Over the years in the various writings about the Mounatain Kingdom of Lesotho, the place we love and land we see and call home, there was inference to the roof of Africa, as the tiny mountain kingdom with massive drama. In fact, in one of the writings one foreign writer is on record as opining that the ‘tiny mountain kingdom has done it again’ whatever it was we may have done in those days.
However one may see it, and whatever our feelings towards the contention, we have become synonymous with drama, at times for reasons so superfluous that it would boggle the mind how we’d end up as the talk of town over some seriously melodramatic states far bigger, mightier and wealthier than us, by scores of multiples.
Be that as it may, and in latter years, since the so-called return to democratic rule, we have seen a sharp and very drastic decline in especially the preservation of our identity, integrity and pride as a country as epitomized by our dearth in leadership which has almost all the time brought us less-than-mediocre leaders, we have made headlines for all the wrong reasons. At least most of the time.
We have gone to selling own investments to even overlooking our agro-productive prowess in favour of dependency on foreign aid and or imports even of the most basic of things. So often have countries of the world tried looking at us with an eye of some kind of dignity, but as is our newly-acquired nature we have continually spat in their faces.
In latter times, we have been afforded an opportunity to host the African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 Youth Games, a feat which we should have, as we had indicated ability and readiness to, hosted as far back as last year-2020.
However, even having been bought time by the covid-19 pandemic which stifled a lot of economic and otherwise activity, we have failed to draw leadership that is avid enough to lead us to readiness for the continental sporting showpiece a year later.
The Games are set for December 2021, which is a little over two months from now, although there is not a single sign in sight to suggest that the country will be hosting any kind of international competition in which a number of countries would be making their abode in the mountain kingdom at least for a few days.
There is not a single flyer in the streets, not a single on-going commercial campaign, not a single one-of-those public stickers we see on almost every public transport vehicle when we head to general elections. Most of all, there is not a single sporting facility, not a single sporting code team that is ready for a competition that is supposed to be held here.
In the midst of all that, we have a whole ministry headed by a legally-recognized minister to see us through all that, but alas! The same ministry recently held a mother-of-all parties for a plethora of its executives and accomplices who squired a single Paralympian to the recently-ended Paralympic Games in Tokyo Japan to do God-knows what, and yet is dismally failing to ready-up a team, no venues for the competition purported to be just around the corner. Wow!!!