LEADERSHIP IS FOR REAL MEN AND WOMEN NOT SOPHISTS.

By: Theko Tlebere

Not even myself could keep in down after the Lesotho Members of Parliament(MPs) decided to make a press conference justifying why they decided to give themselves a whooping five thousand petrol allowance. I never wanted to stoop that low by being part of the people criticizing our fellow MPs but then with the elections coming I felt I should remind them that leadership is for real men and women not sophists. I intend to frantically explore the true essence of leadership more especially for people who are vested with powers of representing the masses in the National Assembly. I will therefore inaugurate the series for today by giving a powerful quote to my fellow leaders in all walks of life here in Lesotho, because parliamentarians are especially the brain and think tank of our own political and socio –economic development of Lesotho. The quote which I shall extrapolate on later goes like, “the immediate aim of the communists is declared to be the formation of the proletariat into self-conscious class, which shall overthrow the bourgeoisie and appropriate to itself the political power of the vanquished.”

 First allow me to make a quick introduction of what sophists are so that as we divulge on our arguments, at least we are on the same page. According to a simple dictionary meaning sophists are people who reason with clever but false arguments. One of the common aspirations of the masses about leadership of any nature (Mps included) is that most often than not, leaders are groomed with the purpose of being bourgeoisies at a very early stage. Bourgeoisie is a classification used in analysing human societies to describe a social class of people. In his inaugural speech on “African Union and people of Africa” Prof. K. Makoa said that his writing was based on the former president of Ghana kwame Nkrumah‘s writings when he said “Africa shall unite”. I quote this phrase simply because my vision is obscured by divisions, inconsistency and heartless decisions made by our own parliamentarians here in Lesotho. There is no way we are going to experience a united Africa while our own leaders are clouded with achieving their own personal agenda and have forgotten their core mandate as representatives of the masses.  The impact of the decision made by our Mps today will have a daring impact in the long run hence we should warn them lest they say, ‘but we didn’t know’.

By virtue of right we expect the proletariats to transform into a self-conscious class, but most importantly Lesotho and Africa are waiting eagerly to see their leaders in parly transform into statesmanship and elites. A proletariat is a class of workers who do not own means of production and earn their living by working for wages. While statesmanship is defined as a political leader whose wisdom, integrity wins him or her great respect. It’s a person active and influential in the formulation of high government policy, such as a cabinet member or a politician. Elites are relatively small dominant groups within a large society, which enjoys a privileged status envied by individuals of lower social status. The position of an elite at the top of the social strata almost invariably puts it in a position of leadership and often subjects the holders of elite status to pressure, to maintain their position as part of the elite.

Looking at how bold and cool headed our Mps are about the allowance sager leaves me bolstered because they don’t show any remorse at all. In fact they even have guts to tell the nation to shift their focus from them to the benefits of former Prime minister and deputy prime minister’s benefits. I strongly see this utterances by our Mps bestowing them with very unprofessional enactment which is intentionally meant to create an agnatic morass. I have no doubt that with just a few months left before elections, and the current constitutional reforms taking place, our Mps could have halted the allowance sager until all is sundry and the economic recovery process is eminent.

I mope for these sophists because while Basotho are narked by the political meltdown our country is facing, are narked by the corruption and the indefinite rapid government changes all they could think of is promoting their prolix acts of shenanigans. I further want to remind them that people are watching and they can see, and even if they will not talk about the sager in the next two three weeks, but it’s something that they will not easily forget. But as a law abiding citizen I would like to urge them to reconsider their vision, focus and priorities on what is good for them and for the country. One other aspect that my fellow Mps tend to ignore is that once a democratic vote has put one into office he/she must be accountable to the electorates, i.e. people who voted for them, as sole forces who manifested them unto absolute power. They should reminisce about the fact that, “Matla kea sechaba!!!!!”

The allusion of gravity should elapse here by taking a glimpse of the face message of our series today that, “despite the raving financial storm/tsunami, Lesotho must remain focused on high, shared and sustainable growth and protecting the vulnerable”. The road is long and tough but we shall overcome. The future is Now!