in the event they lose their jobs, are impaired or they retire.

As we have seen elsewhere, the fund is the surest way that pensioners can be looked after when they most need the funds.

It can also underwrite Lesotho’s economic development as it has the potential to amass lots of resources that can be invested into the country’s future.

The funds that will be generated will be pushed towards sustainable development within Lesotho. That way, we will build Lesotho together.

But the success of the fund will hinge on whether the government appoints the right calibre of technocrats to drive the strategy. It must break with the old, irritating habit of making appointments on the basis of political affiliation.

We need competent individuals to drive the implementation of the strategic plan. If the government botches the hiring, then it must be prepared for the consequences.

Matekane will only need to look next door in South Africa to see that the “cadre deployment policy” does not work.