hy did the minister knowingly give Lefa insufficient money to discharge its mandate for that matter?
I READ with shock that Sports Minister ‘Mathabiso Lepono has thrown her weight behind the Lesotho Football Association (Lefa)’s decision not to register the national team, Likuena, in international competitions.
The minister’s sudden somersault leaves a lot of questions on one’s mind given that not so long ago she told parliament that she had nothing to do with the decision and would not intervene in the matter for fear of Fifa taking action against Lesotho.
The manner in which Lepono has been giving conflicting statements in the hope that this issue will suddenly die without her and Lefa explaining to the nation confirms fears that the minister has been aware and was probably part of the decision to “exile” Lesotho from the international football arena.
The events surrounding this matter lead one to believe there is a lot at stake for the minister in as far as Lefa is concerned.
The fact that our minister of sports is even prepared to back such a “rotten” institution and put her head on the block for its blunders simply suggests Lepono has invested a lot in the leadership of Lefa.
Maybe this (support) is not a bad thing but as long as the minister is not clear as to what is happening we as the nation will continue to question her allegiance to an institution that has lost its relevance and cause.
It is public knowledge the minister has been pleading with parliament not to debate issues relating to Lefa’s decision to “exile” our team.
We are aware, too, that the minister and Lefa ignored the instruction to appear before a parliamentary committee responsible for sports.
This just shows how far the minister is prepared to go to protect Lefa.
A lot of conspiracy theories are flying around, but what remains a fact is that Lepono holds a public office and as such must come out clean and live up to the expectations that we as the nation have on a holder of an office as important as hers.
It is indeed worrying that a public office such as the one the minister holds fails to take the nation in its confidence by coming out with the truth on this matter.
Lepono has gone further by citing financial constraints among the reasons for not registering our team.
This in itself means that Lepono knows what is happening at Lefa to the extent that she can speak on the association’s behalf.
The question now is: What happened to the M1 million subvention to support Likuena?
W
And why did the minister not tell the nation about this when the issue came into the public arena?
Can the minister now explain how she and Lefa intend to develop a new breed of talent without engaging stakeholders especially at club level?
While the minister and Lefa’s plan sounds noble, one cannot pretend that it is totally practical.
Bontle
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