THE year 2014 promises to be more and more eventful as days roll by.
Addressing All Basotho Convention (ABC) supporters in Thaba- Phechela over the weekend, party leader Prime Minister Thomas Thabane bluntly said political affiliations of the newly appointed Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) reflects the composition of the government triumvirate of the ABC, the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) and the Basotho National Party (BNP).
The chairperson, former Chief Justice Mahapela Lehohla is inclined towards ABC, while fellow commissioners Makase Nyaphisi and ‘Mamosebi Pholo are affiliates of the LCD and BNP respectively.
Scrutator can already see “Size Two” and “Mahaletere” seething with anger.
The two will definitely cry to everyone and anyone who cares to hear that this is undemocratic.
They could even call a press conference soon to sympathise with them.
This reminds Scrutator of the late NUL vice chancellor Adelani Ogurinade who infamously once told his critics: “The dogs may bark, but the chariot moves on.”
Uncle Tom will no doubt continue to steer the coalition train, unmoved and simply remind them it’s now his turn to rule.
Someone should remind those two that when you are no longer able to change a situation you are the one who has to change.
Life turns like a wheel, up and down!
It had been a while since Scrutator heard from Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing.
Ever since he was kicked out from government by Size Two before the split of the old LCD, the cool-headed Mothetjoa seemed to have withdrawn from the limelight.
So this past week his legions of fans, including Scrutator, had the coming by-lections to thank for at last the “real man” in Mothetjoa had to remove the cobwebs around his voice box and speak.
The heat of electioneering forced Metsing to, at least temporarily, abandon his reserved cocoon.
Bravo Metsing, if you remain silent for a long time by the time you speak, people are bound to listen.
The LCD leader dismissed all competitors in the coming by-elections as “Paper Tigers”. Yes, this includes even the fellow coalition partners ABC and BNP, not just the Democratic Congress.
He told party supporters not to be intimidated by the fake valour of “Paper Tigers”.
Scrutator will be waiting to congratulate Metsing if indeed LCD proves to be the “Real Tiger” in Thaba-Moea and Thaba Pechela.
One thing though, Metsing’s infatuation with Chinese Chairman Mao Ze Dong’s wisdom is somewhat anachronistic, if not unusual.
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They say quiet people have the loudest minds.
Anyway, LCD has never made it a secret they are a left-leaning party.
One Ian Duncan Smith once said do not underestimate the determination of a quiet man.
So Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office ntate Molobeli Soulo figures they can simply declare that Famo groups are dissolved and Basotho will live happily ever after. Period!
Soulo was fuming the other week in Mafeteng, telling a gathering that if the resurgent Famo killings continue then he might simply have to declare that rival groups are dissolved so as to put an end to the menace.
Scrutator wishes this approach, which sounds as easy as A, B, C and D, would be the panacea for the scourge of Famo killings.
Unfortunately, such a quick fix solution won’t work for one reason: Famo groupings are based on strong conviction; beliefs as strong as religion.
This means you cannot declassify a person, let alone a group by a simple decree because there is strong belief that drives such rivalry, particularly among the fans of Seakhi and Terene.
To strengthen the conviction is the highly emotive urge to revenge the killings and counter-killings of yesteryear.
Mohlompehi Soulo, Scrutator understands your anger and your desire to see peace among communities in Mafeteng particularly after more than 100 murders over the years, but your quick-fix approach runs the danger of alienating the very groupings that you seek to pacify.
Because of the emotive nature of death; if one loses their loved one, especially in such a violent way as cold-blooded murder, the urge to revenge is irresistible.
In the end ntate Soulo and other leaders will have to sit down with the feuding groups again and find peaceful compromises to guarantee peace.
Talking about emotive issues, South Africa’s sports minister Fikile Mbalula could not hide his disgust at Bafana Bafana’s elimination from the African Nations Championships.
Describing the state of football in Mzansi as “a crisis of monumental proportions”, Mbalula branded the national football team mediocre and the players “a bunch of losers”.
A dejected Mbalula has since flatly refused to withdraw his strong feelings about Bafana’s poor performance.
Scrutator wishes to remind Mbalula, football is only a game and sportsmanship dictates that he embraces loses with a cool head.
If the sports minister cannot keep a cool head, what would happen to the legions of Bafana fans, they could possibly end up lynching the players for letting them down.
Still on soccer, Scrutator thinks Likuena does not really need a foreign coach.
I mean, so far teams that are mentored by local coaches have not fared badly at all; Scrutator has Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe in mind.
The last time Lesotho had a foreign coach, a guy from little-known Serbia, Likuena never showed the least flashes of brilliance.
To the contrary, under Notsi the team displayed some decency.
All that the guy from Serbia (Scrutator cannot even pronounce that jaw-breaking name) did was to get five-star hospitality and a phenomenal pay cheque.
In return, the best the guy gave the nation was the dubious credit of having a foreigner, a European, for a coach. That’s all!
Scrutator thinks it is the players, and not the fans or Basotho who are dying to have a foreign coach.
Their argument, which one cannot ignore, is that a well travelled foreign coach will guarantee five-star treatment for players when they travel outside the country.
But even if someone stands on top of Mpilo hill with a hailer and proclaims the virtues of having a foreign coach, Scrutator believes she can never buy this see-through argument.
Foreign coaches don’t come cheap but at the end of the day they do not necessarily deliver magic.
The fact that success has followed Notsi’s performance across the border should put-paid to this “foreign is better” refrain.
It’s time we build our very own world class coaches. Ache!
