Dear Right Honourable Prime Minister, Ntate Sam
Let me be very honest with you. Up until the morning of 6 October 2007, my resolve was to cast my ballot for Mathibeli Mokhothu and his Democratic Congress. Then I got hold of the Lesotho Times edition of that morning which was resplendent with your wrap around (jacket) campaign manifesto and your detailed interview with the paper’s editor Herbert Moyo. Also in the same edition was Ntate Moyo’s interviews with BoMme Nthomeng Majara and Retselisitsoe Matlanyane (aka Mme Tsili). Needless to mention that I was deeply impressed. In fact that edition was more of an RFP Times than the Lesotho Times.
The message in the wrap was crisp and refreshing. ‘Mme Tsili’s interview in which she condemned people who rush into politics without developing any base careers was spot on. Needless to add that those are the very same slow-wits who have destroyed our majestic Kingdom. Mme Tsili’s vision of how to transform and improve the economy was as clear as daylight. She is going to be an excellent finance minister. ‘Mme Majara’s vision on how to achieve an independent judiciary, free from the clutches of a self-aggrandizing executive was equally spot on and impressive. So was her description of her experiences under Ntate Motsoahae’s vile regime. Thanks to those experiences, she knows better what needs to be done to build a credible judiciary and spare any chief justice from the proclivities of empty-headed politicians.
BoMme Tsili and Majara are a breath of fresh air. They are export quality. Your decision to found the RFP with them was brilliant Ntate Sam. They are quality women. They are different from those other large women who have plagued our politics hitherto and who – apart from their abilities to shake their heavy behinds at political events to earn their keep – have absolutely nothing upstairs. I think we are in for some exciting times.
The reason I would have voted for Ntate Mokhothu was because he had largely run the DC as a cohesive force, not because he had articulated any outstanding policy propositions. I had been dispirited by the infighting that had rocked the RFP and all those court battles regarding your aspiring MPs. I had thought you were doing more of the same.
But everything changed when I got hold of the Lesotho Times of the 6th of October. You could not have done any better to summarize your agenda. Kudos to your campaign team. I immediately circulated the issue to my multitudes of followers. If ever there was an excellent decision that your campaign team did and did very well, it was to use the platform of the Lesotho Times on the eve of the election. This won you many votes. There is no way anyone could have read how your messages were packaged in that edition and failed to be converted to vote for you. Thousands of Basotho with whom I shared that edition told me they would vote for the RFP. Well done. They say, a vote is a secret. Scrutator’s is not. I voted for you on October 7. In 2017, I voted for Ntate Motsoahae. Only to regret later. The reason of announcing my vote after the polls is not opportunistic, it is strategic as it enables me to explain why. Even if you had lost, I would still have explained why I voted for you.
As everyone will tell you though, my vote does not come cheap. It is earned. You earned it. But as per the age old adage, there is nothing like a free lunch. After getting my vote, you have to work hard to justify and retain it. So let’s get down to serious business.
100 Day Plan
You will know that any new leader who wins power must outline their first 100 day plan after being sworn in. I join other Basotho in eagerly awaiting your 100 day plan.
The 100 day plan is a critical symbolic marker to measure the performance of any new leader. The first 100 days often give an indication of a new leader’s management style, priorities and speed in implementing campaign promises. The 100 day marker became of interest in 1932 , during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States.
Ntate Roosevelt came to power during the Great Depression, the period of most economic turmoil ever recorded in the US. He then set out to make significant and quick changes in economic and social policy, through both legislative and regulatory actions.
On taking office, he summoned the U.S. Congress to a three-month special session and, by the end of his first 100 days, had passed 76 new laws, mostly aimed at easing the effects of the Depression.
During those first 100 days, Roosevelt also gave the first of many “fireside chats” in which he spoke directly to the American public over the radio and explained in simple terms how he was trying to solve the country’s problems.
In many respects, your experiences Ntate Sam resemble that of Ntate Roosevelt. You have inherited a wholly failed state which needs drastic interventions. You have also made grandiose promises to reverse this failed state status. You have promised Basotho a revolution for prosperity. It thus goes without saying that the sooner you outline your 100 day plan the better. And the much you can get done in that 100 day period the even more better (or best).
The stolen M6.1 billion
Kindly accept my advice on a few targets to include in your 100 day plan.
It goes without saying that corruption and grand theft of public resources is at the core of our economic malaise. Among the reasons Basotho overwhelmingly voted for you is their belief that you are too rich to bother stealing from them. You are thus the best qualified man to fight corruption.
A mere promise that you will try to recover the M6,1 billion stolen by Moeketsi Majoro and his cronies as per the report of auditor- general – Monica Besetsa – for the year ended 2021 will go a long way to mollify long suffering Basotho.
You will agree Ntate Sam that reports of the auditor -general in Lesotho are now like a broken record. We cannot have a country in which these important reports are used as toilet paper. We cannot have a situation in which billions are regularly stolen with no consequence to the thieves. Getting Ntate Majoro to join Tlali Kamoli at Maseru Maximum might help immensely. He must be told he is guilty until he proves himself innocent. And indeed he is guilty until he explains where this M6.1 billion is. He must be tortured until he tells the truth. Your coalition partner – Monyane Moleleki of AD fame – had already explained at one of his rallies that probing the theft of this money must be a priority for any new government. Jailing Majoro for this malfeasance will not only enhance your reputation as a corruption fighter, it will be a boon for foreign investment. No investor risks their money into a corrupt country.
Crime
In launching Moruo, you made it clear that Lesotho was teetering towards a failed state status. You were just being generous with words. The reality is that Lesotho has long become a failed state. One of the indicators of a failed state is complete lawlessness with no institutional authority to enforce law and order. There is no need to bullshit here. The criminal who masquerades as the commissioner of the Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS) must go. He is a total embarrassment and disgrace. One of the few good things that Ntate Majoro did was to belatedly start measures to fire Holomo Molibeli. That process must not be delayed any longer. Without a reformed LMPS, and a competent commissioner crime will remain Lesotho’s top Achilles Heel. It goes without saying that firing Molibeli must be one of your top priorities within your first 100 days of assuming office.
Letsoela
You should however leave Ntate Mojalefa Letsoela at the helm of the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF). Ntate Letsoala is not only a good soldier, he is a ntate of unblemished integrity. He has re-moulded the LDF into the professional force from the rag tag scaremongering criminal enterprise he inherited from the unlamentable Tlali Kamoli. For that reason, he needs to be rewarded with keeping his job. The same goes for his deputy Matela Motobakele. They are two good men.
Suppliers
If for any reason, Ntate Majoro and his coterie of looters will escape jail for the theft of M6,1 billion, there is no reason why they should be spared punishment for their general sabotage of the economy. There is only one word to best describe how they have dealt with government suppliers; sabotage. Their aim was not only to damage the economy, it was to destroy as many Basotho lives as they could. You will know Ntate Sam how desperate government suppliers have become because of not being paid. Recovering the M6,1 billion from Majoro and his clique will immediately arm you with the liquidity to pay suppliers. A clear and open declaration that you will strive to find money to pay suppliers in your first 100 days in office is going to earn you kudos.
Unity
You have already declared that you will strive to unite Basotho. However, as Basotho have already expressed in a detailed survey by Afrobarometer, unity must not be achieved at all costs. The LDF scumbags who caused so much suffering for Basotho must remain at Maseru Maximum, face their trials to completion and be hanged if necessary. There can be no unity without justice. As part of your 100 day plan, you should vow to pay Advocate Shaun Abrahams’s outstanding dues so he can return to prosecute these thugs and scumbags to completion. You should vow to uphold justice and let all the current criminal trials proceed to completion without let or hindrance. You should announce plans to entrench the independence of the judiciary and to fire incompetent judges, who are letting criminals off the hook. They should go with their Holomo.
First Lady
Last but not least, A good wife plays an important role in the life of a leader. Within your first 100 days in office, please take the nation into your confidence and let’s have our official First Lady. Basotho will rally around Mme Matekane and ensure she gives you all the support and comfort to enable you to do your job. Not only do you need the best meals, after a very hard day at work, you also need the best halalaaalaa.
I wish you the very best in your new assignment. You are the best hope for all Basotho. We had grown tired of our intellectual midgets of politicians. You have surrounded yourself with cream. BoMme Majara and Tsili are Cremora. So are many others in the RFP. No longer will Basotho be ruled by intellectual dwarfs. You have my support – which is necessary for any leader to succeed. I have no doubt you will succeed. With your election, there is surely hope in heaven after all.
Don’t put to waste the chance to make decisive changes in your first 100 days in office when every leader enjoys the support of all and sundry (the honeymoon period).
All the best Ntate Sam . Please don’t screw up. You are a nation’s last hope.
Ache!!!
