Are we a lawless nation?

The issues around ho metsoa hoa NIP continue to be more interesting as more and more information is becomes available. I reprise my argument that both LCD and ABC undermined the spirit of the law when they stood for elections as virtually independents. Some of the stuff I found out over the weekend is very interesting even if unsubstantiated. Some of my associates indicated that:

• the LCD/NIP alliance was not registered with the IEC
• the ABC/LWP alliance was not registered with the IEC
• Mr. Manyeli's first complaint about the party list issue was brought to the IEC after the closing date for submitting part lists
• The IEC was not party to any of the suits that were brought to court regarding the NIP party list issue and was never served with a Court Order indicating a change of party list.
• There is a case currently in court which make these issues sub-judicae for the contesting and cited parties (LCD, Marematlou and IEC)
• Thus LCD cannot easily defend itself, while ABC can raise the issue and obscure the facts.

I am not going to dwell on the implications of this state of affairs, suffice to say the more information we have the more complicated or simpler the debate becomes. We have a situation in which two parties gambled and one gained much more the other. The loser is now trying to use every trick in their arsenal to unseat the winner.

The title of my blog today is does government work? I ask this question not so much because I don't know, but rather because I find myself asking whether those in power do not see the same things that I see. We seem to live in a general state of chaos, traffic lights don't work, road repairs last for no more than a few months, storm water drainage in the middle of Maseru is non-functional. Broadcasting is not regulated, if it is the regulation is very lax. Things that used to happen almost immediately now take forever, try applying for a passport!

This general nonchalance has permeated almost every sector of the economy. What perplexes me more is that those who are supposed to lead by example don't. Some of the most inconsiderate drivers are those that drive the huge 4x4 that have been allocated to ministers, on Friday during rush hour one of these behemoths was double-parked in the space reserved for taxi's on Pioneer Road just outside the Lancer's Inn Bakery, thus forcing the taxis to stop in the middle of the busy street to disembark their customers. The driver did not care, and I am sure that his boss, the minister, probably assumed that being an idiot is a privilege of office. Whilst I am singling out the specific minister, there were a number of cars encumbering the reserved taxi zone across the road (LNDC Centre). Why do we need to be policed to do the right thing? Have we become a lawless nation? There is a saying that every people get the government that they deserve, perhaps we deserve the government we have.