Lesotho has always hosted large numbers of Chinese nationals since independence in the 60s and the number had grown almost exponentially in recent times. And for years, Basotho, versus the Chinese, have been rendered second class citizens in their own country.
This is a sad reality which the government has never shown the will to resolve. In the process, the Chinese have become law unto themselves and have the audacity to show the middle finder to everyone including the government itself.
An example here is the ongoing dispute involving local subcontractors and Chinese contractors. The Chinese companies are refusing to pay their local counterparts for work done on multi-million Maloti projects. The natives sought the intervention of the minister of natural resources after the Chinese blatantly ignored an order by an arbitration body, to pay up. They also showed the minister the middle finger.
As a local lawyer once said a few years ago, the malady is so entrenched in our national institutions and systems. It has now become the culture in our Kingdom.
Reforming the systems may be a starting point but definitely not the answer. The real answer lies with reforming the men and women who are behind and within these institutions and system; the character and resolve of these people can take us out of the quagmire and quandary.
We need men and women who commit themselves to protecting the soul of this Kingdom; men and women who are true to the duty as a needle to the pole; men and women who cannot be bought or sold, and will do what is right though the heavens fall. Without reforming the individuals, the reform of systems will bring us back to where we started: a vicious circle.
This should not be allowed to go on a minute longer!
