Before I leave the subject of resolutions and goal setting for 2012, there are a couple of things I would like to share in addition to those I wrote about a fortnight ago. If you haven’t done so already, I hope you will soon set aside some quiet time to review 2011 and plan for […]
The National University of Lesotho (NUL) yesterday finally reopened its doors after two tumultuous months of bitter standoff between lecturers and management over pay and working conditions. Lectures are now expected to resume on Tuesday. But matters should not have come this far. Precious learning time has been lost since the strike began last October. […]
What a roller coaster year this has been! We want to take this time to thank you our loyal readers and advertisers for your unflinching support. Without your support we would not have reached our goals. Our circulation figures have continued on their upward trajectory. Advertising revenue has also grown suggesting the Lesotho Times has […]
WITH a few months before Basotho trek to polling stations, last week’s workshop hosted by the United Nations Development Programme to promote political tolerance in Lesotho could not have come at a better time. Speaker after speaker at the workshop organised as part of Human Rights Day celebrations last Friday agreed that much still needs […]
UNSETTLING as they may be, I find that Shaw’s insights are still as relevant today as they were in 1933 when he wrote them. I think it is impossible to address the issue of domestic violence without looking at the underlying structure within which it is perpetrated. As we get to the end of the […]
THE damning report by parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) released last Friday made really depressing reading. The breath-taking levels of looting are a clear testimony that we are nowhere near taming the beast of corruption in Lesotho. Unless something is done urgently we risk reversing the small gains this country has scored in the fight […]
Osman Moosa, who was convicted of tax fraud in August, is putting up the “Mother of all Fights” to retain his position as chairman of the Private Sector Foundation of Lesotho. The man has been under relentless pressure after he was convicted of tax fraud running into millions of maloti by the High Court. That […]
THE attack on two journalists from Lesotho Television while covering a protest march last Thursday should be roundly condemned as yet another serious threat to press freedom. Journalists Ntšiuoa Sekete and Tšiu Setho were attacked while covering a protest march organised by civic groups last week. The demonstrators wanted to hand a petition to Prime […]
MANAGEMENT at Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (LUCT) must resist attempts to embark on gung-ho tactics to address what appears to be a simple labour dispute. The troubled university this week began temporarily importing lecturers from sister universities after local lecturers embarked on strike. The decision was as unwise as it was unfortunate. Instead of […]
JUSTICE Michael Ramodibedi’s call to set up a separate budget for the Court of Appeal could be seen as an extension of the bitter tussle for power between him and Chief Justice Mahapela Lehohla. Speaking at the closing session of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ramodibedi said setting up a separate budget for the highest […]
The Credit Reporting Act passed by parliament last week is an important piece of legislation that will transform Lesotho’s economy. It will change, for the better, the way people and financial institutions interact. Put simply, the new law regulates the collection of credit data, how it is used and protected. It makes those who collect […]
THE fight between Chief Justice Mahapela Lehohla and Court of Appeal President Justice Michael Ramodibedi over who is senior should be deemed unfortunate given the enormous challenges besetting the judiciary. We think the spat between the two learned judges is also embarrassing. The dispute which exploded into the open at a recent meeting of judges […]
THE National University of Lesotho (NUL) was this week plunged into fresh turmoil yet again as lecturers and non-academic staff joined hands in protest over the ongoing restructuring exercise. A petition submitted to NUL vice-chancellor Sharon Siverts by the Non-Academic Workers’ Union (Nawu) yesterday said the workers were concerned with the “uncertainty and instability” that […]
INVESTIGATIONS by parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) into the looting of M2.5 million of taxpayers’ money during the funeral of the late assistant sports minister Lekhetho Phakisi in 2007 have opened a Pandora’s Box. The shocking levels of looting that we reported last week have the potential to damage the country’s reputation unless something drastic […]
IF the riotous scenes that we saw at Moshoeshoe I International Airport on Tuesday are anything to go by, then Mothetjoa Metsing’s days as the party’s secretary general are numbered. The writing is certainly on the wall for the affable communications minister. He appears cornered. This editorial is no elegy for Metsing. We hold no […]
THE decision to release 300 prisoners last week will serve to decongest Lesotho’s notoriously overcrowded jails. However, only time will tell whether unleashing such a large number of ex-prisoners back into society in one swoop was a wise decision. After serving time in jail it is our hope that these former inmates are returning as […]
THIS week the Libyan embassy in Maseru flew two flags, one associated with ousted strongman Muammar Gadaffi, and the other associated with the National Transitional Council (NTC) representing the new political dispensation in the North African state. The development vividly captures the ambivalence brought about by the dramatic events that we have witnessed in Libya […]
Local Government Minister Pontšo Sekatle may well have been within her rights when she allocated residential stands to nine government ministers, judges and senior civil servants as we reported last week. The minister has vociferously defended the allocation saying the decision to award the stands was above board. The local government principal secretary ’Mapitso Panyane […]
REPORTS that officers of the Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS) are not happy with their salaries and working conditions should be treated with utmost urgency and sensitivity as this could pose a threat to our national security. Any industrial action by the police, whether legal or illegal, would have devastating consequences for the rule of […]
Two of the eight men on trial for attempting to assassinate Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili and topple the government in 2009 are now without legal representation. Together with six others, Solomon Mabasa and Antonio Lopez are facing 31 charges that include murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, robbery and illegal entry into Lesotho. If convicted for murder […]
YOU know a government is becoming paranoid when it starts muzzling the media in times of crisis. The government showed its paranoia yesterday when it temporarily shut down four private radio stations, including the two that are its mouthpieces. Those responsible for this knee-jerk decision are ducking responsibility. They are blaming a technical fault for […]
THE decision to hire Masupha Sole, the former boss of the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) who was convicted for bribery and fraud, is a blow to the country’s fight against corruption. Sole was released in May after spending only nine years of his initial sentence of 15 years for 11 counts of bribery and […]
ELSEWHERE in this edition we carry a story that exposes the appalling state of our disaster management services. Last weekend dozens of people were trapped in snow in the country’s mountainous regions. In Thaba-Tseka some people were injured when their bus swerved and fell into a roadside ditch. There were also other groups trapped in buses […]
A GOVERNMENT commissioned survey released last week found that most people believe that corruption in Lesotho is more prevalent than it was in 1999 when the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences Act was enacted. Respondents to the De Speville and Associates’ survey included political leaders, civil servants, business people, journalists as well as educators, […]
NATIONAL University of Lesotho (NUL) Vice-Chancellor Professor Sharon Siverts’ assessment of what needs to be done at the country’s premier institute of higher learning was candid and sober. It captured what needs to be done to reverse decades of mismanagement at the country’s premier university. The proposed solutions also appear workable. All Basotho who are […]
THIS week’s news that a South African burial society had raised M2.5 billion to bail out MKM should have triggered wild celebrations. It didn’t. Instead, it raised more questions than answers. Ntsukunyane Matete, the chairman of Iketsetseng Family Life and Burial Cooperative Limited, said they had raised M2.5 billion through contributions from members. He told […]
Reports by Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) commander Lieutenant General Thuso Motanyane that the army is facing severe budgetary constraints should come as a real cause for worry to the nation given our tempestuous past. Speaking at the Army Day celebrations in Maseru at the weekend Lt Gen Motanyane said the LDF had failed to meet […]
THREATS to embark on fresh protests at the National University of Lesotho (NUL) could deal a fatal blow to attempts to revive the university. The Congress of Lesotho Trade Unions (Coletu) this week said it will picket at the university “in solidarity with students and members of its affiliate unions who have been affected by […]
THE downing of tools by workers at a sandstone company in Berea last week has helped expose the serious inequalities and exploitative relationships that exist between workers and barons in the construction industry. It has also helped unearth the rot within that industry. Workers at the Lesotho Sandstone Enterprises have accused management of paying them […]
Let’s break culture of post-election conflict
THE government, opposition parties and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) will tomorrow sign an election roadmap that seeks to pave way for the holding of a free and fair election later this year. The decision to sign the pre-election agreement could help defuse tensions among the competing parties. It could also help create a healthy […]