We’ll be back, says Mokhothu

The hunger, even in urban areas, was real.

People were struggling to feed their families.

Those who worked in the textile sector, the second biggest employer after the civil service, were not doing any better. They worked long hours for very little rewards, in atrocious conditions.

The whole textile industry was on its knees. Declining orders from the United States saw scores of factories shut down across Lesotho, throwing thousands of workers on the jobless heap.

The jobs cull meant more misery for Basotho.

Even those with jobs were finding it extremely difficult to make ends meet.

In that combustible political environment, which of course was not of the DC’s making, the people were looking for some kind of “political messiah” for salvation. This was the context in which the 2022 general elections were to be fought.

Social media users said Mokhothu was out of touch with their plight and all they wanted were jobs so that they could feed their families.

When the election date eventually came, voters overwhelmingly voted for Sam Matekane’s newly formed Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) party.

Mokhothu admits that the election results took him by surprise.

“We had campaigned strongly all over the country. We did not believe that the RFP would shake us because it was a new party,” he says.

Mokhothu attributes the DC’s surprise election loss to what he says is Basotho’s fascination “with new things”.

“Basotho are attracted to new things which they don’t really know.”

He says Matekane and the team he assembled in the RFP “were rich people” and “the people wanted to be identified with such kind of people”.

While that may have been true to some extent, Mokhothu’s assessment does not tell the complete story.

It fails to acknowledge that Matekane, untainted by the past, indeed ran a sleek, well-oiled election campaign that saw him put thousands of dedicated foot-soldiers on the ground.

They knocked on doors and sold a message that Matekane was going to save Lesotho.

That message, crafted in messianic terms, proved attractive to voters in what had become an extremely dull political environment.

In an election bereft of issues, Matekane’s promises of change proved extremely seductive.

And when election date eventually came, the DC won a paltry 29 seats while the newly formed RFP took 56.

The other seats in the 120-member parliament were shared among other smaller parties.

It was a surprise outcome that no one, including Mokhothu and the DC, saw coming.

Mokhothu says even their own people had voted for the RFP hoping that Matekane would deliver some form of economic transformation for them.

But two years after he was swept into power, Matekane is struggling to deliver the economic transformation he promised the people, Mokhothu says.

Their inexperience in governance matters has been seriously exposed, he says.

“They over-promised the electorate and are now struggling to (live up) to their promises as outlined in their manifesto,” Mokhothu says.

“They are unable to fulfil their promises and fight corruption.”

What Basotho are seeing is some “kind of state capture in the making”, Mokhothu says.

He is equally scathing of the government’s decision to recall Borotho Matsoso from retirement to head the Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS).

Instead of boosting morale within the police, the decision has worked to demoralise hard-working police officers who were eyeing the top job.

“They were expecting promotion because they work hard. But if you take a retired person, what you are saying in short is that those in office are incapable and that demoralises those in service,” he says.

“It kills the spirit and commitment of those in service.”

“Now they are after the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Motinyane). They are trying to fire her so that they can replace her with someone who will fulfil their wishes,” he says.

“You don’t fill up government offices with your own people but capable people. The RFP is doing the opposite of what it promised the people. They promised to apply meritocracy when they employ and deploy but they are doing the opposite.”

Mokhothu says the office of the DPP is essential to safeguard Lesotho’s democracy and if the state succeeds in “capturing” that office, our democracy would be in serious peril.

“That would destroy the backbone of governance of this country. The office of the DPP is at the centre of the justice system in Lesotho.”

Mokhothu denied that the DC used the same modus operandi when it was in power.

Even when you do it, you must do it in a smart way, he says.

“You wait for their contracts to expire. You don’t just uproot people when you come in simply because they are not your people,” he says.

Asked if there were any positive things Matekane has done right such as fixing roads, Mokhothu was contemptuously dismissive.

“How many kilometres of roads are they talking about? One road, a short one, from the main circle via Lerotholi Street up to Pioneer Mall? Then they are going to town about that? There is not much that the government can say in as far as roads are concerned,” he says.

“In two years, they are talking about one road in town? In two years?”

He says the road is not even a new road but is an old road that is now undergoing maintenance.

“We have not seen any major developments. Now two years is gone and in three years’ time, we go for elections. People are getting killed. No electricity projects have been done in villages. No new schools have been built.

“Factories are getting closed. People are getting retrenched. Young people from universities are not getting jobs. So, what are they talking about? There is more hunger than before,” Mokhothu says.

Asked what he would do differently, Mokhothu says he would throw more money into infrastructural developments.

“The roads, water provision and electricity. Those are the major things I would focus on,” he says.

“I would focus on major projects that could create jobs. We must ensure businesses have access to credit facilities so they can build their own businesses and get the economy to thrive.”

Mokhuthu says he wants to see an independent judiciary.

“The DPP must not be pushed around by any minister,” he says.

He wants a truly Independent Electoral Commission that is in control of its own budget.

Mokhothu wants to see the government engaging their counterparts in South Africa so that Lesotho is able to access the sea and unlock its economic potential.

He says South Africa must give Lesotho a swathe of land so they have access to the sea.

“We want a corridor to the sea not the current situation where we are 100 percent dependent on South Africa. We must have access to the sea.”

“The issue of the corridor to the sea and unlocking Lesotho’s economy should be a priority for any government that is in place. We need to seriously engage our counterparts in South Africa on the matter for the benefit of Basotho.”

Mokhothu says even though the DC lost in the last general elections, the party remains very stable and intact.

In fact, he describes the DC as the “most stable party in the country” right now.

“We hope to regroup and organise ourselves as we gear up for the next elections whenever they are called,” he says.

At the time when Mokhothu took over the reins in the DC, some critics said he was too young and inexperienced to lead such a mammoth party. The fact he was taking over from Pakalitha Mosisili, who anointed him new party leader, only seemed to complicate matters.

Mokhothu, who is 47 years old, says such criticism is unwarranted.

“The party wouldn’t be stable, it wouldn’t be growing if I was that inexperienced,” he says.

“I wouldn’t have kept the number of MPs that I have kept. The DC even outperformed itself in the last elections. We did quite well. The party would have been shuttered now if I was inexperienced.”

“This is the only party that is still united, with one slogan, one leader. All these parties are riven by factionalism except the DC.”

Abel Chapatarongo