THIS week’s appointment of Mpopo Tṧoele as Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs and Police comes at a moment of deep institutional strain, particularly within the ministry’s Department of Home Affairs.
The persistent chaos surrounding the issuance of national identity documents and passports have so visibly exposed the state’s service delivery failures, a problem that has pushed thousands of Basotho into uncertainty, illegality, and hardship.
The continuing scenes of desperate citizens sleeping outside passport offices, queueing from before dawn only to be told of system shutdowns and backlogs, underline a brutal reality: Home Affairs has failed at one of its most basic mandates—providing citizens with legal identity in a timely, dignified manner.
The consequences are not abstract. They are measured in lost jobs, exploitation of Basotho migrant workers, exposure to abuse and the humiliation of citizens forced to cross borders illegally simply to survive.
It is against this grim backdrop that Mr Tṧoele assumes office. His professional profile inspires cautious optimism. As a seasoned public sector reform practitioner with deep roots in decentralisation and community-driven development, he represents a break from the culture of civil service inertia that has long defined Home Affairs. His work has consistently emphasised empowering communities, strengthening accountability, and grounding policy in evidence rather than rhetoric.
The passport crisis is not merely a technical failure of systems or suppliers; it is a governance failure. It reflects weak accountability, poor planning, opaque procurement processes and a disconnect between decision-makers and the lived realities of citizens. Mr Tṧoele’s firm belief in both vertical and horizontal accountability—between citizens, institutions and the state—offers a framework through which these systemic failures can be confronted.
However, hope alone will not fix Home Affairs. The new Principal Secretary will be judged not by vision statements but by outcomes. Basotho do not need another task force, pilot project or press briefing. They need functioning systems, predictable turnaround times, and officials who understand that a passport is not a luxury but a lifeline. The allegations of bribery, preferential treatment and unexplained delays must be confronted decisively if public trust is to be restored.
If Mr Tṧoele can bring discipline, accountability and citizen-centred thinking into Home Affairs, he will not only resolve a long-standing administrative scandal but restore a measure of dignity to the relationship between the state and its people. Basotho will be watching and waiting with bated breath for him to come to their rescue.
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