Water For Justice

Public hearing held at Likatseng

A public hearing was held at Likatseng village in Nyokosoba Community Council A04, in the district of Maseru. Present at the hearing was the councilor of the community council Hon Mosiuoa and the chairperson of the Maseru District Council, Hon Nkau ‘Nyai and the chief of the village. 182 people were present at the public hearing and 132 of them were males, only 50 females were there. This was the best attended public hearing. The other great part was to see the presence of young people in issues that affect them, about 37 were there, and 30 were males, the rest were ladies. The objectives of this public hearing that are mentioned below show that the public hearing was relevant to the goal of the Democracy and Human Rights.

The objectives of the public hearing was to educate people on issues affecting them as a society, first, make them aware of the constitution which governs the country they live in, that they should take it as the bible of Basotho, which every citizen should act according to, the importance of knowing about it, the three main components of it, which are Judiciary, Legislature and the Executive. They were told the importance of having courts in the country as part of the judiciary.

The Executive, which is the government in simple word, being composed of the ministries and the departments under those ministries, what they are doing or what they should be doing according to duties and roles of each ministry. Then the legislature which is the parliament, which is build up of two houses, the Senate and the house of the representatives, here the public or the people should know exactly the duties of their constituency representatives in the parliament, so that when they go to elections they know what and what not to expect from them, what they can do to make sure that they elect somebody who can represent them well, for example, looking at the qualities that the nominated person has, the public was made aware that they should elect somebody with good leadership skills. The aim was also to make people aware they have the right to access their MP by writing to the chief of that village and ask him to call the MP and to call the public hearing, and that their leaders have the right to report back them as they are the ones who put them in power.

Lastly the issue of Local Government, this issue was the main objective of the public hearing as the election of local government are coming next year in 2010. The community was told about the duties of the councilors, that most of the people are not aware of, for example, that the councilor are responsible for making sure that they control markets, meaning giving of permission to people who want to open small shops and controlling of those businesses. They are mainly responsible to allocate and take back (revoke) the land if it is not used, this can be land for building of houses, land for agricultural purpose and land for markets. They have to make sure that there is burial side in the community. They have power to control the graze land, make sure that it is protected. They make that the public is provided with clean water and if water taps are broken, they are repaired and maintained. To protect environment and to make sure that the people benefit from the natural resources available in their society.

Then the community was told their responsibilities as the members of the society, to make sure that their villages are improved, they must know that it is not the duty of the councilor to contrast roads, but he/she should help them with equipment that is provided for them to be able to make developments like building small or minor roads. They are responsible for taking care of the developments that are brought into their village, and be willing to repair them if they are broken. The Community had to be aware of the impact that they are making when they go to elections, and that not voting can have a very negative effect on them, for example when the community councils are allocated money, the number of people who went for elections is considered. They must make a good choice on whom they want to be their leader.

What was learned is that most people don't know who their MP is, and they are not able to differentiate between the councilor and the MP, they don't know the responsibilities of the MP. People abandon their leaders after electing them and then complain that they are doing nothing for them after making promises to them. As the community they don't work together, in a case where they demanded electricity and were told to form committees, they refused to pay the M50 that was required for the service saying they don't have the money. The main concern of the people is the road, they were saying that they believe that if only the road could be repaired and stay in good conditions, more of the services will come.

They are willing to work together with the councilor only if he calls them into public hearings and report to them about what is happening. Some of the people have given up on elections, saying that it is of no use for them to vote, because at the end they get nothing out them, all they get is the MP who no longer cares about them. Another observation is that the community the thinks it is the duty to make roads and repair taps, not realizing that it is for their own good. It seemed that the people in this village do not attend public hearing and therefore don't have knowledge on the budget and other issues that they have to know, they only come when they are told that they are going to be hired.

Likatseng people are even afraid to talk to their MP because they claim that she doesn't want to talk about anything with them. The is a lack of knowledge indeed in the Basotho community and there is lot of work to be done. Some of the people left before the end of the hearing when they found that there was not going to be take place.

Recommendations

The people in this area must be well sensitized about the election so that next year when they go into elections, have knowledge of what they are supposed to do. There is need to revisit the community in the presence of the MP and the councillor , together with the chairman of the District Council, so that the people can ask questions and get clarifications on issues of development. They must be encouraged to work together to achieve, be encouraged to work in their communities even if they are not paid, because the government of Lesotho does not have money, besides it is for their own good. Lastly young people should be encouraged to participate in the hearings as they are the future leaders of the community, especially they inclusion of young women in this issues.