On April 28 2010, a microphone picks up comments by then British prime minister Gordon Brown about Labour supporter Gillian Duffy, who had challenged him over the economy. He had called Duffy ‘bigoted woman’.
Brown was on an election campaign and this all but sealed his fate as shortly afterwards, he tendered his resignation to the Queen.
Where are we going with this?
Lesotho’s own prime minister, Sam Matekane, recently made a rather hair-raising remark that there is no inherent right to food.
He told the High Court in his answering affidavit on June 28, 2024 that the government bears no duty to provide food for its people.
He was responding to a constitutional challenge initiated by some NGO’s, which aims to compel the government to implement food subsidies following the recent price increases of maize meal.
“Life is not dependent only on food as there are other contributory factors. I vehemently deny that a person who has access to food leads a healthy life. One can have access to food and still live an unhealthy life,” the PM said.
Matekane, the richest man in the land, made these comments amid severe hunger that threatens to grip a chunk of Lesotho’s population, with some multi-lateral international organisations already making plans to provide relief to the most vulnerable.
These remarks are as unfortunate as they are insensitive, reckless and scandalous.
Thank you for showing the people, read voters, the middle finger.
