Basotho will be going to the polls in September to elect new local government councils. Already we are seeing red flags that suggest the road to the elections might not be so rosy. Politicians are squabbling daily, and none is willing to compromise lest they are perceived to be weak.
As a result, members of civil society are warning that by September comes the voters will not have been given enough educations and, as a result, the voter turnout could be as low as 15 percent.
The power brokers engage in their trademark bickering, we would like to remind them that the local elections are not about them; the polls are designed to entrench democratic governance in our society.
Remember, you cannot talk about democracy and governance without mentioning local government, which is one of the cornerstones of participatory democracy. Local government is responsible for a range of vital services for people and businesses in defined areas. Among them are well known functions such as social care, schools, housing and planning and waste collection, but also lesser known ones such as licensing, business support, registrar services and pest control.
Local governments can promote economic development by: Keeping your community members informed and include them whenever possible in the decision making and marketing of the community. Promoting the growth of all economic sectors in the region and encouraging sustainable business practices.
The upcoming local government elections are necessary to correct the fractured nature of our local governance system, given that the kind of local governance that Lesotho has had over the years, which relegated local councils to mere extensions of the central government, has proved to be nothing more than pure garbage.
