Africa-Press – Lesotho. HAWKS within the Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) are not happy with the recent deployment of two officials, Ntšiuoa Sekete and Nena Matete, to foreign embassies.
They have accused the party leadership of nepotism by appointing the two who they claim are not qualified for the job. The latest spat merely serves to confirm what we have always known – that there is a stampede within the RFP administration for plum jobs at foreign embassies.
It also confirms that the RFP, which is just over a year old, is battling serious disaffection within its ranks over the distribution of resources. Senior party leaders have also had to bat off serious allegations that they were parcelling out jobs to their cronies and relatives.
The party’s defence of how it has applied its policy of meritocracy has not been robust enough to quell the noises. The result has been that such fierce criticism of Matekane and his administration has effectively damaged the party in the eyes of Basotho.
If Matekane does not effectively nip in the bud this growing criticism, he risks presiding over a deeply divided and weakened political party that would eventually derail his agenda. It is now nine months after Matekane was inaugurated as Prime Minister.
The criticism that we hear from people in the villages is that his administration has been extremely lethargic in implementing the radical policies that he promised to shake up Lesotho’s economic fortunes.
The people were expecting that the RFP would live up to its moniker – that of a revolutionary party that would transform the way Lesotho has done its politics since independence from the British in 1966.
So far, they have seen very little of that. Instead, the people are seeing the same old, tired fights over access to resources by party officials as epitomised by the latest fight over embassy postings.
As a result, we are beginning to see a thoroughly disillusioned populace that is slowly losing hope that their lives will ever change. That is not a good omen. We shudder to think what would happen if the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), God forbid, were to call a snap election right now.
As we have argued in previous editorials, it is imperative that the RFP government picks up the “low hanging” fruits first before it moves to other complex matters.
The people want to see discernible projects that would directly impact their lives taking off the ground. They want to see roads being built and those that are potholed being fixed.
They want to see the agriculture sector being revamped. They want to see the government tackling youth unemployment. They want to see a vibrant private sector absorbing the hundreds of thousands of youths who graduated from universities but have never worked in a formal setting.
They want to see foreign direct investment into Lesotho. Over the next five years, Matekane will need something to show Basotho that this is what he has achieved.
That will not be possible if his own house is on fire and he is beginning to spend more time dousing the fires. Despite the slow pace of the revolution, Matekane remains a deeply popular figure within the RFP.
He must therefore use the political capital that he still has to shake up things a bit so that Basotho can start to see his “revolution” beginning to take shape. The RFP has no luxury of time. It must deliver, pronto, or the mood with the voters will quickly sour.
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