MKM: Sanity must now prevail

THE MKM saga could at last be heading towards finality after liquidators proposed a new deal that will see creditors being given shares in a new company. The MKM liquidators want the creditors to accept shares in exchange for the monies owed.
Under the proposed deal, the creditors will own shares in a new company that will be created out of the sale of the remaining MKM properties.
The liquidators have identified about 20 MKM properties across all districts that will be the main assets of the new company.
While the deal might not be sweet news to every Mosotho investor who was swindled of their hard-earned cash 11 years ago, it represents the best that can be salvaged under the circumstances.

We must emphasise from the beginning that MKM was an illegal Ponzi scheme.
It was an illegal investment scheme that was allowed to run with the tacit endorsement of those who were in power.
We would like to believe that those who invested in MKM did so with the full understanding that they could lose their investments.
But they took a gamble and lost.

And when the bubble finally burst in 2007, many were left in tears.
About 400 000 Basotho succumbed to that old human tendency – greed.
The prospect of a huge return on their investment was just too enticing.

Those who invested their monies in MKM must live with the simple fact that they lost. Expecting to recover their money in full when it sank in a Ponzi scheme is the height of naivety. It is against this background that those who invested in MKM must approach the news of a fresh deal with caution.
There is no need for excitement here. The returns from the shares are likely to be very minute.

That they could actually salvage something from the deal could be a real blessing for the investors.
They must therefore quickly embrace the move, cooperate with the liquidators and not throw any tantrums.
What they are being offered is what is there. We should recall that this was a Ponzi scheme and the bulk of the money was used to pay other players who were in the queue first.

Any attempt to embark on any activism or militancy will likely backfire. They must also understand that the liquidators are taking a fair share of what they deserve. Given the huge numbers of Basotho who invested in MKM, it is apparent that this issue had become a hot political potato that is too hot to handle. But we are happy that at last things are beginning to move, albeit slowly. Sanity must now prevail.