Africa-Press – Lesotho. Scores of people from Mafeteng and surrounding districts made their way to Leshoboro Stadium in Mafeteng on Sunday to witness the unveiling of the Movement for Economic Change (MEC) elections
manifesto ahead of elections slated to be held later this year. The manifesto, according to MEC leader and the Minister of Development Planning Hon. Selibe Mochoboroane, is the outcome of numerous consultative meetings from
different districts with party members and Basotho. The party has vowed to inculcate and advance policies that embody “patriotism, national unity and social cohesion”.
Launching the manifesto under the theme ‘kill corruption, create jobs’ MEC leader pledged to fulfil the promises once in power. He said they subscribe to the
notion of economic emancipation. MEC was formed in early 2017 when its leader vacated the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) Secretary-General position.
These will be the second general elections that it will be contesting for. The party has seven Members of Parliament (MPs) in the National Assembly. It
is part of the government in the current All Basotho Convention (ABC) and Democratic Alliance (DC) grand coalition setting. According to the party manifesto, MEC led
government will be characterized by the five thematic areas that include: “fiercely fighting corruption and enforcement of the law; promoting private sector development; infrastructure development, economic recovery and growth;
strengthening patriotism and social cohesion and improving social security services”. MEC has an “overarching” policy which is economic development, service delivery for
Lesotho and Basotho first. The party believes that: “The attainment of economic growth is dependent on management and ownership of economic resources.
MEC plans to achieve its goal of economic change by promoting economic development, which takes into account developing a vibrant market economy through a mechanism that will promote
Lesotho’s self-reliance on its resources; agricultural outputs, pursuing mineral exploration and the deepening of mining benefits for Basotho. “Diversification of the manufacturing sector
is a major priority, including value addition and deployment of mechanisms to stimulate private sector investment through the promotion of small business
development, the support of entrepreneurship, innovation and the digital economy, and to transform the financial sector to become an enabler of economic
growth. ” MEC preaches implementation of policies saying they are critical in achieving economic development. Thabana-Morena No. 52 Member of Parliament (MP)
said their government will invest in the development of renewable energy, provision of potable water, strengthening of the social grant system and the
improvement of infrastructure. He said they will resource and re-capacitate the police to fight killings, gangsterism and gender-based violence that have plagued the country.
The party says professionalism and accountability are key within public institutions and governance. “Currently, Lesotho and Basotho seemingly have little or no control over strategic economic resources as well as
opportunities. MEC aims for economic change to the benefit of Lesotho and Mosotho first and foremost by instilling patriotism. National unity and social
cohesion are supported by decentralization and empowerment of local government, cohesive physical planning to build complete communities and media reform.
“It involves the promotion of talent, arts and culture, heritage and tourism. It
further intends to strengthen Lesotho’s place in the world through the protection of its sovereign integrity, empowerment and opportunities for its people, expanded spaces for Lesotho’s produce, as well as decisive and bolder
international relations attitude, as well active and deliberate participation in the multilateral framework within SADC [Southern Africa Development Community], AU [African Union] and UN [United Nations],” reads MEC manifesto.
Jobs creation He said the civil servants will take home 50 percent of their lump sum payment and not 25 percent as is the status quo. This he argued that will see the civil
servants taking early retirement and therefore create more space for new employees to enter the civil service while also addressing the building wage bill.
He said there will be a development fund that will enable youth to have access to credit funds with the necessary support. He added that arable land must be used for economic gains and policies to facilitate income generation
between those who own land but have no financial means and those who have no land but have financial means, coupled with inputs availability countrywide
year out. Agriculture as a major component of economic growth He said they will have policies that will encourage agribusiness even the retirees. Mochoboroane said they will strive for 80 percent of local
consumption, a move that will boost the local economy and small micro-medium enterprises (SMMEs). Fighting corruption Mochoboroane said corruption starts within the
parties. He promised to crack the whip saying there will be processes that will have everyone subjected to accountability from the Prime Minister, Ministers,
MPs to Principal Secretaries and civil servants. MEC is to “overhaul” the Constitution and the Public Finance Management Accounting Act. Lesotho has been placed at 38 percent on the
corruption index sitting at number 96, which means it is in the red line. MEC leader further told the cheering crowd that they will mount economic crimes
specialized courts that will expeditiously hear corruption-related cases, adding that they will also capacitate the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) and the office of the Ombudsman.
“Corruption increases when the leadership lacks the political will to fight it,” he retorted.
Social
security support Under MEC led government there will be a disability grant. According to this party, people with disability who are unfit to work will receive a monthly grant equivalent to the old-age pension.
He also added the need to build a cancer centre and incline village health workers into the minimum wage category. Improving capacities to raise the government’s revenue
Mochoboroane argued that the country consumes more than it produces. He promised that their government will ensure that the Lesotho Revenue Authority (LRA) will be capacitated to ensure maximum revenue
collection. He said they will mount a policy that will move the country towards a cashless society, adding that there is a fervent need to track transactions
in retail stores and wholesales for accountability since some tax is not declared. He is of the idea that the taxman is under collecting saying they can
do better than that. Taking stock of the national budget trajectory, he highlighted that the recurrent budget is always on the upward trajectory while the capital budget has been dwindling over successive years
adding that this move is counter development as there are few projects that the country undertakes and that hinders progress. He talked of the need to reverse
this trajectory, promising to have the government channel funds to the capital budgets. The Minister of Development Planning said the country under their leadership will
have an assets forfeiture unit that will be charged with the mandate to recover crime proceeds. Since the 2012 national elections, there has not been an outright majority winner.
These developments culminated in Lesotho adopting coalition politics to form a ruling majority. He welcomed RFP, saying to come into politics to emphasize the need to be selfless for the economic growth of
Lesotho. The crowds were entertained by the renditions from celebrated local artists Kommanda Obbs, LEFATE (Damario and Stlofa) also MEC artists while Sir Matee had the attendants in stitches as the MC for the day.
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