My father was a staunch royalist. He loved “Borena bo Boholo” for everything it represented and everything it was. His was never a conditional support. It was about the office, and the symbolism.
The monarchy was our great uniting force. He believed in it absolutely. So passionate was he about it, that he even agreed with my “day zero solution”.
My day zero solution is that while we as a country deliberate over and try to implement the reforms, the monarchy should be the authority in that period. My theory is that politicians are only interested in self gain.
They want power for themselves and their cronies, not so much for institutions. In essence my theory says, that because politicians know their time is limited, they do as much as possible in their time to control those institutions such that they can extract maximum benefit for themselves.
The crown is infinite, so I figure there isn’t that inherent need for maximum benefit. The generational legacy is unquestionable. I have been told by more than one detractor that this theory of mine doesn’t hold water, but I say we should at least try it.
This column though aims to highlight what a stellar job our monarchy is doing. For many years, much of the work His and Her Majesty do has gone under the radar. A lot of projects they embark on are kept fairly hush. This may be due to politics and politicians never wanting their shine dimmed by the royal house, or by design.
Our royals are quite media shy, but I still think their projects should be given greater prominence than they are. The King’s scholarship fund has and continues to send Basotho children who would not have had the opportunity to attend institutions of higher learning.
Meanwhile, Her Majesty’s “Hlokomela Banana” has been steadfast in its aim to eradicate period poverty and ensure girl children don’t miss school simply because of a natural occurrence in the female reproductive system.
Even the royal children have done great work, with HRH Princess Senate and her quest to end child marriage. And more recently HRH Prince Lerotholi has come out strongly on his desire to protect Basotho culture, heritage and all that encompasses. Many would agree, that is the job of “Borena bo boholo”.
Recently, I have noticed a significant upturn in His Majesty’s business. I hope it isn’t breaking with decorum to mention that our head of state is shooting the proverbial lights out. Our first citizen has embarked on a successful trio to the United Kingdom in his bid to make sure Lesotho doesn’t get left behind in the Just Energy transition and green energy space. He has actively participated in ReNoka’s effort to secure our wetlands, and once again embarked on a fruitful campaign as the AUs nutrition champion and the FAOs Special Goodwill Ambassador for Nutrition. We saw the FAOs high level delegation visit earlier this year and more recently His Majesty has been in Europe once again; observing world food day over there.
The cherry on top was witnessing His Majesty address the UN general assembly. I was filled with immense pride as I first watched Her Majesty host an elucidating side meeting with the Duke of Sussex Prince Harry, the First ladies of Botswana and Finland as well the foreign minister of Zimbabwe (representing SADC).
Then His Majesty’s address iced the cake for me. I understand the UN SG Antonio Guiterrez will be in country on an official visit soon. This follows his Deputy descending upon us for our 200years celebrations.
In amongst all this pomp and circumstance, HRH Princess Senate has graduated from University in Canada while, HRH Prince Lerotholi will be senior prefect at the prestigious Michaelhouse College in the Midlands next year.
There hasn’t been a better time to be a royalist. I wish my father was here to see all this splendour from our leadership. For king and country, Helele Morena!
