Lesotho held its closest general elections last Sunday May 26, 2012. The current Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili won the election for the fourth time and his party also took 41 seats in the National Assembly.

Mosisili’s party, The Democratic Congress, holds the simple majority to needed to run the government. The leading opposition party, All Basotho Convention, won 26 seats in the lower house although Thomas Thabane lost the election for Prime Minister.

The Lesotho Congress for Democracy gained 12 seats while the final opposition party won the last seat. The Lesotho Congress for Democracy is Mosisili’s former party and under which he won the 1998, 2002, and 2007 elections. The Democratic Congress, Lesotho Congress for Democracy, and All Basotho Convention originally came from the same party which means that they do not have significantly different positions from each other.

Lesotho, “the world’s highest country”, is a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral legislature, but only the lower house, the National Assembly, is elected; the Senate, the upper-house, is appointed.

All of the parties are trying to address the greatest issues at stake in the country. Currently poverty and lack of employment are the greatest threats.

Mosisili has been blamed for not emphasizing the development of mining in the country, one of its main resources, but these economic problems are further exacerbated by Chinese immigrants and South Africa. Lesotho is surrounded by South Africa and Lesotho’s economy is dependent on South Africa hiring its people. However, with the decline in the global economy fewer Basotho (people of Lesotho) are being hired.

Lesotho also has a high rate of Chinese immigration. Many of the Chinese are creating businesses that are causing the local Basotho businesses to fail. This situation is creating a lot of tension between the Basotho community and the Chinese community in Lesotho. Only the All Basotho Convention has addressed this tension in its platforms which makes them somewhat unique in the country.

Another problem in the country that all of the parties are trying to address is the AIDS epidemic, specifically that over a quarter of the population is HIV positive. Additionally educational reforms need to be enacted and more schools are needed across the country.

According to the BBC, Tom Thabane, the head of the All Basotho party and former prime minister candidate, has formed a coalition of the All Bastho Convention, the Lesotho Congress of Democracy, and two smaller parties to create a greater majority than the Democratic Congress’s. According to Thabane, “We have gone way below what we were a few years ago, and that’s inexplicable…we put power in the hands of the wrong people and we are taking it away from them.”

In 1998 the elections, when Mosisili took power, were full of strife and coups. The end to this political instability came when the South African military intervened and started Lesotho on a path to democracy. Even though this election was a controversial one it has been reported as peaceful and credible according to allAfrica.com.

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Linare’s sponsorship deal with Lesotho National Insurance Group (LNIG) is hopefully a sign of things to come for sports in Lesotho. The three-year deal is the first to come into effect since the much-awaited tax rebate law was finally introduced three months ago. And now in an era of mega-money in sport it is time for Lesotho to join the boat.

For years there has been a desperate need for sponsorship in Lesotho’s sports. Football in particular has suffered. Clubs are still run on an amateur basis with players unpaid and facilities poor.

The introduction of Vodacom Lesotho’s three-year sponsorship of Lesotho’s leagues in 2009 provided a boost with a deal totaling $6 million over three years with league winners receiving $100,000, compared to the $30,000 that was offered previously.

But on the ground little has changed. With no revenue streams to speak of, clubs have had to forage in their pockets to survive. It is a situation that has brought a proud club such as Likhopo to its knees. The costs in incurred in a season total well over $100,000, an unsustainable situation. But with the tax rebate law there is little excuse for the status quo to continue.

On many different levels a lot can be done. One does not need  to go far for examples of thriving sporting arenas with Botswana and Swaziland sports enjoying respective unprecedented growth, thanks to injections from their business sectors. Lesotho’s top talent, Busy Moletsane, Litšepe Marabe and Lehlomela Ramabele, have flocked to Botswana’s football for greener pastures.

In other countries, such as Zambia and Uganda, the relationship between companies and sports clubs is even closer. Companies are the clubs themselves, offering jobs to players and on the flip side ploughing back into the country’s economy. Zanaco, Zambia National Commercial Bank, is an example.

The pathway has thus been opened for sports in Lesotho to source the much needed business partnerships they have been crying out for. In 2011 there is little reason why players still play on potato fields that are an embarrassment to the country. Somewhere down the line players also need to be paid: football has to become a job.

Lesotho has to start somewhere. Lioli have set a wonderful example and have shown it can be done. But such sponsorships and partnerships will not fall on the laps of the clubs. Sponsorship for the sake of helping out is a thing of the past; it is now in return for tangible, measurable mileage. The phrase ‘every cent must bring back something return’ is now the basis for sponsorship.

Clubs, therefore, need to find aggressive strategies to exploit the advantageous playing field that has been facilitated by the introduction of the tax rebate law. This is where it would be good to see the Lesotho Football Association (Lefa) play more of a role in pushing and monitoring the effort of clubs in this regard.

Milestones–whether quarterly or yearly–should be set and adhered to for the sake of the development of sports. It is easy to say the standard of the Lesotho’s top-flight is poor, but what are the root causes? Certainly the Independence Cup played at the Setsoto Stadium on Tuesday wasn’t poor. That was because it was played on a good facility, well-attended and with a meaningful prize.

Linare has now joined Bantu and Lioli in tapping the market. LCS and LDF’s leaning towards professionalism also stands out as well, but much still needs to be done. In the past Lesotho was perhaps able to get by in mediocrity, but with the improvement of other countries–as shown by Botswana’s qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations–and the advent of professionalism, Lesotho is being left behind each day.

On the side of the business sector there are now few excuses as well. Companies in the past complained about high tax levels which discouraged them from sponsoring sports. But even with the slow economic state the positives of backing sports now outweigh the negatives.

Of course, it is  not only in football where there is a need for partnerships. Lesotho’s talent for long distance running–such as heroes Mabuthile Lebopo and ‘Mamoroallo Tjoka– is well known but has never been fully nurtured. With the introduction of the tax rebate law the time for excuses is gone.

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