Africa-Press – Lesotho. SOME years ago Muckraker stumbled on the fascinating story of an Indian man who always drove his car in reverse. By 2014 Harpeet Devi had been cruising in reverse on India’s roads for eleven years.
It started in 2003 when he could not afford to fix his Fiat’s gearbox. So he just started reversing to his destination. By the time he fixed the car Devi could not stop driving in reverse.
He was so comfortable that he could drive at 80km/h backwards on the highways. It was now a habit he could not unlearn. Hooked on to the anomaly. What mattered was he was going places, loved it and it worked.
Muckraker was reminded of that bizarre story when she heard of some people jostling for leadership positions in the LCD. You read that right: there are still people dreaming of leading the LCD and they are prepared to clobber each other to get to the top of that anthill of a political party.
This misplaced ambition and delusion would be funny were it not tragic. Those who made it into the LCD national executive committee days ago are inheriting a car that only drives in reverse.
You don’t need basic arithmetic skills to see that the LCD has been driving in reverse for the past 10 years. The only difference with Devi, the Indian chap, is that the LCD doesn’t have a destination and has fooled itself into thinking that it’s going forward.
It’s hurtling to its grave in reverse but those who claim to be leading it believe they are on the verge of some revival. They are not looking at the numbers because they are too scared of reality.
Instead, they will pretend that the past decade of disasters is just a passing phase and those who have jumped the sinking ship are either sell-outs or just lack vision.
Of course, the only vision that the LCD leaders have is that which is in the view mirror. Little wonder they are quick to remember past success when faced with calamities of now.
They never shut up about Ntsu Mokhehle. Ask them what they achieved and they will point to free primary education. And that’s it. You would think Lesotho’s economy was firing on all cylinders under their leadership.
You would be forgiven for thinking there was no corruption and inept management in their administration. You know a party is caput when its leadership spends more time musing about history instead of plotting the future.
But you have to understand why the LCD is fixated with history. When you have no future all you have is history. The LCD is not a dying party. To describe it as such is to assume there is something left to resuscitate.
The LCD is dead. Gone! Those still in it are either desperate or delusional or both. Those who claim to be leading it are certified political failures and they know it. There is no leadership role for them beyond that dead donkey.
For More News And Analysis About Lesotho Follow Africa-Press
