Our public buildings are not fire compliant

Sesotho sa ka se re, “Mollo, ke mahlopha a senya.” Butleng, ke re Sesotho sa ka. Nna! Before I start, allow me to wish you the very best in the New Year. I wish you good health, good quality jobs, good quality education and bank accounts full of money. Yes, unfortunately, those are some of the promises we are yet to hear, as we usher in the election season of the year 2022. We are yet to hear all sorts of promises and mostly blatant lies (mashano) on job creation. I’ve simply lost faith in our politicians and political system at large. Polotiki tsa Lesotho li fetohile polotiki tsa maselamose. Motho o le tšepisa bohobe bo tlotsuoeng ka botoro le jeme pele a khethoa. Ha le qeta ho mo khetha, o le fa hlama a re ke bona bohobe bo tlotsueng ka botoro. “He uena monna, re itse re batla bohobe e seng hlama.” E le Mosotho a khathetse ke ho thetsoa. Ke ao maselamose hee a bo ralipolotiki! (Politics in Lesotho have become politics of sorcery. A politician promises you buttered bread before being voted to power but once he is in there he brings you just dough. “We told you we want buttered bread not uncooked dough”, This is a Mosotho voter complaining. This is the extent to which politics have become sorcery). But the real question is: Whom are we voting for in the coming elections? I really don’t see a leader or candidate that will pull Lesotho out of its economic mess. No, I’m not even sold on the Democratic Congress. Not even the BAP impresses me. I think the BAP is still not clear on what it is selling. Its message is wishy-washy (feeble). What are you really selling BAP? What’s your USP? Athe ABC eona ke mofu ka lebitleng. Waste of time. Shame! In fact, I don’t think any of the political parties has a concise economic recovery plan for Lesotho. How will jobs be created? HOW? Anyway, that’s my opinion. You are also entitled to yours. Happy New Year once again! I felt a need to complete an opinion piece I had already started towards the end of 2021. This piece coincided with the recent fires at the Parliament of South Africa. I want to talk about fire yet again. I know that I touched on this topic in the last quarter of 2021 but I want to highlight a very serious matter that requires urgent attention. That’s if there’s still anyone that cares to take these opinion pieces seriously. I must say, Mr Matlosa has been putting together some thought provoking pieces over the holidays. I also saw a couple of new writers as well. Keep up the good work! Following the recent fires at the Parliament (National Assembly) of South Africa on January 2, 2022 and learning that the building was not insured, I really got concerned about the state and status of our public buildings in Lesotho. I interact a lot with buildings due to my line of work and have realised that most of our public buildings do not meet fire safety regulations and general safety standards for that matter. I am referring to buildings such as the High Court of Lesotho, Police Headquarters, the Prime Minister’s Office, the NUL administration building and Morija Museum and Archives (I might be putting my friend on the spot here). Having interacted a lot with the High Court of Lesotho building, well for some business matters, I was shocked to realise that the building is so porous without adequate security measures. I would have expected to see the army deployed due to the nature and status of the building (a national key point). But there are no security checks into the building (u ka kena, ua itsoela ka mokhoa oo u ratang). Secondly the building is very dark inside and there are no visible fire-escape signs and exit points. Thirdly, I don’t think the sprinkler system works if it even exists. Fourthly, no functioning lifts for universal access. Lastly, there’s no CCTV system (Close-Circuit Television) that functions properly. Now, imagine if the High Court of Lesotho catches fire. What would happen to the numerous sensitive files and dockets? Is there a fireproof safe for files? What about the Police Headquarters? This building is old and in a complete state of disrepair. It does not meet any of the modern safety regulations. Not even one. No fire escape exit points or emergency staircases, no safety signage, no fire sprinklers, no fire-detection system. What would happen if it catches fire due to an electrical fault? Would the dockets be safe? What about the Prime-Ministers office? Qhobosheaneng to be precise. Including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the office of the Government Secretary. This is a disaster waiting to happen and please pay careful attention. There are no visible fire-escape exit points. No fire-detection system, no fire-sprinkler system, no fire-alarm system, no fire hydrants and no visible fire extinguishers placed at strategic areas. The whole office of the Prime Minister of Lesotho! Now, I write about these issues so that those that are close to the ones in authority may whisper a thing or two to warn them about the pending risk of fire (mohlomong nakeling). I also wrote this opinion piece after a large part of Mazenod Book Centre was gutted down by fire in mid-2020. Historical books and archives were burnt to ashes. Che, mollo ke mahlopha a senya. This means sometimes, things need to burn-down so that new ones emerge. I strongly believe that the only form of reform that will truly transform Lesotho will only happen when Basotho, more especially civil servants, burn their fingers (ba tlabohe menoana). Lesotho will only experience reforms only when an MP, Minister and civil servant tries to withdraw money at an ATM, on month-end and the ATM writes insufficient funds (u no nnehile eng?). Imagine what would happen if a soldier gets a slip written insufficient funds ka li-20, on pay day. All hell would break loose I tell you. I can imagine a WhatsApp voice-note directed to the PM saying, “Re feng chelete ea rona lona banna.” This country would reform in a snap of a finger. You see, people do not learn and civil servants have been holding this country to ransom for years. Maybe they need to know how it feels to go unpaid for months because someone, somewhere doesn’t want to sign papers. This is exactly what killed the private sector and indigenous business people in Lesotho. How much does the Lesotho Government currently owe the private sector, over 2 Billion? Mollo ke mahlopha a senya! There is a new debate that has now emerged on whether the Parliament of South Africa should be rebuilt at the cost of R1 billion or just be relocated to Pretoria. Some people also argue that, events that took place in September 1998 ka Sepetho, helped in someway to rebuild and shape a new Maseru City and other towns (bo-Mafeteng). I remember one stupid debate I once engaged in, possibly in the year 1999 and someone remarked and said, “Ebe ma-national aa ha a chesa stadium (Setsoto stadium) hobaneng? Re ka be rena le stadium se secha hona joale.” Well, in my mind I thought, can a concrete and steel structure catch fire? To conclude and jokes aside, I see that Chief Justice Sakoane wants to boost the image and profile of the judiciary. However, all buildings including the Magistrate Courts are at the highest risk of catching fire. I don’t know Chief Justice Sakoane on a personal basis and have no access to him but if you do, kindly share this opinion piece with him. This of course, does not negate the importance of safety precautions and measures needed at the Police Headquarters building. And this of-course does not insinuate that I know of any attempts to burn down those public buildings. My duty is to ring the alarm bells and to give the Ministry of Public Works a wake-up call on the pending danger. ‘Mako Bohloa