PFD urges Basotho to tackle greed and graft

. . . as Lesotho celebrates 200 years of nationhood
LINEO MALATALIANA
MASERU – The Popular Front for Democracy (PFD) has called on Basotho to commemorate the 200 years anniversary by fighting greed and corruption that has become the nation’s greatest enemies. Its leader, Advocate Lekhetho Rakuoane said the jubilee is a time for the nation to find ways to help itself solve problems, both self-inflicted and those caused by outside influences. Rakuoane made the remarks at a press briefing on Wednesday this week meant to mark 200 years since the formation of Basotho as a nation.
In addressing the briefing, the PFD leader said there is need to do away with the old norms of leading life in all aspects and to adapt a new and improved way that will lead to a productive future. Rakuoane said his party does not want the Basotho nation to look at the jubilee as a celebration of wine and meat “but rather use it as a time of reckoning and do away with greed and corruption which have been this nation’s greatest enemies.”
He added that his party believes that Basotho have themselves to blame for problems they are currently experiencing and are caused by: the lack of visionary thinking, greed and corruption by those in power. “The nation has also stopped putting into practice the fundamental strategies like mafisa and matsema to aid in its growth,” he said. According to the party, these practices ensured that people were part of production and also had a share in what was produced, which ensured togetherness and curbed the need to steal and murder.
PFD also believes that the surge of foreign businesses in the country has negatively affected the economy of the country. Adv. Rakuoane said outsiders take advantage of Basotho through cheap labour, buying raw materials such as wool and mohair at next to nothing and selling the products at high prices. PDF also claimed that the foreign influence has an impact on the political atmosphere of the country.
He therefore called on different groups to participate in the building of a new society in commemoration of the 200-year jubilee. To the politicians and the royals, the PFD says it wants them to proclaim their challenges and difficulties and to put into practice the Moshoeshoe Code within the time frame of six months, which the PFD considers as the compass of leadership.
Religious leaders were urged to play a role in finding solutions in conflicts in the country. Traders are supposed to examine and identify the problems they are facing, Rakuoane said, and they have to find ways to ensure the circulation of money within the country and curb the import of international goods. He urged foreign traders to play an active role in investing in the country, urging them to declare the minimum they will invest with in the country in social corporate responsibility causes while famers are required to identify the challenges they are facing for the country to be able to feed itself sufficiently and produce enough for the market.
Adv. Rakuoane urged youths and students to identify the challenges they are met with in the education system. He urged them to start a movement “ha hona khomo ea boroko, matsoho a sebeletsa ‘metso”, as they are said to be future of the country adding that they should shy away from drug abuse and the influence of other nations.
He also said women should declare and identify the challenges they have and play a role in politics, businesses and economical ventures. “They are supposed to find ways to influence change in these fields of the country to earn a place at the table as change makers.”