By Pumza Fihlani, BBC News
There’s been a jubilant atmosphere as Lesotho’s new Prime Minister addresses cheering crowds at his inauguration in the Southern African country’s capital, Maseru.
Bible verses and soothing church hymnals peppered his speech. But there was also serious business – Prime Minister Sam Matekane’s tone taking on that of CEO addressing a boardroom, in a sign perhaps of how he intends to run things.
“We have to uproot corruption and stop the rampant embezzlement of public funds,” Prime Minister Matekane said, adding “these things need to be done in order to restore the hope of our people and to solicit their buy-in as we prepare to launch the country into new horizons”.
Mr Matekane also said Lesotho’s wage bill was too big compared to investment in the country’s infrastructure.
He also talked about righting “historical wrongs to make Lesotho great again”, in a country where politics has been fractious for at least a decade, with a series of fraught coalitions and numerous leaders ousted for alleged corruption and bad governance.
By contrast, Mr Matekane promised his government would work towards peace, accountability and transparency, tackling these key areas in the first 100 days:
- Inclusive and sustainable growth
- Strengthening human capital
- Enabling infrastructure
- Strengthening national government to improve service delivery
- Climate change adaption
- Strengthening public sector management.
