Parliament was silent when we died

What a weekend it has been! The funeral of Rethabile Mofolo was this weekend and it seemed everyone in Lesotho either attended or watched the live cast on Facebook. One group of people who were suspiciously absent were our politicians. Perhaps it is a good thing that they did not go there and attempt to use a grieving family’s pain for their political mileage. However, it seemed a bit odd that when the country was collectively going through a period or mourning those who supposedly run it were quiet. I had expected women’s leagues to be present if no one else was. To stand up and be counted in saying, “we are aware of the surge of femicide. As your leaders we stand with you.” Its always the case with Lesotho and its politicians I am guilty of hoping for too much. As always parliament was silent when we died. These are the same people who a few months ago were talking to anyone who would listen about bringing back the death penalty to curb the high rate of femicide in this country. You might wonder why it felt important for them to show face, after all it was not going to bring the dead woman back. It was also perhaps respectful not to turn the sad occasion into a political field. But why does anyone of us attend funerals? If not to say I am here to cry with you. To offer you support even If it is just a listening ear during this trying time? Funeral aside, it would mean a lot to women in Lesotho to see our politicians fight gender-based violence alongside us. By fight we do not mean speeches. We have heard speeches. They have told us that they are disgusted, that they hurt and bleed as we do but apart from speeches what evidence do we have of this? Where are the laws and promulgations that say you cannot just kill a woman in Lesotho and get away with it? Where is the law that says, no, one thousand maloti is too little as bail for murder? When is parliament passing a definitive statute that makes it clear that you or your family cannot be entitled to the death benefits of a woman you have murdered? Ours is a country whose legal system thrives on ambiguity. We want the courts to do better but what laws are guiding them to do so? We do not have updated statutes. How then are our courts to function effectively? In a perfect world the people we elect to power would be spending their days in that big house on the hill passing Bills that serve the nation. They spend it strategising how to hold on to power. What is happening on the ground is no concern to them as long as long as they will be elected or manoeuvre their seats for the next term. So yes, as the people we buried Rethabile Mofolo alone. We will continue to bury more women alone. We will watch with horror as our legal system is filled with holes that anyone with a good enough argument can exploit. A system relying on laws that even our victims were not born when they were passed. We will only hear the concerns of our leaders when they hold conferences or give speeches on how they care. They will continue to act as if like us they are victims of a failing system while in fact we elect them for the purpose of changing and shaping that system. Elections are coming up; I am not privy to any political party but as a woman who has been living in fear due to the rise of femicide in this country. As a man who worries for his daughters, his sisters, his wife. When you go to the polls this time ask yourself this: Where was parliament when we died? Who was ensuring that we had good enough laws to deter criminals? Who was appointing judges, giving the police tools, and generally making sure that you did not live in a state of lawlessness and anarchy? To wreak havoc on the words of Martin Niemoller: “First they came for the women, and you did not speak out because you are not a woman. Next, they came for old people living alone in villages and you did not speak out because you are not an old person living alone in a village. Then they came for police officers, and you did not speak out because you are not a police officer. When they come for you, there will be no one left to speak out for you.”