They sold dreams and delivered nightmares

The recent cabinet reshuffle is an opportunity for the All Basotho Convention (ABC) to realign its mandate with the needs and expectations of the electorate ahead of the 2022 general elections. However, the ABC finds itself in a conundrum having sold big dreams in the 2017 elections and committing a string of fundamental mistakes since taking over power. I guess the question that the ABC needs to honestly ask itself is the following: what are we going to report back to the electorate in 2022? Have we delivered on any of the dreams we sold back in 2017? Will the electorate ever believe our story? Maybe those are the real questions the ABC NEC and the current reshuffle needs to address. The ABC has no one else to blame but itself for this dichotomy. The current infighting, factionalism and two centres of power are not going to help anyone but will work to undermine the authority of Dr Majoro. They do not only undermine the PM but also undermine the rule of law. The ABC seems to be eating itself from within like a cancerous virus. The coming 2022 general elections will undoubtedly be the most challenging elections for the ABC. Not only for the ABC entirely but also for the majority of political parties such as the Democratic Congress (DC), Basotho National Party (BNP) and the Alliance of Democrats (AD). In fact, most political parties that were somehow aligned to the ABC will be judged harshly for the sins they’ve committed in the current term. Unfortunately, most of the prominent political parties have had a hand in being part of the government since the 2017 general elections. The mistakes committed during the tenure will be used to form a basis of judgment by the electorate. Those mistakes have somehow undermined the “dreams” sold during the 2017 election campaign. They’ve also undermined the mandate of improving service delivery, the fight against corruption and the eradication of hunger (sera sa motho ke tlala) of which became a unique selling proposition of the ABC to the electorate. Unfortunately, the ABC has failed dismally to deliver on the top three of the dreams sold in the past elections. Service delivery is at its all time low, corruption is rampant and there is no prospect on the horizon for jobs and eradication of hunger. Those are not the only problems facing the ABC but the electorate will also judge how the Covid-19 pandemic has been handled. There are also challenges that seem to be rampant such as stock theft and petty crime. The ABC seems to be in limbo as to how to handle the stock theft problem. What about the day-to-day service delivery matters such as issuing of passports and drivers’ licences, maintenance of traffic-lights and roads (potholes)? These are challenges that the electorate interacts with on a daily basis. The question on the minds of the electorate is : Is the recent cabinet reshuffle meant to realign the ABC and coalition partners in delivering its mandate to the electorate? I would say the recent cabinet reshuffle has been greatly welcomed with a few compromises here and there. In fact, it was inevitable. It just had to happen. For example, the blunders committed by the Lesotho Communications Authority (LCA) and the BNP to a large extent have gone to undermine Dr Majoro’s authority as the head of the ruling coalition government. The revocation of the licence of Vodacom Lesotho was an act of arrogance and a blatant disregard of and defiance towards the Prime minister. I wrote about this issue before the current coalition was formed last year. I said party leaders have to be mindful not to overstep their boundaries and act as co-Prime Ministers. They have to remember that they are coalition partners and have to answer to one Prime Minister. Currently, it’s as if there were four Prime Ministers and each political party leader acted in silos with authority to do anything they wanted. In my view and whether you like it or not, the BNP acted recklessly over how it handled the LCA and Vodacom Lesotho debacle. So reckless was the matter that it even had a shock onto the stock of the Vodacom Group on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. That even led to an impact on the value of the Rand. Yes, investors are that sensitive with their money. A mindless act such as that one is seen as a risk in the eyes of investors. The Vodacom Lesotho issue has now become a foreign affairs matter between Lesotho and South Africa. We can’t negate the fact that Vodacom is one of South Africa’s biggest exports into Africa. The pending Vodacom Lesotho issue is very serious and a very sensitive matter between the Lesotho Government and the South African government. But the biggest sin of all time is the wool and mohair nightmare. This is by far the biggest blunder committed by the ABC and I don’t know how the ABC will redeem itself from this situation. The problem is that the wool and mohair impacts directly on to the electorate right at the grassroots level. In my opinion, this has been the most careless and selfish act that could have been committed against the poor. The wool and mohair system was working well. Maybe not to the liking or approval of the authorities in government and politicians but it ticked all the boxes when it came to the farmers. They knew how it worked and managed to put food on the table. Now, you come as a politician and disrupt the entire system by pretending to fix it. Now, tell me; how will the ABC wash itself from this sin because the rural electorate is very bitter and angry as hell? Not only is the rural electorate angry towards the ABC but also the electorate in urban areas feels let down by broken promises repeatedly made by the ABC. Where are the jobs? What happened to the fight towards corruption? What about the monkey on the back of the ABC named John, the symbol of corruption in Lesotho? Will the ABC manage to shake an affiliation of John from its back and reclaim to be a party ready to fight corruption? It’s not only the problem of John but a stain from the former first lady as well? These are serious issues to consider and answer back to the electorate. Unfortunately, like the African National Congress (ANC), the ABC has gained a reputation of being a corrupt political party and this puts a dent to all its coalition partners to seem be to part of the corruption. In fact, this includes all of them, such as former coalition partners like the Alliance of the Democrats (AD). Will the AD shed the image of corruption allegations levelled towards it regarding the failed sports and stadium projects? Only time will tell because the electorate seems to forget quickly. Corruption is seen as the biggest problem that Lesotho has in modern times. It is even bigger than the current Covid-19 pandemic. The electorate has become smarter, savvy and more knowledgeable, thanks to the media and to a large extent social media platforms. Gone are the days where politicians could speak fabricated truths (lies) to the electorate. The electorate is now empowered to make its own informed decisions, whether deep in the rural areas of Lesotho or the urban areas. The electorate is smatter, more informed and well connected. Thanks to apps like WhatsApp and Facebook. But what will the ABC now do regarding the human trafficking allegations made towards its coalitions partners? This is a very difficult issue for the ABC to ignore and claim to be an issue of its coalition partners. The human trafficking scandal is a challenge that the Democratic Congress (DC) needs to overcome before the 2022 elections. The human trafficking allegations have become a very serious matter more especially that they now impact directly on the prospect of the AGOA pact being renewed and the Millennium Challenge Compact-two Grant being granted to Lesotho. Yet again, these issues hit the very desperate and poor people on the ground. In conclusion, the ABC was given a golden opportunity to change the history of Lesotho for the better but messed it up big time! This is nothing personal towards the All Basotho Convention (ABC). It is merely an echo of voices on the ground. ‘Mako Bohloa