Operations at Queen ‘Mamohato Memorial Hospital — the country’s only referral hospital —came to a complete standstill yesterday, as the majority of members of staff went on strike demanding better pay.
Following a long-standing feud between management and the workers not just over salaries, but also lack of respect at the workplace, it was only a matter of time before the hostility came to a head.
The result was yesterday’s crippling industrial action, which left patients stranded and some striking staff with severe injuries after being beaten up by the police deployed at the hospital, ironically to ensure law and order.
Yet the violence which marked the first day of the indefinite strike action could have been avoided had the police exercised the necessary restraint, professionalism and patience expected during such a volatile situation.
With the workers going through the usual routine of singing and dancing expected during every industrial action, the police reacted with brute force, which left the Lesotho Times reporters covering the strike, and onlookers, in utter shock.
The police have previously been accused of terrorising innocent citizens for being mere suspects, and because of lack of evidence, perpetrators of such violence have managed to get away scot-free, and continue with their acts of terror, with impunity.
But yesterday’s violence took place in full public view — not in some dingy police cell away from witnesses and help — and it would be a miscarriage of justice should such bully-tactics go unpunished.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Masupha Masupha yesterday announced at a press conference that a full inquiry has since been launched into the violence which must surely have come as an embarrassment to the entire Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS).
There is no doubting the sincerity of such a voluntary undertaking by the police authorities, which, if properly executed, could go a long way in curbing the overenthusiasm displayed by some members of the LMPS both on and off duty.
According to DCP Masupha, the senior police officers in charge of yesterday’s operation would be called to account, should the police be found to have used undue force or acted outside the law, when dealing with workers merely exercising their right.
There is a saying about a few bad apples spoiling the barrel, or simply put, that one evil individual or policy can ruin everything around it.
There are many distinguished citizens and honourable men and women in the LMPS, but whose reputations have always been tarnished through the actions of a few rogue police officers.
That is why this could be the break the police needed to begin cleansing the service of the proverbial rotten apples.
What is also interesting is that yesterday’s unfortunate violence took place on the eve of International Workers’ Day — a day commemorated on May 1every year in most parts of the globe to recognise employees’ contributions to their respective countries’ economies.
The Day also sees the challenges workers face in their respective sectors being highlighted, and governments also taking the occasion to address the workers on any topical issues.
For Lesotho, the national Workers’ Day celebrations take place at the Maseru Pitso Ground.
According to those leading the commemorations, the pending closure of the Apparel Lesotho Alliance to Fight Aids (ALAFA) would top the agenda.
ALAFA’s shut down would undoubtedly bring untold suffering to those HIV-infected textile factory workers who have been dependent on the services of this benevolent body since its establishment in 2006.
However, it is also our hope that in addition to putting pressure on the government to avert the closure of ALAFA through injecting the required funding, the trade unionists would also highlight the suffering many of the country’s citizens have been subjected to by overzealous police officers.
