I am uncertain about whether to celebrate the Independence day tomorrow (4th October) or not. I am yet to get a proper exaplanation on why we celebrate the day. Basically I still don’t understand why we needed to declare independence when we were but a protectorate and not a colony. As far as I understand, when we sought out protection to become Her Majesty’s subjects, it was never at the expense of our freedom. Thus, I still don’t understand how the British ended up setting their own government in our own country. Moshoeshoe in his submission to the British crown made it clear that he will continue to govern and provide leadership for his people. This was captured by the supposed statement he made: ‘le nkuke le nta tsa kobo ea ka, empa le tlohelle sechaba sa ka ke se buse’ (rough transaltion: take me together with the lice from my blanket, but allow me to remain the governor and leader of my people).

So the question is why did the British decide to treat us like a colony of sort? The answer doesn’t really matter for this posting. All I want, really, is for those who will celebrate the day to remember that freedom is never free, even though it contains the word free. Freedom comes with great responsibility. We need to honour those who sacrificed themselves in fighting for freedom by doing our best to make this world a better place. Yes, this sounds all cliché, but we need to start taking to heart what it means to be truly free to be whatever it is we want to be. I know for example that the dream of prosperity might seem to be hard to attain, but no one ever said it will be easy. As it was, the journey out of Egypt to the promised land was slow and filled with trials and tribulations which at one point resulted in Israelites worshipping false gods. (In Sesotho: leeto la ho ea fihla Kanana ebile le letelele le nang le mats’oenyeho, Maisaraele chaba sa ‘Moloki ke botele ba leeto, babile ba rapela melimo ea bosaoana). So, whilst it is certain that we will meet some challenges let us not despair!

Happy Independence to all!