Relocate Parliament to Thaba-Bosiu

Happy spring day! Happieee! It feels good to finally shed the heavy coats and jerseys and to dress in bright-coloured clothes.

It felt good to visit the offices of thepost newspaper about two weeks ago. Well, a lot of people assume I have a designated desk with a computer at thepost. On the contrary, I don’t. I actually visited the Managing Editor for the first time since the hard lockdown of 2020.

Believe it or not, it had literally been two years since I had been to the offices.

Another interesting story that you might find amusing is that I also received quite an interesting feedback regarding an award that the Maseru City Council (MCC) received from the PMR Africa Awards.

To recap, the MCC received a gold award for maintaining a clean environment in Maseru city, promoting job creating (job creation), keeping the city safe (crime-fighting) and for attracting investment in the city.

I was asked quite a difficult yet easy question. “Which Maseru City is the award based on?” I haven’t been able to answer the question because I’ve been asking myself the same question too.

Muckraker, what’s your take on this award?

Another point of feedback that I got was on the predictions I made regarding the elections outcome. Some people thought that ten constituencies for the RFP, is a bit on the low side. However, I still maintain that 60+1 seats envisioned by the RFP is way too ambitious.

Remember that the ABC only managed to secure 17 constituencies in the 2007 general elections and their campaign was way bigger than that of the RFP. So, 60+1 hoped by the RFP is simply what we call a future impossible tense.

Going into the topic at hand, one thing that you may find interesting is that I’m addicted to the Lesotho Television (LTV) news, more especially on Mondays.

This is a time when LTV covers all sorts of political rallies that took place over the past weekend. Jesus! Litoro tsa faro. (Pharaoh’s dreams).

I tell you, you’ll hear all sorts of hallucinations. Things like, “re tlo kenya liphoofolo lichipi.” (We are going to microchip your animals). And you wonder, what is ‘chipi’? Is he trying to say tšepe? (steel).

One politician once said, “ha re kena pusong, re tlo aha international airport Mafeteng. Re tlo kenya le sporo sa terene Mafeteng.” (When we take over the government, we are going to build an international airport in Mafeteng.

We are also going to build a railway in Mafeteng). An international airport in Mafeteng? And you ask yourself, what are these people smoking?

But a classic was when one politician said he’s going to open thirty new mines when he’s elected into power. And you think, really? But you can’t even fill potholes along Koffi-Annan Road.

By the way, the condition of Koffi Annan is appalling. Haikh’ona. I don’t know what excuse those tasked with managing our roads have coined this time around to keep the potholes exposed. Why can’t you get one load of gravel and fill the potholes? Tipara e le ngoe ea koari? (One truckload of gravel).

I mean, this is the road that connects the Moshoeshoe One International Airport to Maseru City. What are potential investors saying and what first impression are we making to tourists?

I have an idea though. What if we rename the Koffi-Anan road to Bill Gates Highway and invite Bill Gates to reopen it? Or possibly Elon Musk? Maybe he’ll feel embarrassed to see the condition of the road and build Mokhothu’s highway’ with fly-overs and tunnels to the city centre.

It’s actually not a bad idea. Imagine the amount of publicity we’d get if we name one road in Maseru after a world-wide sensation like Jay-Z.

Hotels would be packed and this would boost tourism immensely. Think about it.

As a matter of fact, the road that links Ha Motšoeneng (Lithabaneng) to Thaba-Bosiu, does not have an official name. Why not name it Beyonce Knowles Highway? And the one that links Ha Foso or Sakamaneng to Ha Mabote. Why not name it Barack Obama Road? Food for thought!

So, going back to LTV. One story that caught my attention when I was watching LTV about three weeks ago, was an act of arson that led to a fire over the Thaba-Bosiu mountain. Herd-boys were rumoured to be the ones behind the fire, in pursuit of sprouting green summer pastures.

This was a very disturbing story and I could feel the pain in his voice when he was narrating a story of how the fire started and which areas of the mountain were affected.

I could feel the frustration in Chief Khoabane Theko’s voice when he said, these acts of arson really embarrass the nation. “Li hlokisa naha seriti.” And I said, he’s 100% correct.

You know, if there’s one thing I’ve realised about us Basotho is that, we don’t cherish the monuments we have. We don’t protect our assets. Re batho ba maonatso. (We do not know how to take care of our own).

Take a short drive to Thaba-Bosiu and look at the urban landscape and tell me whether Thaba Bosiu has any characteristics of a national monument? Not only a national monument but also a national key point. Not at all.

When you get to Thaba Bosiu, you’ll find a scrap yard on the foot-hills of the mountain. As ‘Moea Makhakhe once said, “Thaba Bosiu has become one big scrap-yard.”

What disturbs me the most is a pink building that looks like a hospital, as one enters Thaba Boisu. It doesn’t blend with the urban landscape and has no cultural semblance to the place. It’s just out of context to the heritage of the place.

So, this act of arson made me think of an idea I’ve been harbouring for some years now and allow me to plant this idea as a seed.

What if we relocate the house of parliament to Thaba Bosiu and convert the current house of Parliament to a new Government Complex? More like what the Union Buildings are for Pretoria. It’s on a hill and visible from most points of Pretoria. Not a bad idea.

Can you imagine the amount national pride this relocation would do for Basotho?

The current house of Parliament has no cultural semblance and significance either. It has no characteristic of our indigenous architecture. One Catholic nun once told me that she thinks the Parliament building looks like a box of matches. In her words, “ekare tosi ea mollo.”

This relocation would also have so much cultural significance. Maybe, it would also influence good patriotic thoughts and intentions from the MPs.
We won’t see people standing on chairs and sleeping on pillows (mesamo) in the new relocated House of Parliament. It will be a respectable place that has been built by Basotho from their pockets (No donations).

You may be wondering where it could be built. There is a flat piece of land in front of Qiloane Mountain. This development would work perfectly at Qiloane and the land is flat enough to also include a museum, library and a parliamentary village and schools.

This is a project that could revitalise the economy of Thaba Bosiu and create thousands of jobs. It will also create economic spin-offs for Metolong Dam due to increased tourism related activities.

This would be a perfect project to boost our national pride and to demonstrate that we are capable of doing something of significance for ourselves. The Vukazensele spirit!

‘Mako Bohloa