Can someone out there ask Ntate Thesele ‘Maseribane to stop looking for one Mothetjoa Metsing and concentrate on his core business of running the Ministry of Communications and the Basotho National Party (BNP).
It seems Ntate ‘Maseribane has invested too much effort and time in trying to locate Metsing and engage him in talks over his and the LCD’s participation in the SADC inspired reforms process.
So much effort has been put in reaching out to Metsing that the LCD leader now probably believes that the reforms process can never proceed without him. And with that sense of self-importance being bestowed on Metsing, it can only ensure that he never cooperates.
As Scrutator has argued before. And as I will argue again, now, these talks are never going to proceed and succeed if the aim remains to bring on board every Tsepo, Tsepiso and Tsepang or in the Queen’s language, every Tom, Dick and Harry.
It appears that over the past many weeks, judging on numerous press reports on the matter, Ntate ‘Maseribane, has expended a lot of time and energy in reaching out to his arch foe-Metsing.
Ntate Metsing is never going to come back home for the reforms. For starters, he knows that as soon as he lands in Maseru, he will become a permanent occupier of the top layer of the bunk bed that has been put in Kamoli’s cell with the former commander occupying the slate below. It could be vice versa depending on how the two decide on how to share the bunk bed.
I also see a contradiction of sorts. How can the government honestly engage Metsing in talks to bring him back to participate in the reforms while engaged in a spirited effort to extradite him back to explain the very fat wallets he used to carry around in his back and front pockets in lieu of those equally fat deposits lavished into his bank accounts? Something doesn’t make sense here.
Metsing might have run the LCD into the ground and converted it into an also ran party (from 67 constituency seats in 2007 to only one constituency seat in both 2015 and 2017) but he is no fool.
Even if you do not only get SADC to protect him but also ask Donald Trump to second an additional 100 000 marines to protect Metsing, he is not going to come back anytime soon. That SADC force and the Trump marines will not protect him from the inevitable; that is answering to the DCEO. And that’s what Metsing does not want at all costs. Hence his repeated lies that Ntate Motsoahae wants to kill him.
There is only one way of getting Metsing to come back. That way is if Metsing himself decides he misses home and all his kith and kin. But above all else, Metsing will only come back if he decides he wants to have his day in court and participate in the reforms process. The extradition route is long and arduous. However like Jacob Zuma, Metsing does not want to have his day in court. Scrutator cannot understand why Metsing, if he is so confident that he did nothing wrong, cannot simply come and explain himself in court.
If all that money that vaulted into his accounts was from selling sheep at some auctions in Leribe, that surely should be the simplest thing to explain. Equally if he was running a few sheebens that don’t use credit cards, it should be the simplest thing to explain to any judge. Or if he had established four car wash businesses that were doing extremely well, any judicial officer would understand that. But apparently Metsing does not want to proffer any explanation of his cash pickings. That is bizarre. What he wants is to duck and dive. Maybe he knows something we don’t. That explains his reticence in coming home.
Another of his conditions is that he now wants an independent prosecuting authority put in place before he can pitch up to explain his cash pickings. Why he did not install one himself whilst in power is mind boggling.
Yes the reforms must be as inclusive as they can be. But it is just not possible to bring each and every one of Lesotho’s kindergarten politicians under one roof. Even Bokang Ramatsella wants a place at the reforms discussion table. I cannot imagine what contribution he will bring.
Metsing must decide for himself if he wants to come and participate in the reforms for the good of his own party and his future as a politician. If he does not want and continues with his fallacy that there are some who want to kill him, then let him forever remain lost in Ficksburg. Why should the reforms agenda be held hostage by one or a handful of politicians who do not have the interests of this country at heart? Why should be the process be sabotaged by one constituency seat holders?
Let those who want partake in the reforms process continue and those who do not want stay away. Otherwise we are never going to complete the reforms.
The scariest thing now is that the six month timeframe for the SADC standby force in the Kingdom has almost come to an end and very little has been achieved.
The Ministry of Defence’s Principal Secretary, Ntate Tanki Mothae is thus dead right that the SADC soldiers must remain here. Unfortunately, time flies so fast that it is possible that the SADC troops mandate can be extended by another year or two and nothing will still be achieved by the end of that period. That will almost be a certainty if Chief Maseribane continues with his obsession to bring Metsing back home to partake in the reforms. Let that decision of coming or not be Metsing and Metsing’s alone to make.
We certainly need SADC troops to remain here. The rogues who inflicted so much terror in the Kingdom are still on the loose even though a substantial are in remand custody. Until all these scumbags have had their days in court, convicted jailed and the keys to their cells thrown deep under Mohale dam, the same style they used against their victims; then we badly needs the SADC forces to be here.
Unfortunately, we cannot dictate to SADC how long these troops should stay in the country. Keeping them here also requires a lot of money. I can see SADC getting fed up and withdrawing these troops if there is no discernible progress in the reforms agenda. That explains why they never welcomed the gallant SADC forces in the first place. Pink Pakalitha Panther – aka Berthuel Mosisili – is on record as demanding that the SADC troops must leave before he blesses the SADC reforms table with his bum.
What this requires is for the government to try and move with speed and include anyone who cares to be included in the reforms to take their seats on the reforms table. Those who do not want must not be forced. In the same vein, they must not be allowed to hold the process hostage. Those who are enjoying themselves in Ficksburg must be left to pamper themselves out there.
It is not possible to bring every one of Lesotho’s ever squabbling kindergarten politicians in the same ring. Those reforms that can be achieved should be achieved, those that cannot because of a lack of constitutional quorum must not be achieved. At least SADC would have tried its best.
But for me, the most important reform is in the LDF. This does not require multi-party consensus. It does not require Metsing. It does not require Pink Pakalitha Panther (Mr 3ps). All that is required is for the new command of the LDF to hire new disciplined officers, train them to be proper soldiers and keep a professional LDF from now onwards. If that is done, Scrutator will have peace of mind. There is no stumbling block to achieving that. So let’s get on with it.
Ache!!!
