. . . as road accidents carnage claims lives and limbs
’Marafaele Mohloboli
IT has been said oftentimes that human beings have the ability to gaze into a crystal ball and see the future unfolding before their eyes.
That is one gift forty-seven year-old Shoapane Ralienyane would have given everything to have as it would have enabled him to warn his father against boarding the vehicle which ultimately cost him his life in a recent road accident while travelling to attend a Basotho National Party (BNP) party rally.
The rally was among several that the parties have been holding in the aftermath of the March announcement by King Letsie III that the country would go for snap elections on 3 June.
This followed the toppling of the government which succumbed to a no confidence vote by the opposition on 1 March.
For Mr Ralienyane, his father John and all other Basotho, His Majesty’s announcement simply meant another opportunity to exercise their constitutional right to vote for their preferred government.
The subsequent flurry of political activity including the rallies was part of the process towards achieving that.
However, the carnage on the country’s roads which has claimed so many lives means there will be many who never lived to see the next government.
Mr Ralienyane’s 76-year-old father John joined several others including party candidates and party supporters whose lives were cut short.
“He might have been old but believe me, he was a father who always gave us guidance and wished us well,” Mr Ralienyane said of his late father.
“We are lost without him and we were not ready to part ways and still hoped that he would come back from the rally safe.
“However my mood is not dampened and I am still going to vote.”
Mr Ralienyane blamed the accident on the bad state of the country’s roads which politicians have always pledged to improve during successive election campaigns over the years.
BNP Spokesperson, Machesetsa Mofomobe conceded that politicians were culpable.
“Our roads are not up to scratch and as politicians, we fail our people because we seem not to care at all as to what happens to them as they go about their day to day lives.
We are not doing them any good in as much as we always want them to vote for us. We go there and make empty promises, abandon them for five years until fresh elections are called. Nobody cares and it’s high time we took their problems seriously,” Mr Mofomobe said.
The BNP was not alone as the accidents have affected other parties including the Movement for Economic Change (MEC).
A taxi ferrying some of its cadres to a rally in Thaba-Tseka overturned, killing three people and injuring some from the Semena constituency. The accident was attributed to bad roads and the fact that the vehicle was not roadworthy.
The Alliance of Democrats was also affected last week after a mini bus coaster overturned injuring 30 passengers who were travelling to the party’s star rally at Ha Foso.
And while the bad roads have been a significant cause, there have been other factors which have contributed to the accidents, not least of all the conduct of drivers and passengers as well as the condition of the vehicles.
Police spokesperson, Superintendent Clifford Molefe spoke of speeding, drunkenness and impatience on the roads as some of the factors that were fueling the carnage.
“There have been many reported cases of accidents caused by drunken driving and we advise that if a person is high on alcohol, they should refrain from driving because they put other road users’ and their own lives at stake.”
Indeed, the Lesotho Times has observed incidents of overloading in vehicles.
It has also observed incidents where inebriated passengers would egg on drivers to over speed and overtake other vehicles all for the thrills or just to get to the rallies on time.
And the politicians would seriously need to attend to the roads and other infrastructure once the voting is done.
But until that happens, the road users would have to play their part to prevent or at least minimise the loss of lives through accidents.
That means exercising restraint on the roads, keeping vehicles that are not road worthy off the roads and refraining from imbibing or egging on drivers.
Without that, the country will be reduced to a veritable wasteland of pain and heartache for those who would have lost their loved ones.
It would become a land of unfulfilled dreams as more people fail to live to see the day of the new government and the proposed reforms to guarantee the stability which is essential to economic progress.
