PRIME Minister-elect Pakalitha Mosisili’s remarks elsewhere in this edition are cause for optimism. The Democratic Congress leader said he had learnt from the mistakes made by the coalition government led by outgoing Prime Minister Thomas Thabane during his time in opposition. Dr Mosisili said after watching the outgoing government falter after serving only two […]
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and South Africa have done well to deploy armed security personnel to Lesotho. But this is only to protect Prime Minister Thomas Thabane and other political elites. The rest of Basotho remain perilously exposed to Lt General Tlali Kamoli and the band of loyalists he has reportedly assembled with […]
It is a cardinal canon of any democratic society that everyone is entitled to rights of peaceful protests. It is, therefore, within the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD)’s rights to stage their protest as contemplated for Monday 1 September 2014. At a press briefing this week, LCD leader and Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing, […]
LESOTHO suffered the embarrassment of failing to secure the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation chairmanship on Sunday owing to the political instability and security agency feuds bedeviling the kingdom. While other supposedly troubled states such as Madagascar and Zimbabwe came back to the SADC fold, with the […]
Lesotho’s feuding ruling parties look set to miss today’s deadline to remove barriers which have stalled progress in their efforts to find a lasting solution to their differences. The three parties, namely the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD), All Basotho Convention (ABC) and Basotho National Party (BNP), signed an agreement before Namibian President Hifikepunye […]
We have often commended Pakalitha Mosisili for his decorum and statesmanship in ensuring a smooth handover of power when he failed to win a majority in the 2012 elections. We have also often commended him for some of the good things that he did during his long 25 year reign, particularly fostering peace and stability […]
The Commonwealth Expert Adviser to Lesotho, Dr Rajen Prasad, has submitted his recommendations to the coalition government, which he believes can take Lesotho out of its current predicament. Government’s three parties, namely the All Basotho Convention (ABC), Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) and Basotho National Party (BNP), have declared a truce while various stakeholders seek […]
Yesterday’s complete destruction of Tšenolo FM by unknown assailants was not only an attack on the fledgling radio station but an assault on press freedom in Lesotho. Four assailants, who are yet to be identified, stormed the Ha Mabote-based radio station just before midday yesterday and within minutes, had completely destroyed Mohau Kobile’s brainchild, as […]
The Lesotho multi-stakeholder delegation to New Zealand, led by Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing, has returned home after a week of sharing experiences with that country’s well oiled political machinery. Lesotho’s form of government since 2002 is strikingly similar to New Zealand’s Mixed Member Proportion (MMP) parliamentary system. The trip to share experiences on how […]
The feud between Lesotho Mounted Police Service Commissioner Khothatso Tšooana and Lesotho Defence Force boss, Lieutenant General Kamoli, scaled new heights last week when the former was barred from entering State House with his security entourage. Apparently, the soldiers guarding State House asked Commissioner Tšooana to leave his vehicles and bodyguards outside and walk to […]
ELSEWHERE in this issue, we carry a report on the investigations being carried out on Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing. It is always difficult to properly contextualise the essence of any probe against a high profile political leader amid the serious infighting of the proportions we have seen in Lesotho’s coalition government. Mr Metsing’s […]
WHILE we have harped on ad nauseam about the souring of relations between Lesotho’s security agencies, recent shocking events cannot go unmentioned. Elsewhere in this edition, we carry a very disconcerting story in which the Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS) Commissioner, (Compol) Khothatso Tšooana and Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Masupha Masupha, were on Tuesday […]
The government was exposed once again this week, after taxi-operators barricaded the Maseru Bridge Border Post, with the relevant authorities completely powerless to do anything about this open defiance and show of disrespect. The public transporters started their protest on Tuesday morning in an effort to prod government into helping them in their fight against […]
Elsewhere in this edition, we carry a very depressing story about how one of this country’s most prominent advocates Zwelakhe Mda has been denied an identity card and an opportunity to renew his Lesotho passport for what we can only condemn as the most spurious of reasons. Advocate Mda (KC) is a former president of […]
The High Court yesterday made an unprecedented decision which resulted in a high-powered delegation led by the sitting judge, visiting the home of a suspect to verify information provided by his legal representative. After the prosecution had questioned the credibility of a doctor’s report regarding the status of former Natural Resources Minister, Mr Monyane Moleleki, […]
Operations at Queen ‘Mamohato Memorial Hospital — the country’s only referral hospital —came to a complete standstill yesterday, as the majority of members of staff went on strike demanding better pay. Following a long-standing feud between management and the workers not just over salaries, but also lack of respect at the workplace, it was only […]
The brazen attempts to kill Police Commissioner Khothatso Tsooana and Prime Minister Thomas Thabane’s partner, Liabiloe Ramoholi remain as dastardly as they are inhuman. Indeed this Kingdom united in condemning these acts and praying for the expedited capture of the perpetrators. Such scoundrels should have no place among us. It is nonetheless discomforting that considerable […]
The three attacks which left three Maseru households in a state of shock early this year may have since become but another crime statistic to many, but not so for the affected families who continue to search for answers regarding the reprehensible bombings. On January 27, the country woke up to the shocking news that […]
Government this week finally suspended the embattled Ministry of Finance Principal Secretary (PS) Mosito Khethisa. Khethisa faces serious fraud and corruption charges before the courts and his continued stay in such a powerful post was, without doubt, sending the wrong message about the coalition government’s seriousness to fight corruption at every level of society. After being […]
The decision to close the National Health Training College (NHTC) this week could not have come at a worse time for both the institution and the country at large. In a bizarre, if not shocking move, the NHTC authorities decided to indefinitely shut down the institution on Monday this week after students protested the unfair […]
THE bid to push for a no-confidence motion in parliament this week has generated spirited interest and debate on both sides of the political divide. The entire week saw radio stations and the media in general debating the pros and cons of the intention to move the motion, which would initiate a process that could […]
In this edition we carry a report in which a syndicate, working in cohorts with two suspects with extensive knowledge of information technology, fleeced unsuspecting companies of millions of maloti. For this reason, we applaud efforts by experts from South Africa who this week hosted a workshop at a local hotel to raise awareness by […]
At face value the closure of Philips Lighting factory in Tikoe, the suspension of operations at Saxenburg in Mohale’s Hoek and the closure of Ternsportswear in Maputsoe give one the impression that Lesotho is headed for “de-industrialisation”, if one could use that term in a country with barely any industry to talk about. Yet, on […]
In last week’s editorial, we discussed the disharmony in the security sector, particularly the army. We would not have wanted to belabour the point by discussing the same issue, except that the sector continues to be a thorn in the flesh of the country’s fledgling democracy. This time our worries lie in the Lesotho Defence […]
ONLY someone who lives in Cloud Cuckoo Land could assert that all is well in Lesotho’s security cluster at the moment. More than any other arm of government, the security services sector should be the most stable in order to guarantee a nation’s peace and prosperity. Over the past few weeks, there have been very disturbing signals emanating from […]
News that the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO)’s coffers are dry makes sad reading. Out of a M23 million budget call, the anti-corruption body was given M14 million, leaving it about M10 million in the red and unable to meet all its operational needs in the current fiscal year. That a body tasked […]
It’s easy to cry about the bleak prospects of Lesotho’s economy. For such a worldview, all the ingredients for a template of hopelessness are there. Besides the much larger economic stress after the global recession in recent years, the rand on which the loti is pegged has been under intense pressure over the past year. […]
Reports this week that journalists at Harvest FM received death threats through anonymous phone calls should be condemned by all progressive and peace-loving Basotho. It is disturbing that the radio presenter in question had not definitively named anyone. Worse still, the issue is about suspected misappropriation of donor funds for the National Aids Commission. Donor […]
The sudden requirement by authorities in South Africa that Basotho departing Lesotho should get their passports stamped before they can enter that country evokes mixed reactions. That the requirement is in line with international law is not in dispute but also that there was a mutual but unwritten, if tacit, understanding regarding movement of citizens […]
Premier’s battle has just begun
ONE of the oft repeated punchlines by Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili during the campaign period was the promise to restore the dignity and respect of the premiership, which he said had been “lost” during the short-lived reign of former Prime Minister Thomas Thabane. However, the campaign is well and truly behind us, and the […]