Progressive Democrats leader suggests Lesotho should establish district governments answerable to governors, among a raft of other drastic changes
Bongiwe Zihlangu
Progressive Democrats (PD) leader, Mophato Monyake, is proposing drastic changes in governance to allow Lesotho room to develop economically.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Lesotho Times this week, the former Justice and Correctional Services Minister, said without an effective local government in which decentralisation is embraced, “we’re not going anywhere as a country”.
The PD leader, among others, proposes the establishment of district governments answerable to governors, the Development Bank of Lesotho (DBL) “to close the gap left by commercial banks which are reluctant to lend money to all sectors of the population”, as well as “cutting down to size” the public service to regulate the wage bill.
According to Mr Monyake, the creation of district governments would allow financiers to invest directly into local municipalities without first having to seek approval from the central government.
The PD leader adds the “tight conditions” of Section (41) of the Constitution of Lesotho on Dual Citizenship, should be relaxed to allow Basotho the freedom to seek citizenship and jobs from other countries “without losing their citizenship”.
Mr Monyake who formed the PD this year soon after leaving Prime Minister Thomas Thabane’s All Basotho Convention (ABC), is adamant that post the highly anticipated February 2015 general poll, his party would not enter into an agreement to form a coalition government with any party/parties “if at least some of our ideas are not taken on board”.
Below are excerpts from the interview:
What is the PD’s vision for Lesotho post the February 2015 general election?
Monyake: Our view, as the PD, is that if the structure of government continues as it is, we will not realise any development. We need to change the manner in which government is currently run in Lesotho.
Lesotho Times (LT): What then does the PD propose?
Monyake: Without an effective local government, we’re not going anywhere as a country. But we can draw some examples from the United States of America (USA), where each state has a governor. We can also look at South Africa (SA), which has provincial governments with functional municipalities.
In the case of Lesotho, I say let’s have district governments in order to bring development in terms of the economy, while at the same time distributing services to areas in Lesotho which are currently deprived of such facilities or have to travel long distances from the highlands to the capital city of Maseru.
For instance, we can transform Mokhotlong into our financial capital, while Thaba-Tseka and Qacha’s Nek become our judicial and legislative capitals, respectively.
LT: How feasible is this?
Monyake: We can achieve this by restructuring the tears of government, as opposed to having just the central government as is the status quo. These district governments that I’m proposing, will have their own legislative councils through which governors would elected. This will begin with parliament drafting laws to that effect in the first year.
But as things stand, the central government is reluctant to decentralise power for fear that it will lose control and that mentality actually hampers progress.
But it is time for us to adopt a progressive way of thinking, break away from the tendency by rulers to surround themselves with power at the expense of progress.
We’re so inclined to our traditional way of thinking but we need to break away from tradition and start to think outside the box.
LT: How will each district government benefit from the proposed decentralisation of power?
Monyake: If we decentralise like this, the pressure will be off the central government because district governments will be directly benefitting from investments. Investors will also directly approach the district government instead of the current situation whereby investors get approval from the top, usually after exchanging kickbacks.
LT: You also talk about distributing key institutions of governance to districts for effective service-delivery and economic development. Please could you elaborate?
Monyake: What I mean is if we move, say the legislature to Qacha’s Nek, we will start seeing developments because when the legislature opens, there will be special guests who will need hotels for sleep and entertainment, thus pushing for infrastructure and improvement in the district’s hospitality sector.
If the Constitutional Court, Court of Appeal and High Court are moved to Thaba-Tseka as the new judicial capital, there’s going to be dramatic change realised by the district as investors will also flood to the region.
In essence, moving services to such places across the country means enhanced infrastructure, inter-country transportation means, sanitation, etc.
LT: How does the PD, as a party, hope to achieve this, especially if you don’t perform well enough at the polls to form government on your own?
Monyake: If we don’t garner enough support to be government, whichever party we enter into a coalition government with, should take some of our ideas on board or else we should just remain in the opposition.
If, for some people, it’s going to be just business as usual as is the status quo, we cannot be a part of it because as I’ve said already, it’s something that we strive to break away from.
LT: You speak so passionately about the Development Bank of Lesotho (DBL). Could you break it down for us?
Monyake: There’s need for a bank in Lesotho that we will have control over, because as things stand, commercial banks flatly refuse to borrow Basotho money to start their own businesses, thus restricting economic development.
The situation is bad because government, on its own, cannot create jobs and our private sector is so small, almost non-existent. With a DBL, we can empower Basotho while at the same time, contributing to the growth of the country’s economy.
LT: You also touch on the ‘touchy’ issue of dual citizenship, which the Constitution of Lesotho is clearly against. What changes would you like to see being effected to Section (41) of the constitution?
Monyake: It is time to come into the open about it. When I was in cabinet, I raised the issue but it was shot down by some who feel once that clause is removed or modified, they will be infiltrated by South Africa.
You see, the main fear is that because there are more than five million Basotho in South Africa, while here we’re just two million, if dual citizenship were to be allowed, it would be easy for those calling for Lesotho to be incorporated into South Africa, to have their wish via a simple referendum.
But as the PD, we’re saying it should be done in such a way that when one relinquishes their citizenship in favour of another country’s, there should still be provision in the constitution that one day, when they are ready to return to their country of origin, they can simply retain their previous status by simply relinquishing their adopted country’s citizenship.
Alternatively, the signed agreement on the Free Movement of Citizens in the SADC region can be put into effect. We could go the European route, whereby a similar currency and passport have been adopted; and where there are no boundaries, thus allowing citizens of those countries economic freedom.
It is sad that Lesotho, during former Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili’s administration, kept quiet when South Africa created a more or less similar opportunity to Zimbabweans for them to work and live in SA freely, leaving us behind. Yet we don’t even, with our small population, shake the job equilibrium in South Africa.
LT: You also strongly suggest that Lesotho’s public service needs to be cut down in order to regulate the wage bill, which the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has labelled “rather huge for a small economy as Lesotho’s”.
Monyake: It is undeniable that the IMF complained about the wage bill of the Lesotho government, as it was proving to be too heavy on the country and that it should be reduced.
This started with Mosisili’s previous government, which increased the size of the public service thereby translating into this huge wage bill, because of the high unemployment rate and the fact that we have a rather small private sector.
But the time has come to shrink the public service because as things stand, there are so many people employed by government without clear job descriptions; people who could have been employed through by-passing public service regulations.
We need to have controls on the public service, which were loosened by the then Lesotho Congress for Democracy government. The controls are so loose that even when the coalition government came in, we were also left with no choice but to jump onto the bandwagon, because our people also needed jobs.
We need a government that’s going to be firm about making changes so we can usher this country into an era of prosperity.
