Wonders of the mountain Kingdom
It is kind of amazing how the fate of my country has changed over the years. The political landscape has taken a real 'Wrong turn'. There is so little hope left amongst the citizens as everyday it turns from bad to worse.
There is high rate of unemployment, both among the youth and all age groups. Our families relied on migrant labour because our fathers used to work in the mines in RSA. The decline in the intake of labourers from Lesotho in the SA mines has caused worse unemployment rate and crime as a lot of our people go into South Africa to work for illegal ines that sell to dark market. This has led to terrible fight amongst workers who try to build their territories for better mining. The money is huge, but comes at biggest risks one can ever think of.
The escalating political situation in the country has also led to unemployment in the country. The toppling of the previous regime in 2012 through general elections has led to coalition governments, none of which has lasted for the normal life of parliament, which is five years. It is for this reason that the country has been to general elections in 2012, 2015 and 2017. There are problems already in the current government which by reality we would have already seen the parliament dissolved.
We have been on the SADC agenda ever since because the political struggles have led to numerous deaths which are alleged to be related to political situations; deaths of high ranked people in the national defense force, attempted assassinations to high profile people and many more that have been trending in the news over the years. of late we have seen situations of people being arrested without trials and perception being they are political prisoners regarding the way their cases are being handled.
We have seen people from different industries and public workers engage in massive strikes over different demands and mostly salaries. Some may have been answered but majority have nothing. This strikes resulted from the finance ministry announcing 0% increase to salaries for all workers this year, citing lack of funds to be the main reason for this. There had been no new employments in the government sectors and no replacements in the vacant positions for some time and this caused disruptions in work places whereby people were subjected to massive workloads and so on.
The teacher's strike which was launched earlier this year has not stopped. Teachers engaged in a strike which saw closure of schools for most of the 1st session of 2019 and has flown into the second session too. Schools might be closed for two weeks, engage 2 weeks then close, until the teachers' grievances have been met.
It is surprising how lightly the government seems to be taking the matter. No real negotiations with representatives, emotional blackmail on teachers and delay tactics on talks have taken centre stage.
Where is the future of the country heading? Where is the economy heading? Ours is simply to fold our arms and do nothing.
There has been closure of parliament sine die, early which was perceived to be winter break, however, there was talk of motion of no confidence in the government premier. The SADC facilitator Likgang Moseneke encourage the parliament to be opened in August for the country to engage in reforms which might be the remedy to the countries problems. It was opened then closed in just one day.
Somebody please help us. We are a resourceful country but have not utilised the resources we have. We need funds to make our own farms and try to fight poverty but we cannot access those from the government because "There is no money". We need a change. We can make our lives better but our hands are held because we are poor. We have no money, we have no work.
That is Lesotho