By Tsitsi Matope MASERU — One thing that has always fascinated him the most was Lesotho’s many phenomenal tourist attractions. From the snowing and undulating highlands, which proudly shows off their wondrous and profund gorges, to the mystic Thaba Chitja Island at Mohale Dam and the serene Molimo Nthuse Lodge hidden among the tranquil waters […]
By Tsitsi Matope MAFETENG — Paile Semoko, 80, has never married and the pain of her spinsterhood is clearly engraved in her clouded eyes. After her traumatic experience at the hands of a man who had tried to force her hand in marriage under the Basotho tradition of chobeliso, remaining single was the only […]
By Limpho Sello MASERU — The Council on Higher Education (CHE) has warned the public against enrolling with unregistered colleges. In a statement last week CHE chief executive ’Makotelo Motseko said people should be wary of institutions that are inviting them to register for programmes that are not accredited by the council. The council […]
MASERU — A “medical miracle” is taking place in Lesotho. Thousands of HIV positive mothers are giving birth to healthy HIV negative babies. What was virtually unthinkable a few years ago is now happening giving hope to thousands of HIV positive mothers. For a country that has the third highest HIV prevalence rate in the […]
MASERU — Hundreds of government workers celebrated the annual Public Service Day at Setsoto Stadium last week. Held under the theme “Strengthen leadership management for improved public service delivery in Africa” the occasion was hailed as a success. The civil servants looked delighted. Yet it is hard to imagine that the general public, the people […]
MASERU — They arrived at Tiping a village in Thaba-Tseka on horseback on Thursday, armed to the teeth. The six men said they were looking for a man who had assaulted one of their own sometime back. Now they wanted nothing but revenge. Police spokesman Masupha Masupha told the Lesotho Times this week that the […]
MASERU — Tselane, like most other girls her age, was once a strong-willed teenager. She would defiantly stand her ground and say no to premarital sex. But that fierce resistance melted and she crossed the red line. Ever since that day, she has regretted her decision to give up her virginity. How could she continue […]
MASERU — Three women sit outside a run-down “surgery” in Thibella, a poor working-class suburb notorious for running illegal shebeens, awaiting their turn to get into the “consultation room”. They are holding grey medical booklets in which the nurses scribble some notes for the patients. The women are engaged in small talk as they await […]
MASERU — Bora, a strong, athletic taxi driver in his late 30s, is not shy to talk about his sexual exploits. He says with a straight face that he has lost count of the number of women he has bedded. He says he is aware that he is putting himself at risk of contracting HIV, […]
MOHALE — When news trickled in that the government was going to build a new multibillion-dollar dam in Mohale, the people were thrilled. Finally, they thought, they were going to see real change in their routine and dull lives. And indeed when the project roared into life in June 1998 things really began to improve […]
MAFETENG — While some rural parts of the country are in the grip of hunger some villagers in Ha-Paki and Ha-Shale in Mafeteng have a completely different story to tell. For these villagers in Mafeteng, about 80 kilometres south of the capital Maseru, hunger and poverty are now a thing of the past, thanks to […]
MASERU — In exactly 147 days the World Cup football tournament will burst into life in neighbouring South Africa. The World Cup, arguably the biggest sporting event on planet earth after the Olympics, is expected to be watched by billions of people. The tournament which will run from 11 June to 11 July is expected […]
THABA-TSEKA — At 26 years, Sechaba Mohlohlo, was disturbingly ignorant about the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Mohlohlo dismissed out of hand any suggestion HIV was spread through unprotected sex arguing that he did not see how this “concept” could ever be possible. He thought the disease was a result of some witchcraft and even blamed […]
MASERU — Her demise started early last year when she noticed that her profits were shrinking. For the first time this clothing boutique that Ntaoleng Setho (not her real name) had run in downtown Maseru was showing signs of stress. For years the little shop had been her source of livelihood, but now it was […]
THABA-TSEKA — His hair is fluffy and his lips are blistered. He leans heavily on his walking stick for support. His clothes — a pair of yellow track-pants and a blue jersey which he covers with a tattered grey blanket — hang onto his skeletal frame. The young man, Thabo Motlohi from Ha-Makunyapane Village in […]
NAZARETH — Once a well-known cattle breeder, 72-year-old Morena-Kemang Nkhahle now only has his fingers to count. Scores of Nkhahle’s cattle and sheep have been stolen over the years and despite having identified the perpetrators, none of the livestock has been recovered. He goes through a bundle of old documents and a worn-out notebook, where […]
MASERU — When Nthato Ralele found a job as a tailor she thought her worries were finally over. But four years down the line, Ralele is a broken woman. Ralele, a tailor at one of the garment factories in Maseru, looks miserable. Life has not turned out the way she had thought. She says the […]
MASERU — Twenty-two-year-old Nthabiseng (not her real name) is a haunted woman. Earlier this month Nthabiseng was arrested and sentenced to two months in prison for dumping her newly-born baby in a pit latrine. She however escaped jail after she paid a M200 fine. But a month after that horrible day when she threw away […]
MASERU — The hot spring sun is blazing. A group of young kids in Ha-Tsolo are busy with song and play. They have turned the open space next to their homes into a playground. But six-year-old Pusetso Ratsúpu and his siblings — Relebohile, four, and 22-month-old Ntsoaki — are not part of the fun. They […]
By Ntsebeng Motsoeli MASERU — ‘Meisi (not her real name) of Ha-Toloane could not stop blaming herself for the rape of her 15-year-old daughter. She wishes she had done the right thing to report her brother to the police when her daughter first revealed that he had raped her. But because she thought involving the […]
Alcoholic Liver Disease ALCOHOLIC liver disease is damage to the liver that results from excessive drinking of alcohol. It is a common but preventable health problem. In general, the amount of alcohol consumed determines the risk and the degree of liver damage. Women are more vulnerable to liver disease than men. In women who drink […]
MASERU – The arrangement between the governments of Lesotho and South Africa to allow cross-border taxis to freely operate between their boarders failed to take off as planned last week amidst violent clashes between taxi operators from the two countries. The arrangement was that cross-border taxis that were operating from the South African border side […]
MASERU – Charles Jenkins, the outgoing commissioner-general of the Lesotho Revenue Authority (LRA), could assume the same title in Swaziland where he attended a job interview a fortnight ago. His three-year contract at the helm of the LRA ended last Friday. The much-travelled Jenkins, 53, said his next stop could be Swaziland where he was […]
MASERU – He is a taxman. A bad golfer. A saxophone player. An avid reader. A rock climber. A crossword fanatic. A fisher. He loves Africa. That pretty much sums up how the outgoing commissioner general of the Lesotho Revenue Authority (LRA), Charles Jenkins, defines himself. Many colleagues he worked with at the revenue authority […]
THEY are routinely pilloried as Likuena or crocodiles. They endure daily lives of insults and abuse. They are blamed for every vice in society. The world is never short of epithets with which to stigmatise them. It seems no one ever spares a moment to reflect on what drives these young girls and women into […]
Jo! Bathong! This past weekend was something else! Something different…ok not really but then… After work Friday, I literally started seeing red! What! For a minute I imagined I had just been afflicted by a really bad, warped case of instantaneous colour blindness. Scar y hey! I tell you, everywhere and everything I looked there […]
WE wish to congratulate the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) party for holding a successful conference last weekend. With a new revamped leadership the LCD appears to be in a strong position to tackle the many challenges facing Lesotho. It is our hope that the party leadership will bury their differences which were so […]
BUTHA-BUTHE – Thabiso, 18, takes a deep and long pull from a plastic bottle. He repeats the process again after a breather. After some few minutes of taking “the stuff” it is clear that he is no longer in control as he staggers from one side of the road to the other. Even his speech […]
MASERU – King Letsie III prorogued parliament last week but no reasons were given for the move which observers say is quite unusual. The house will resume business on February 6. There is speculation in political circles that the move could be in preparation for the eventual dissolution of parliament. The speculation has been gathering […]
Defection gives ABC chance for introspection
TUESDAY’S dramatic events in parliament have deeper implications for democracy in Lesotho. As reported in our lead story All Basotho Convention (ABC) legislator, Nkhets’e Monyalotsa, crossed the floor to join the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) party. Monyalotsa, who was the legislator for Maputsoe constituency, dumped the ABC saying it had lost political direction. […]