Rallies for crumbs
By Scrutator
ALTHOUGH its residents think it’s the best thing after sliced bread, Maseru is just a numbingly boring town masquerading as a city.
The residents have reason to be excited about it though.
After all, they have watched Maseru transform from being a slum into some something closer to a town.
It’s not really a town as yet but because it has come so far and most of its people don’t know anything better Scrutator will call it a town.
She however does so with strong reservations.
Still it’s a boring little town. On that one, Scrutator will not compromise.
Maseru is so unexciting that its people seem to pee in alleys and rockeries for fun.
But once in a while this sleepy town which has allowed humans and cows to share the central business district comes to life.
Every five years our politicians bring us real fun in the form of political rallies.
Right now the people are having fun at political rallies.
That entertainment they have terribly missed for the past five years is back with a bang.
And for the next few weeks their weekends will not be miserable.
Some will gyrate until their bodies are sore while others will sing until their voices forsake them.
Who can begrudge a people used to having sex and beer as their only form of entertainment for wanting to have a different kind of fun?
They deserve some free fun especially in these times when beer and condoms have become pricey.
Political rallies are where fun is these days. The sad thing, however, is that the politicians — the very people who provide this platform for fun — don’t think political rallies are fun. When people come to have fun politicians think they are there to hear them speak. For them rallies are meant for serious political campaigns.
They actually think by having those rallies they are reaching out to the electorate in Maseru.
Scrutator has attended a number of rallies in the past few weeks and has had fun watching bearded men speak to audiences that are not really interested in what they have to say.
Because they are oblivious to the apathy of their audiences the politicians have already started reading too much into the numbers at their rallies.
They think numbers at rallies will translate into votes on May 26.
How wrong they are! By believing their own warped assessments they are only cheating themselves.
They are preparing themselves for a painful defeat whose consequence will last another half a decade.
The Democratic Congress (DC), the party well known for eating stolen things, is already beginning to realise the futility of political rallies as a campaign method in Maseru.
On March 26 Pakalitha Mosisili’s party had a big rally in Ha Foso which an alleged 20 000 people are said to have attended.
The Lesotho TV, that silly excuse of a national TV station, devoted an entire hour of airplay to that occasion.
Buoyed by the huge numbers, some in the DC leadership started talking about a victory in Maseru.
They conveniently forgot that it is they that had “bussed” most of the people to the rally.
Mosisili was speaking to an audience made up of a rented mob and some people that had just come to the rally for fun.
That much became clear when the DC started the door-to-door campaign in Maseru’s villages.
Those who have the misfortune of being dispatched to solicit votes in the villages are being told to hit the road as soon as they enter the gates.
The polite ones do open the door for the DC messengers but they switch off as soon as they hear that Mosisili wants five more years.
Some do endure the DC sermonette but as soon as the preachers are out of their yard they laugh out loud and forget the message because they don’t believe it.
Scrutator has heard DC people gloating on and on about the “huge” number of young people attending Mosisili’s rallies.
When she looks closely at those so-called supporters she realises that most of them are actually not registered voters.
Also, those who read much into the presence of young people at rallies forget that the youth of this country have nothing much to do during weekends.
They are attending rallies to while away time because Maseru as a town has nothing much to offer by way of entertainment.
There are no recreation centres, the TV starts at dusk and radios are pathetic.
What else can they do in a country ruled by a government hostile to young people?
What else can they do in a country where jobs and opportunities to eke an honest living are reserved for a connected few?
The Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) has also started fancying its chances in Maseru after it had a well attended rally three weeks ago.
After that rally we heard some LCD zealots saying they had conquered Maseru.
But when they went into the villages they were met with aloofness from the electorate. The messengers are being asked questions they cannot answer and after stammering they are being shown the door.
It’s not only the terrible twins (DC and LCD) that seem to think rallies are the best way to woe voters in Maseru.
The tired All Basotho Convention (ABC) and the discredited Basotho National Party (BNP) are also committed to wasting their time with rallies in Maseru.
The ABC seems to have forgotten that 17 plus zero equals 17 and to get to 61 you need 44 more.
Scrutator has said it and she will say it again: this election will not be won in Maseru.
Any party that spends time concentrating its campaign efforts in Maseru is working hard to remain in the opposition or become an opposition.
Political parties must remember that Maseru is not Lesotho and Lesotho is not Maseru. It is the peasants in the backwaters of this country who will determine the next government.
Any party that wants to rule this country must climb mountains and conquer the treacherous roads to the remotest areas in this country.
There they will meet the real voters, the people who know that political rallies are not fun. When the peasants leave their fields and livestock to come to a rally, they really want to hear what the politicians have to say.
Talk crap and they will mock you as soon as you cross the river back to Maseru.
Ache!
scrutator29@gmail.com
Comment by Thala-Boliba on 19 April 2012:
That makes sense the ” rent a crowd” is misleading the politicians!
Comment by Iron on 19 April 2012:
I liked this article very much though I do not entirely agree with your analyses Scru. I agree with you that history has taught us that elections in Lesotho has in the past been won from outside Maseru and i also agree that you are spot on in regards to Maseru crowds. But I believe the political terrain has changed drastically due to the split. Both DC and LCD (more LCD than DC) are going to claim parts of the Maluti and whoever wins Maseru will form government.
Comment by Oa maliba on 19 April 2012:
‘Na ke ke utloe u mpha mathata/le mpha mathata baphatlalatsi ba Lesotho times ba column ea sekuruteita ha le batla ho etsa maikutlo a lona a sechaba. For motho a bonahalang a “tseba” haholo ka oena tjena, ene tlameha ebe oa tseba hore BNP ena e u lakatsang hore ekaba “discredited” e itsetetse ka maloting ka koana. U tena u buoa ka eona fela hobane u batla ho lahlela your cheap shot ea lentsoe discredited empa you have nothing bad to say in terms of eona le campaign ea eona hajoale. Please stick to giving fair analysis and stop hating. BNP e itsetetse Lesotho lena ka ufela ebile hahona mo ukileng oa utloa ntse ba ithorisa ka liboka le ho nka maseru. Seka re tsoafisa ho bala koranta tjena.
Comment by Motebang on 20 April 2012:
@Oa maliba, ache! le uena ke utloa u rata ho iketsa tsebanyane e ka lipelong tsa basotho. U kile oa phetla lipelo tsa basotho ba 2 million ho bona hore e fela ba rata BNP ele kannete? Seka koatela Scrunator fela u ntse u ts’oana le eena ka bo tsebanyane. Party eo basotho ba e ratang Lesotho mona, e tla siboloha ka li 26 may eseng hona joale. Lea tena boralipolotiki. Re batla party e tla tseba hore e ahe infrastructure e nepahetseng Lesotho mona, hare na thahasello ea lintoa tsa lona tsa meharo ea ho ithuisa ka lipolotiki. Aku buoeng ka hore na Maseru e ahuoa joang hore ebe boemong ba li-city lefats’eng. Hajoale Maseru e mpe ekare setakana feela, e meaho e mebe ea boemo bo fats’e, ha e na litsela tsa boemo ba machaba, esita le litereke tse ling. Re hloka mobusi ea reng o tla aha naha ea Lesotho hore e shebahale hantle, e hlomphehe le ka hara linaha tse ling.
Re hloka mobusi ea tla aha ‘maraka o moholohali moo barekisi ba seterateng ba tla bokanngoa ka teng kaofela, eseng hore ba tlale-tlale le kingsway le mathoko a eona, ebe ba entse lits’ila tse mpehali hakana tse hlabisang litlhong kahara teropo e nyane hakana. Re khathetse ke ho tlola lits’ila tsa barekisi ba literateng kannete. Le hloloa le ke Swaziland e nyane hakana ho Lesotho, e isitse barekisi ba seterateng ‘marakeng, ha ho rekisetsoe seterateng hohang Swaziland. Why rona Lesotho batho ba tletse hohle moo ba ratang ba rekisa? Hobaneng ho sa ahoe ‘maraka o moholo Maseru moo? Phoooaaaa! ruri basotho ba bohlasoa ka ho fetisisa mona SADC!!!
Comment by Silky on 20 April 2012:
Not only the TV and the Radio stations are Pathetic! the list should include columnists such as Scru! I mean, check the above script out, it is too word! and disrespectful, u bitsa basotho “peasants in the backwaters of this country”- Easy, mind your language! uena submission ea hau is not edited?
This government is not hostile to youth, did you not hear about the M50 Million reserved for youth projects? heard about the upcoming Youth Council to deal with youth issues? hao, mosali, ha u ko bo bone lipapali? libokeng mona ho tletse bacha feela, mekha ka ho fapana, likolong mona ho tletse bacha feela, li embassy, hohle u tla fumana bacha ba Basotho! ba lahluoeng ke rona ba lipakeng tsa bacha le maqhekoana!
Comment by Jojo on 20 April 2012:
@Silky, the word peasant is not an insult.
It just means a countryman/countrywoman or a worker of the land or a member of an agricultural class depedent on subsistence farming. Backwater just means a place or condition remote from the centre of activity or thought.
There there are many such places in lesotho.
As for the M50 million and Youth Council methinks you are clutching at straws.
It is you Silky who should learn to read and understands things. Scrutator should actually go easy on readers like you because she is losing you with her clear logic.
I laugh when i read her article. Why someone should get made at such harmless things, i dont know.
Drink some water Silky and cool down.
Comment by Silky on 20 April 2012:
Dont worry, I did not ‘say “peasant’is an insult, it is just not respectful, these are two different meanings, I may be short but it is disrespectful to refer to me as “the short lady ……! u understand? you a peasant? if I were to call u that, you’d not like it. It is not about the Dictionary meaniing of words here is the appropriateness of the words, see? hope this closes the matter. By the way I did not underrstand the sentence that starts with “Why someone…..made….
Comment by Motebang on 20 April 2012:
@Silky, it is true basotho are peasants. Go and check for the meaning of the word in your dictionary. Lesotho is one of the most poorest country in the world. Always truth hurts. Since independence 1966, Lesotho had only arrogant, greedy, incompetent and corrupt political leaders whose their main reason to be in power was only to enrich themselves, their familes and their corrupt friends. That is the reason after almost 46 years of independence Lesotho is one of the eight countries considered to be the most poorest in the world depending on foreign aids. Lesotho has been rated together with war-torn countries like Sudan and Rwanda as this country receives food aid, we know exactly that WFP gives out food parcels to needy and sick people in order to combat malnutrition in HIV AIDS people and small children. How many people do access water and electricity in this country? How do people survive in Lesotho’s rural areas? They are very very poor.
There’s no food security in this country and some people in rural areas and in the highlands do sleep on an empty stomach, so poverty cannot be denied. No newspapers must be edited by any govt entity or whoever think so. The newspapers help to reveal the dirty acts of our ignorant political leaders. We need to know them. I don’t care whether the owner of Lesotho Times originates from Zimbabwe or not. He/She writes what she knows because even Zim is in political turmoil as all African politicians are corrupt and greedy. They don’t want to share their countries’ natural wealth with their people. They have just focused on their selfish interests.
Maseru e ea ts’abeha ekare setakana seo ho lulang mataoa fela tjena. Maseru e lits’ila ho tloha tlaase mokorotlong ho ea tsoa holimo setopong, e meaho e mebe e senang seriti hohang. Che, rea ba ts’aba babusi ba selehe ba Lesotho, ba hlolehang ho aha naha ea habo bona hantle!!!!
Comment by Motebang on 20 April 2012:
@Silky, tell our political leaders to work towards improving the lives of Lesotho citizens so that we can avoid being called peasants. It is not disrespectful to say basotho are peasants. According to the lower standard of living here, they are peasants. Its not an insult at all. Scru gave us all facts here!!!
Comment by Jojo on 20 April 2012:
@Silky i understand Silky. Its just that the word peasant in this case is not used to disperect anyone.Its a noun.
I dont see anything wrong with calling a worker a worker. Its not direspectful at all.
I understand words should be read within the context of the sentence in which they are used.
The example you give of a “short lady” is different. The word “short” is descriptive and also relative. How short is too short? Why call someone a short lady in the first place as if ladies are supposed to be tall by nature.
In your example the word “lady” is he one equivalent to “peasant”.
A lady is a lady and a peasant is a peasant. Just like footballer is a footballer. Respectfullness has nothing to do with it.
My last sentence was saying “I dont see how someone should get mad over Scrutator’s harmless article.
I laugh every time i read her article. I no longer get angry because i know she means to harm.
I just laugh and get on with my life.
I advise you to do the same and cheer up.
One luv.
By the way you have a sweet name there, Silky! Dont sulk.
Comment by Jojo on 20 April 2012:
I meant to say she means NO harm
Comment by mohlalefi on 21 April 2012:
Heso mona, Lesotho. Ha se ‘Matlaoneng!O Ukutle!
Comment by mohlalefi on 21 April 2012:
Take it Easy! Easy does it.
Comment by Silky on 23 April 2012:
Ok, point/s taken! peasants.
Comment by Lehaqas on 24 April 2012:
Motebang hahona mo ke buileng ka ho rata kapa hose ratoe seka qhomela litaba kea kopa. ke buile ka taba ea “LIPITSO” eseng ho ratoa kapa hose ratoe hoa BNP. Hana joale leleme halena khoele.