No honour among Basotho men

A wise man once said, tough times create tough men. Tough men create good times. Good times create weak men. Weak men create tough times and yet again, tough times create tough men. It is a cycle of life. The question is: Why are we currently going through tough times in Lesotho?

As you’re busy scratching your head and thinking about the answer, I would like to open this week’s opinion piece with the following verses as food for thought. We start with, Isaiah 48:22 as well as Isaiah 57:21. Also read Proverbs 21:10. What do they say?

I once had a thought-provoking conversation with Chaba Mokuku about four years ago. As we were about to start our meeting, Mokuku highlighted a very interesting point that has been stuck on my mind since.

Mokuku said: “The problem with the current state of our country is that our economic challenges and hardship have turned even the most honest and honourable men into unethical people (‘litsotsi’) in order to survive a dog-eat-dog environment named Lesotho.”

I thought, damn! He hit the nail on the head. I didn’t say much to respond but took a moment to absorb those words and they summarised the state of our economy, politics, marriages and relations in our country. All I could say was, Hmmm!

You know, my friend ‘Moea Makhakhe once posted something very funny on Facebook about four to five years ago. He said something like, “I’m here to accompany a friend for the confirmation of his daughter at the Roman Catholic Church (Cathedral). The church is packed to capacity and all unethical people you can think about, are present in church.”

What do these two statements say about the current state of affairs? On the contrary, tough times have created very unethical people in Lesotho. Yes, people need to put bread on the table but they take short cuts to do so.

However, the problem is that the system has been corrupted to an extent where ethics and principles have been flushed down the drain in order for people to survive. Generally, Basotho ke litsotsi (Basotho are unethical people).

Why do I say so? What is the root cause of instability in our coalition governments, since 2012? Second question, what is the root cause of high failure of business partnerships in Lesotho? What is the root cause of conflict in political parties, churches and families in Lesotho? Ke botsotsi (unethical behaviour).

Let me demonstrate something to you. Have you realised that when you see two Basotho men having a conversation somewhere along Kingsway Road or Pioneer Mall, nine out of ten times, chances are, they are busy gossiping. Only once in ten time times, that you may find them discussing business in order to make Lesotho a better place.

But most often, Basotho men gossip about ways in which they can put/pull another man down. This is the unfortunate truth about us, Basotho people. We have become so untrustworthy to a point where investors are afraid to inject their hard earned money in our country.

There’s just no way one can pour money into an economy full of unethical people. Yet again, look at our coalition governments. Nine out of ten times, they fail because of one political party leader that will start having unethical talks with members of a rival political party, behind the back/backs of other members they are in government with. This then creates a breach of trust.

That’s why our coalition governments often have a life-span of about 18-24 months (two years). Mainly because, within the first 12-18 months, leaders of a coalition government start having illicit meetings (linakeli), mainly at night, with their rivals. What are politicians discussing at night that can’t be discussed during the day?

The same can be said about our business partnerships. In most cases, you find that business partnerships collapse due to lack of transparency and ethics. There will be one director that will start to syphon money out of the business for personal use. That’s why most Basotho men carry guns.

But these points really highlight a very pertinent question about our make-up of our character as Basotho men. Leshano la bona ekare la bana. O hlo qale ka bana ba lipolotiki (Their lies are unprofessional. Start with the politicians).

Does this mean we have to revisit the conversation about making Lebollo mandatory for Basotho men? Or a compulsory national service at Lesotho Defence Force because discipline, patriotism and honesty are qualities that are lacking?

Where are the strong men? Where are the men of honour? Why do I bring this up?

I remember being told of a funny story about Bushiri. Sorry, Bushiri.

So, the story was that Bushiri was invited to hold a crusade at Setsoto Stadium in Maseru, a couple of years ago. One of the conditions that Bushiri had was that he does not want even a cent from Basotho.

No contributions (zero koleke) because Basotho people are infested with a deceiving demon (Letemona la bolotsana). And when I heard this, I said spot on! Hee hoba Basotho ba bolotsana. Ehlile ba na le letemona la bolotsana. (Because Basotho are really deceiving. They really do have the deceiving demon) (Proverbs 21: 10).

Ache, hee feela re’a itlontlolla (we have no shame. Imagine Bushiri telling you that you are out of order. It’s the same thing as a 4+1 driver telling you to drive carefully. “Hee monga’ka, ako khanne hantle hle moholoane.” (Sir, please drive carefully).

In closing, I felt the need to write this piece because we are our own worst enemies and we are simply going nowhere with these attitudes. Change starts with the men in the mirror and not Ntate Matekane.

I know that we are all waiting for the Matekane effect, where a politician will just come up after elections and change everything in the blink of an eye. No! Change starts with a man in the mirror.

There is no pleasure in pulling each other down and celebrating when another man cannot pay school fees for his children.

There is no celebration when a wife of one of your friends or rival approaches you to borrow money to pay school fees. Unfortunately, these are the type of things that Basotho men celebrate. They are their ultimate ego boosters.

In closing, when the Afrikaner community established the Afrikaner Broederbond (brother-hood), the sole purpose of it was to rise collectively, by lifting each up.

Look at the things they were able to achieve in a short space of time (Sasol). But the ultimate principle was to respect one another. That was the glue of the Broederbond.

On the contrary, Basotho men don’t respect one other (ha ba hlomphane. Baa tellana), hence their downfall.

‘Mako Bohloa