My dear Lesotho, they came and told me that you just celebrated your independence. That you have grown into a self- determined and sovereign state, they said you were no longer a reliant nation but rather a forty seven year old free kingdom. Oh how I had a good chuckle at the thought of this so called freedom they speak so fondly of, and although I laughed and found amusement in hearing this news, more than that I hurt. My heart ached at the obvious irony that is in celebrating your independence.
My dear Lesotho I am at standstill.
I know I am grown enough to contribute to your progression at the same time I
am too perplexed by the state of your affairs to even gather where it is I
should begin. I have searched for your colonial, political and cultural
history, why is there such limited publications or documents on you and your
leaders? Why is so much of what has been recorded done so by foreigners who
were only passing by? It is when I take the time out to go and find out about
you, only to come across foreign storylines dictating your encounters; that I
am reminded of what Thabo Mbeki once said, that “we as Africans do not know
enough about ourselves and continue to be enslaved by a narrative about
ourselves told by other people”.
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| Lesotho flag under the British rule |
I am disappointed to say the least;
it is probably hypocritical of me as I form part of the problem more than the
solution. Had I wanted your histories recorded, I would have picked up my pen
and pad, went on to meet, question and record conversations with our own
historians for future generations to look back on in reference. So there you
have it, me dear Lesotho, not only am I disappointed in you but I too have also
let you down- I apologize profusely for this.
My beautiful Kingdom that belongs
to the sky, they fed you and your people lies, they said you were free and that
they were free but the reality to this fib you’ve been fed is that you are far
from being liberated. The truth is that you still remain in the clutches of
your colonial masters, the same ones who claimed to set you free back in 1966-
what a big, beautiful, blue lie that was. I am so sorry for this lie that you
have lived for nearly fifty years now; I can only imagine it to be the hardest
slap across the face.
You know how reasoning of the past
has always attempted to be in your favor, telling you about how you are not a
colony of Britain but instead a protectorate, while I agree that this is
soothing to an extent I also feel it is nothing more than a tease to ease you
into naïve spaces, do not succumb. Them telling you of your independence is
similar to a married man telling me that he loves me and wishes to spend the
rest of his life with me, while it feels good to the ear, the truth is I would
only prove to be gullible and settling for far less than I deserve. My
Lesotho you deserve more than this heap of lies that has been piled unto you since
the 4th October 1966. You deserve to re-invent your own truth and to
acquire your own freedom through your own means, do not believe you are an
independent state because they told you you are. This is a neo- imperialistic system hard at
work.
I know of your freedom, I speak of
it on a daily, it is the kind that entails the mental liberation of your
people, where every single girl and boy child are introduced to a system of
education, where health care is free and accessible nationwide, where women are
no longer victims and men hold their own in protecting and caring for their
families. Your freedom will see tight fisted and short sighted leaders leave the seats of prominence they occupy in exchange for visionaries who love Afrika and love you enough to help you towards new heights. The sight of your true freedom as I envision it brings peace to my
mind; it is like a rain of blessings, a well of prosperity that you and your own shall drink from.
So until that day comes, when you
owe nothing to the west and they owe you everything- forgiveness and remorse,
then I will continue to sing for you that freedom song. Mayibuye Africa, Mayibuye
Lesotho. I have no doubt that you my love, will come back home to freedom and
we will be ready to ring the bells upon your return.
Until next post,
Afrika Rising, Peace & Revolution…
