DC tears into government over COVID-19

SEKHONYANA THEKO

MASERU – Leader of Opposition in parliament, Mathibeli Mokhothu, said the opposition bloc was worried by government’s lackadaisical approach towards facilitating sensitization and other national programmes to prepare for the advent of the global COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

Mokhothu, who is also the Democratic Congress (DC) leader said in a party media briefing on Wednesday that steps to provide education on the disease on hotspots such as churches and public gatherings ought to have already commenced.

As one way to fight against this pandemic, revealed his party has already launched an advisory committee on health issues to review their weekly political rallies, the team, he said is made up of former Minister of Health, Dr ‘Molotsi Monyamane, party Proportional Representation legislator from the Tsikoane constituency, Dr Thabiso Molapo and former Ambassador ‘Mamoruti Tiheli.

The DC has suspended birthday commemorations of Mokhothu and his predecessor, Dr Pakalitha Mosisili, which were supposed to be celebrated last week in Semonkong – the celebrations have been moved to a later date in October.

In his remarks Mokhothu said they were filled with shame and remorse to see the government acting sluggishly and showing no interest to work hard in addressing issues related to the pandemic, saying “we call on the government to strengthen education on this outbreak by hiring idling graduates to stand at identified hotspots to provide people on the streets with surgical face masks and to instill strong education on hygiene.”

According to Mokhothu the government has to allocate budget estimates on COVID-19 with immediate effect to facilitate medication and to ensure safety measures to fight the outbreak. He expressed fear for the street vendors, taxi operators, factory workers and commuters who work in crowded areas, indicating they were prone to any strike by the disease.

The DC leader further urged the government to expedite the screening of people entering the country at all ports of entry, “especially during this coming Easter holidays whereby people will be entering at the border gates in numbers.”