ABC has still not responded to my email sent to them about 3 weeks ago. I hope they come up with a damn good xcuse. This was a simple email requesting answers from someone who could be a couple of weeks away from being Lesotho's 4th elected Prime Minister.....
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18 comments:
Mr Nkokoto sir, do you mind revealing the details of your email. I have been really worried about the fact that instead of ABC expanding on the manisfesto they put on the internet, they have instead taken away the little that they had. I thought on their site I would be able to get the speeches made by their leader as well as photos that show what happens in the rallies especially because newspapers seem to tell lies about the number of people as well as what was said, but unfortunately everyday when I check there is nothing. When one reads public eye headings he would think that ABC is having a really tough time but when you continue to read their content it usually conveys a different story but they never ever reveal what Tom said in his rallys yet they write what Mosisili talked about in his rallys. I am worried about these things because this is the person who a lot of people have been claiming he can "deliver". Looking at what he has on his site it appears to me that he fails to deliver. He is also notorious of allowing people to talk to him yet his site does not give any room for a discussion forum. Oh are they avoiding writing down what he said so that they cannot be pinned down if he fails. Is it a way of running away from accountability?
Thabo, I have copied and pasted the letter written to ABC below for your information:
Dear Sir/Madam,
ABC should be commended for the following reasons:
- resuscitating political debate and activity in Lesotho.
- for taking Public Relations seriously.
- for making an attempt to talk about real political issues
- for heeding advice to improve its website. Now an email address has been added to the site.
I would like to raise a couple of matters though.
(1) You have now totally removed your party manifesto from the website. Why? This document is important as it presents a roadmap for the party. As the public, we need to interrogate it.
(2) the rumour mill says that your leader will be on a roadshow in South Africa over the coming weeks. Can you please confirm the date and venue for Gauteng Region. Perhaps place this information on your website.
(3)Your leader has apologised for the death of factory workers that took place during his tenure as the Minister of Home Affairs. What is his position for the killing of innocent LDF soldiers (who did not take part in the mutiny in 1998) by SANDF at Katse Dam. Is your leader going to apologise for this as well?
(4) You may also consider to add a QUESTIONS AND ANSWER page to your website.
(5) Lastly, note that there are a number of forums on the internet where heated debates are raging regarding your existence as a party, your performance to date as well as your leadership. You might consider visiting some of these forums...you may learn something from them. Let the truth be told, some of the discussions degenerate to "mahlapa contests" at times. Visit these two http://lesothoforum.blogspot.com and http://www.topix.net/forum/world/lesotho
This is not the last time you hear from me.
Best Regards
Gents! i have noted your concerns and will answer some of the questions you've raised...i know for a fact that the Manifesto was taken off the site because as we all realised was a bit shallow on a lot of major points...i know a member of the Committee working on the Manifesto who recently informed me that it will appear soon on the site and that they have worked a lot of technical detail into the "new" one...i also think it's pertinent to realise that Thabane cannot fulfill all these functions alone (e.g. answering e-mail...as far as i'm aware there's a person who has been designated for that and if he/she is not fulfilling their function properly well they need to be taken to task)Thabo two weeks ago Public Eye compared LCD's Butha Buthe rally le ea ABC and the headlines made it very clear (and indeed the content) that ABC had thousands of supporters whereas LCD had around 400 so i don't know how accurate it is that Public Eye is painting this sort of picture.
Thabane is primarily focusing on criss-crossing the country in the little time that he has to campaign (to be fair i don't think he also has time to surf the Net...he has however entrusted certain individuals who are obviously doing a poor job with that role)
This guy travels so much around the country i'm actually wondering how he copes with the stress! in any event ABC is not or should not be a one-man show let others do their part
Thope, it is good to know that ABC will be updating their manifesto soon.
I think you will also note that the letter was addressed to ABC and not to Mr. Thabane.
I am not surprised though that calls and emails go answered at ABC. Unfortunately some of the people who are at the front are opportunists who have a long track record of incompetence. Some were incompetent and inept during their time as functionaries of LCD, BCP and BNP.... I really hope that Tom will inculcate a different culture, a culture of compentence, merit, excellence and dedication to work.
Nkokoto, those were good issues you raised concerning the man who is considered a great visionary who can deliver. Thope, if there is already a problem with implementation of simple tasks as updating the website and monitoring a small number of people who are given the task, why would a person like me entrust the a bigger task of governing the country by ABC. On the issue of a manifesto, yes it was shallow but it could have been improved or build up while on the net. If you say it is being developed then it means ABC is compaigning without it. If it exists then it means it is a simple task of typing it on the site which practically takes less than a day-it has been too long since it was removed that I feel it may not come back. Like I said, ABC does not reveal the contents of Thabane's speeches at all yet I think they have records and of course I have never read contents of Thabane's speech on public eye which all the time compares the number of people in Tom's rally with Mosisili's rally - in addition revealing what Mosisili said without attempting on revealing what Tom said. To vote for the man I need to know what he stands for not the number of people who attended his rally. Tom is busy now, he will be even busier if he becomes the PM - would'nt there be more imcompetence among his team. Thope public eye compared the number of people in Tom's rally with Mosisili's rally in a biased way in the sense that if you read only the headlines or the heading you would think that LCD was giving ABC a tough time at those rallys yet the content clearly showed that LCD was no match for ABC in that region. I said the Public's headlines and the content give conflicting impressions -headlines usually give one an impression that LCD is too powerful for ABC but the content they write suggest otherwise -like "Giants clash in the north" which gives one an impression that there was a challenge up there whereas ABC had no challenge at all. Thope the comparison wich public eye attempted which you are refering to was between number of people in Mokhotlong and number of people in Butha-buthe- two differnt regions. But this does not necessarily bother me, my main issue is why is ABC not revealing in the printed form what their leader has said in the rallies? Is this a way of running away from accountability? Is it not a sign of incompetence that there was a very good idea of having a website but then failing to update it for the people who were not at the rallies or was there never an intention of updating the site at all -other than removing parts of it? Anyway, I visit the site everyday hoping that there is something new -but alas!
Thabo, I couldn't agree more with you on the fact that some of us who are not able to be at the rallies but really want to give our votes hoping there could be a change, we get disappointed to be going back to the ABC forum and still be faced with the old story. We talked about website and he was kind enough to show that as a potential PM he takes on board the educated or another class seriously. Let me tell you thope this was actually giving us hope that we could have reached an era whereby if this guy indeed becomes a PM we can see a serious change to the way things are being done in Lesotho. there is absolutely no reason why Lesotho shlould be lacking so much in technology to an extend that people find it normal for the nation not to be able to access internet. This is something that has now become like a cellphone, it is a necessity not a luxury anymore.
Thope, I realize that at least you are able to access the insiders, so, you should seriously consider putting across our plea. It is not too late yet for ABC to put back its manifesto as well as setting up the discussion forum (or wuestion and answers as was suggested).
Thabo, you have seen the photos for ABC, I personally don't know what to say, and what makes it even more difficult is the fact that the people who are taking fotos are not making an effort to be at LCD rallies to take fotos so that we can compare. Not unless they have but realized that it may infact be a negative strategy for them. Hoo ke ho tebang ke hore ha o le mojahong le motho oa mo maka, so o ka se re ha u romele lihloela sebokeng sa hae.
Guys, I wrote to the provided address yesterday, complaining about the fact that e-mails are not attended to, and today I got a response that they respond to every e-mail they receive at least within a week of receiving the mail.
The answer to the manifesto, thabo I am afraid is the same as the one thope has already given. i qoute 'we are in the process of posting it and this should be in effect with the next couple of days'. so let's wait and see.
Guys i actually wrote my post in haste without thinking of the impliations of some of things i was saying...for that i apologise. Actually you are all right...Nkokoto your e-mail was not addressed to TT but to ABC. E reng ke le joetseng taba tsa ofisi ea ABC baratuoa because if you go there you will realise hore Basotho generally re morao. The office is shabby, the people who man the office, well they don't anything about customer care they don't know anything about forums such as this one etc actually if you go to that office you might think twice about voting ABC because from a PR perspective the whole thing is a disaster (to be honest with you guys i think there's too much reliance on TT and his legend and there's the hope that this will carry the ABC to victory but actually some of the people in that office leave a lot to be desired...Nkokoto like you said ke li opportunists)
Thabo you are spot on my brother...it's a concern if the ABC can't manage their website properly and yet expect to be given the mandate to rule the whole country and ke le joetse Tom a keke a li etsa kaofela...he's only human. Thabo i've also noted your clarificatiosn regarding the sensationalisation of these rallies by Public Eye...yes they can be misleading.
Boemo i'm also disappointed with taba ea manifesto time and again i've tried to raise the issue and was given assurances by one of the drafters that it will be back on the site...alas! this has not happened...there's really no justification for that.
All in all just another typical Lesotho scenario...this is what we are used to down here (or is it up?) disappointment. I'm still voting ABC though...i can't handle LCD corruption (who knows maybe ABC will be even more corrupt? who knows? this is why sometimes i just wanna run and disappear...but that ain't possible so we just have to make the best of a bad sicuation but one thing that encourages me is that people are generally waking up to smell the roses)
Thope, I personally am so scared LCD may win ha u sheba the already irregularities in place regarding IEC. I am not saying I am 100% sure that ABC is going to be the best, but I believe in an effort to prove better than the competitors and judging from history he wouldn't want to be voted out of power only after one term, I think this guy will try to outperform LCD. Choosing ABC at this time will be a strong message to politicians that you don't mess up with people just because they elected you to power. surely this unsolved situation of TT's merc is a strategy so that even if he wins they can still get to keep theirs. so, this is sth. he has to address, so he better come up with a strategy in case he wins, of recalling these mercs. So, ba kang bo-Nts'inyi bona ba tla be ba e hlatse cheleteena eo ba ntseng ba ja from selling those stolen cars. empa che ha ba na taba hobane lutaurana tsena tseo ba ntseng ba li etsa without licences li tla ba patalla.
As an avid supporter of ABC I agree that the vehicle is starting to loose direction. How do we allow Soulo to stand as a private and divide th vote of ABC? If the people and the courts have spoken why does the party feel that they have to put him into action via the back door?
Anonymous le Boemo ke bona eka one thing we have to make clear ho Ntate Thabane le moifo oa hae ke hore we are never going to blindly follow the ABC le ha ba-paeza. For instance anonymous rightly asks hore na hobaneng Soulo a lumelloa to run as an independent? ke utloa mabarebare a hore he has been given the go ahead ke ena Thabane...if true..that is spectacularly disappointing. Also lebatoeng lena la Maseru (i can't recall the exact name of the constituency but bo-Katlehong etc li uela mono) anyway one Thabo Hoohlo has been cheated out of his candidacy mono ka baka la mosali e ho utloahalang e le mochaufa oa mora o Ntate Tom. Likhetho tsa ho nyolla mokhothaletsuoa oa lebatoa mono li ile tsa phetoa habeli and Ntate Hoohlo came out tops both times. Funny enough Ntate Hoohlo had to go to court unfortunately his court action was thrown out because the High Court ruled that it was too late taking into account the IEC timetable...in other words there's a candidate in that constituency who is there by default (this woman) and the real candidate (T. Hoohlo) has been marginalised because of nepotism et al...joale this begs the question: is Tom Thabane not aware of these shenanigans being promoted by his son? there are also complaints that bana ba Ntate Tom ba se ba kene haholo 'me batho babang ka le baka la hose khotsofalle some of their actions are contemplating not voting for ABC.
I've noted all of these things and after the 17th the ABC leadership will have to address these very valid and real concerns. If their response and subsequent actions show no real signs of improvement...well they must forget my vote come 2012 (if i'm still alive by then! ha ha ha) we must make it clear that we will continue voting for or supporting ABC if it eschews corruption, nepotism, and all the other ism's that we abhor so much re le Basotho banang le kelello.
Fela he come the 17th le tla Chaba ke tla e khetha ABC 'me oa tseba Boemo ke nahana hore despite the shenanigans tsa IEC/LCD ABC will win these elections...if not...oh boy are we in trouble!!!!
Guys you can get in touch with me personally on this address tebohozwane@yahoo.co.uk (please get in touch)
Boemo se ke wa wara ka Nts'iyi le bo 'mate ba hae...if ABC wins...jooe ke ea ts'aba!
If LCD wins again even under the current circumstances, some of us will be vindicated. I have always been of the opinion that they manipulated the vote 1998.
On the issue of Mr. T. Hoohlo and the Maseru No. 32 constituency, i find the rumours quite interesting. Another rumour has it that Mr. Hoohlo went to the ABC elections with a written list of followers whom he claimed were backing him as a candidate. Unfortunately, because of a lack of due process within the ABC (understandably so because the party is new), rules for the electioneering process had to be agreed to there and then. It was then agreed by all candidates that voters should stand behind the candidates they backed. Guess what happened....yeah right...the Right Honourable Mr Hoohlo lost, no one stood behind him. Then he went on to lodge a court case in protest.
Eish, so much for ABC and transparency. These rumours cannot be baseless. Why do I think that the behaviour of Thabane and his party is a premonition of things to come....
Pilisi...i am prepared to accept that whan went on in Constituency No.32 still needs to be thoroughly investigated because there are rumours flying left right and centre. Since i was not there i cann't exactly stand by what i've said in my previous posts. But if one is reasonable one should definitely be smelling a rat...a big one!
Tabeng tsa Soulo teng ke sure...i got it from an extremely good source that Soulo was given the go-ahead by Thabane or at least the exec. committee (i doubt its the exec. committee unanimously because some of its members are unhappy about this Soulo business...why can't he just accept that he has been defeated? after all PR e teng...hao!)
Defiitely we must keep an eye on the leadership of the ABc re seke ra roabala joalo ka li-members of the LCD bantseng bathetsoa mona. ABC e tlameha ho ba-party ea batho not individuals.
Hela Thope, it doesn't look like PR was an option for Soulo. It seems that LWP will represent the LWP-ABC alliance under PR. I was in Maseru this weekend and had a close look at the sample ballot paper. There is no ABC under PR. So is LCD and i suppose they will be represented by NIP.
Nkokoto hona listing eo ea PR LWP only has 6 seats ke phetho joale morena Soulo could have easily been accomodated mono...feela maobane sebokeng ke utloile hore Lithoteng entse e na le mathata because they said they have representation in 79 constituencies and they are still sorting out this Soulo debacle. Apparently motho ea khethuoeng mono ke le LCD masquerading as le ABC...the rumour mill in full force! anyway ke tabeng ea bona 'me mohlomong that very deficit will cause them problems ka sephetho i don't know.
Helang bahaeso! ke tseo he taba tsa weekend ha ke tsebe hore na lona le libona joang kapo le utloa batho be le ba ts'epang bare bona ba libone joang...feela kea cho kea hlapanya seboka sa ABC was Number 1!!! ha ke bone lebaka la hore ABC e seke ea hlola likhetho. There were people going around (i know 5) comparing liboka tseo and one of them being a very close relative...ache they all said the same thing ABC seboka was the biggest (some of our more cautious members said yes ABC seboka bigger but LCD seboka also big...others said there's no comparison our far bigger) the question is will this translate into victory? how many people who attend these seboka's are actually going to vote (have registered to vote? will be able to vote? how many still have their names missing from the voter's roll? a very close friend of mine has his name STILL missing!!!!) these are the issues which will determine the outcome...bar rigging of course.
By the way how many of you people really believe that elections are rigged and that in fact the LCd has been rigging its way to victory all along?
I am not quite sure I believe in rigging but I somehow believe there is a chance for the ruling party to find ways of tipping the scales to their favour e.g. in constituencies where they know they lack followership, what are the chances that they influence delivery of ballot papers, names going missing etc. this year's case is even more of a classic because it doesn't take an expert to know that abc is followed by youngsters most of whom were going to register for the first time and if registration is to be done for 10 days those who are in schools outside the country, were they not marginalized, those who had to still be grilled to understand the importance of registering as far as elections are concerned. further, the date itself is so bad, with the few manpower cents how does a student in SA takes off immediately after going back to school just to go back to vote. so, directly or indirectly the scales will always tip towards the ruling party as it is the one calling the shots.
Some reports were saying yes, abc rally was big but people fear that it was mostly attended by youths some of whom maybe under the age, haven't registered or haven't even checked whether their names are missing or not. as for lcd, yes of course those are old people who are determined to wait in long queues despite all the odds often experienced due to iec's inefficiencies.
I guess now all we can hope for is that youths should really peservere this time because the future of this country lies in their hands.
I'd like to bring your attention to http://www.afro-pedia.com an online encyclopedia and collaboration platform for all Africa. There you can find information, collaborate with other participants in projects such as writing an online dictionary and proverbs book for your language as well as meet other Africans locally and abroad! Can anyone who is fluent in Sesotho add the language to http://www.afro-pedia.com .
Thank you, and God bless you!
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