De Speville and Associates, an international consultancy firm hired by the government to help redefine Lesotho’s anti-corruption strategy, this week started consultations with stakeholders. The firm has been tasked to provide expert advice on ways to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO), Lesotho’s government-funded corruption watchdog. Over the […]
THERE is no doubt that the liquidators of MKM are faced with a monumental task. For the next few months, if not years to come, the liquidators will have to sift through thousands of documents and transactions to unravel the mess that MKM had become before it was eventually shut down by the Central Bank […]
PRIME Minister Pakalitha Mosisili this week spoke again about his imminent retirement in yet another indication that he could be finally planning to exit the political stage. The discussion could indicate that Mosisili is in fact thinking about retirement and passing on the baton to a successor. This is to be commended. Mosisili, who has […]
Famo artist Lephatšoe Lebajoa, better known as Selomo, met his violent death on Saturday when four armed gunmen pumped eight bullets into his body. With those eight shots Lebajoa’s booming voice was silenced. He was only 36. While it might be too early to speculate on the cause of the killing there are strong indications […]
WHEN Sharon Siverts was appointed National University of Lesotho (NUL) new vice-chancellor in February we hailed her appointment as a necessary step in reversing years of free-fall at our premier institution of higher learning. We have not shifted from that position. We believe new brooms sweep clean. Speaking at a hand-over ceremony last week Siverts […]
ELSEWHERE in this issue we carry a story about ’Marefiloe Khothe who is said to have been “accidentally” shot and seriously injured by the police while working in a food-for-work project in Leribe in January last year. The circumstances surrounding the shooting incident almost confirm what we have said before – that our police are […]
PRIME Minister Pakalitha Mosisili is facing a revolt from within his ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) party. His comrades in the leadership have stopped pretending that they are fighting in his corner. Realising the colossal crisis he faces, Mosisili has stopped posturing and has begun to admit that his party is edging towards a […]
THE MKM, which was a shameless Ponzi scheme, remains like an albatross around the government’s neck almost four years after the company was shut down by the Central Bank of Lesotho (CBL). The scheme preyed on Lesotho’s poorest of the poor by promising them outrageous interest rates on their investments. But like all Ponzi schemes […]
Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili last week lashed out at the judiciary accusing it of bias in its judgments involving the government. Mosisili was particularly miffed by judgments delivered by the Ombudsman which he said were patently in favour of government opponents. He said the courts often sympathise with individuals taking the government to court. The […]
ELSEWHERE in this issue we carry a harrowing story of about 20 school children who were allegedly sodomised at a school in Maseru. The sexual assault of the children, which went on right in front of the noses of the school authorities, raises questions about what exactly is going on behind our school walls. But […]
THE decision by the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Lesotho to cancel the evaluation of a tender to select a service provider for national identity cards for Basotho is highly commendable. In a country which has become a byword for corruption and graft, the MCA decision provides some salutary lessons for mainly state bureaucrats in this […]
THE turmoil within the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) reached boiling point last week. Seventeen constituencies wrote to the party’s secretary general Mothetjoa Metsing calling for the dissolution of the entire national executive committee. Previously the constituencies had wanted the committee disbanded save for party leader Pakalitha Mosisili and his deputy Lesao Lehohla. By […]
In this issue (Page 2 and 3) we carry a story about Ts’eliso Thatjane who claims to have been tortured by the police after he was arrested for alleged theft. Thatjane claims the police beat him with a knobkerrie and suffocated him with a plastic bag until he lost consciousness, all in an effort to […]
IN HIS budget speech in parliament on Monday, Finance Minister Timothy Thahane painted a not-so-rosy picture of the state of our national economy. The budget presentation came amid a background of immense challenges facing Lesotho. Unemployment among the youths has soared. Economic growth has shrunk. Basotho mineworkers in South African mines have been retrenched. Revenue […]
ELSEWHERE in this issue, we carry a disturbing story about how the noble process of identifying a new company to design and issue electronic passports (e-passports) for Lesotho is being mishandled at the Ministry of Home Affairs. Why public officials would want to award such a high value contract under such spurious and shadowy circumstances […]
IN HIS address to officially open the High Court session for this year on Tuesday, Chief Justice Mahapela Lehohla to his credit pointed out the numerous problems hampering the delivery of justice in Lesotho. He noted that “an adequately resourced judiciary is the champion of people’s aspirations and interests, acting as a mediator in the […]
IT IS said a picture is worth a thousand words. And there she was, mixing cow dung and some soil somewhere in Ha-Teko on the outskirts of Maseru. ‘Makatiso Tsehlana said she wanted to give a fresh look to her house by coating the floors of her two huts in preparation for Christmas. The picture […]
THE auditor-general Lucy Liphafa last week released yet another damning report on the state of the country’s finances. The 2007/8 report lists a litany of abuses of government resources. It paints a disturbing picture of government expenditure that has gone haywire. The report says there is rampant failure to comply with basic government rules, regulations […]
ON February 1 or soon thereafter the National University of Lesotho (NUL) will have a new vice-chancellor. The appointment of the university’s new chief executive officer follows what we believe was a thorough and meticulous selection process late last year. Welcome on board, madam. The new vice-chancellor’s tenure comes amid unprecedented chaos at our premier […]
IN the past, the economy of Lesotho was largely supported by revenue from the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu). It also relied heavily on agriculture and remittances from South African mines. Because of decreasing arable land area, the role of agriculture has diminished considerably. At the same time, significant retrenchments in South African mines pose […]
SUDAN may be on the verge of being reborn as two nations — north and south. The north is mostly Arabic and Muslim, the south, mostly Christian and animist. The week-long referendum which began last Sunday was expected to decide in favour of separation of north from south. There were real fears that if it […]
THE move to set up an independent human rights watchdog to protect the rights of citizens should be seen as the first concrete step by the government in the fight against a culture of impunity. We welcome the decision with both hands. The Human Rights Commission will investigate and prosecute all rights violators. The Bill’s […]
FOR fatally shooting a Mohale’s Hoek man eight years ago, a police officer was this week slapped with a five-year prison term or alternatively a M5 000 fine by a High Court judge. The judge suspended two years of the sentence on condition that he did not commit a similar offence within the next two […]
THE National University of Lesotho (NUL) and Limkokwing University were shut down again last week. The three-year-old Limkokwing saw its worst student protests with nine people being shot in violent protests that rocked the university. At Roma, NUL was also shut down after lecturers downed tools in protest over poor pay and working conditions. The […]
SEVEN people, including two security guards, were this week shot during student protests at Limkokwing University campus in Maseru. The students were protesting against last week’s decision by the university’s management to expel Students’ Representative Council president Moeketsi Pholo. The firebrand student leader was expelled for allegedly disrupting examinations that were scheduled for last month. […]
LECTURERS at the National University of Lesotho (NUL) embarked on yet another strike on Monday. The latest strike action is a clear signal that all is not well at our premier institution of higher learning. The lecturers’ list of grievances is long. But there is strikingly nothing new in the lecturers’ complaints. It is still […]
IN November 2007, the Central Bank of Lesotho (CBL) shut down MKM for operating a banking business without a licence. The central bank said MKM was also operating a money multiplication scheme in violation of the country’s banking and insurance laws. The country is still trying to come to terms with the consequences of that […]
AS reported in one of our stories in this issue the government is moving swiftly to shut down all illegal schools operating in Lesotho. The Ministry of Education has given all unregistered schools until November 30 to either shut down or face legal action. The move will see hordes of unregistered schools failing to open […]
TWO parties in the Global Political Agreement in Zimbabwe would love to win the next election — whenever it might be held. Arthur Mutambara’s formation of the MDC would not realistically entertain such hopes. Only the MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai and Zanu PF would expect to thump each other for the big prize. “Thump” […]
Exorcise demon of graft, incompetence
LESOTHO’S public works minister Tsele Chakela resigned in a huff earlier this month amid a flurry of rumours and suspicions that he had been pushed. While the circumstances surrounding his resignation remain clouded in mist, what is not in doubt is that the country’s road network is in the intensive care unit and is in […]