News

INVESTIGATIONS by the Lesotho Times have revealed depressing details about the deteriorating standards at Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, the country’s biggest and only referral health institution. As explained in our lead story, authorities have watched the hospital sliding into near-paralysis because of what we fear could be a blatant case of abdication of duty and […]

MASERU — All Basotho Convention (ABC) leader Thomas Thabane has stopped short of telling high-profile members who defected from the opposition party to go hang. About 40 ABC members recently defected to the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) accusing Thabane of being a dictator. Thirteen ABC members including former women’s league chairperson, Mookho Mathibeli […]

MASERU — A Taiwanese national who stole a textile company from Basotho entrepreneurs with the help of a local lawyer was on Tuesday found guilty of fraud. High Court judge, ’Maseshophe Hlajoane, found John Leu guilty of fraudulently taking over Lesotho Precious Garments from Basotho shareholders. Leu will be sentenced next Monday. Leu had earlier […]

MAPUTSOE  — Lesotho will not allow foreigners to intervene in the dispute surrounding the issue of proportional representation seats in parliament, Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili has said. Mosisili said the dispute over the allocation of proportional representation seats was now a closed subject. He was addressing about 8 000 supporters of his Lesotho Congress for […]

MASERU — The main opposition All Basotho Convention (ABC) party is battling a battery of defections that could weaken the party further in the run-up to the 2012 polls, a political analyst has said. The ABC, which posed the greatest threat to the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD)’s 11-year grip on power, has been […]

MASERU — A former director of People’s Choice FM (PC FM), Mathibeli Moleko, says Mohau Thakaso is talking “rubbish” in his claims that the company’s funds were used when his shares were bought. Thakaso has claimed that Moleko sold his shares for M64 000 to Thabo Mosala who paid him M30 000 whilst the remaining […]

I AM sometimes dismayed by the quality of broadcasting in Lesotho both in terms of form and content. Lesotho has a single television station whose programme content and delivery of programmes is largely mediocre. The present state of affairs within the broadcasting sector is largely due to two issues – lack of technical expertise and […]

AS I SEE IT I WANT to thank your newspaper for raising critical questions about corporate culture in our society. The questions that you have put forward are fundamentally important and ethically relevant. Have our companies operating in Lesotho designed corporate social investment programmes in order to address our community needs? Every company must have […]

MASERU — The Vaal Reef Disaster Trust will next Tuesday mark the 14th anniversary of the Vaal Reef Mine disaster which claimed the lives of 104 mine workers including 56 Basotho. The accident at the mine, about 100km south-west of Johannesburg, was ranked among the worst mining disasters in South Africa. The trust was set […]

Doctor’s Corner IN this final article on anxiety disorders, we will briefly discuss generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and acute stress disorder. We have already covered panic and phobias. GAD is all about excessive worry and the tension that results from that. Treatment is therefore about teaching people to worry appropriately (structured problem […]

Steaming It Off THERE are some real pains in the wrong end (of the human anatomy) out there, and what makes them “special” is the fact that they have somehow turned it into an art! I am definite I do not stand alone when I say that there are some things that no matter how […]

MASERU — Lesotho skipper Lehlohonolo Seema’s future with South African giants Orlando Pirates is uncertain as his contract runs out next month. Seema, who turns 29 within a fortnight, is keen to extend his stay at the Soweto club he has captained in the last two seasons. Lesotho’s star defender has been a Buccaneer since […]

MASERU — The Buddie Premier League trophy will be placed halfway between Teyateyaneng and Maseru, the Lesotho Times can reveal. With the championship race going down to the wire, Saturday’s final fixtures will determine the destination of the 2008/09 crown. Lioli, top of the league with 69 points, visit Joy in Hlotse and a victory […]

MASERU — LDF’s stalwart defender Malefetsane Pheko is one player that can rightfully claim to have seen it all before. In a glittering career spanning 19 years, Pheko has achieved unprecedented success at club as well as playing for Likuena for a decade. Since joining LDF from Lioli in 1992 he has collected six league […]

ROME — Barcelona stunned holders Manchester United to win their third Champions League crown with a 2-0 victory here last night. Goals from star forwards Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi gave the Catalans a deserved victory and denied United from becoming the first team to retain the title since the European Cup became the Champions […]

MASERU — Lesotho’s only professional golfer, Motlalentoa Moloi, is making frantic efforts to play at next week’s Lombard Insurance Classic golf tournament in Swaziland. The tournament, to be played at the Royal Swazi Sun Country Club, is part of the Sunshine Tour, a professional men’s tour based in southern Africa. Moloi this week said he […]

PRETORIA — Resurgent Bulls and Springbok left wing Bryan Habana is being touted as a key danger man by New Zealand critics in the lead-up to the Super 14 final against the Chiefs on Saturday. And his one-on-one with Chiefs flyer Lelia Masaga at Loftus could be decisive to the outcome. So says the Waikato […]

MASERU — Makotoko Lerotholi, the chief suspect in last month’s foiled attempt on Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili’s life, has been arrested, the Lesotho Times can reveal. Lerotholi, popularly known as Mashai, was arrested on May 8 in Pretoria, South Africa, ending his two-year-long run from the law. The police suspect Lerotholi (pictured) was the gang […]

MASERU – The long arm of the law finally caught up with Makotoko Lerotholi in Pretoria last week. He is at Pretoria Central Prison in South Africa, awaiting his extradition hearing. Lerotholi will have his day in court but it might not be too early to call it the end of an eventful era for […]

MASERU — The turmoil in the Education Facilities Unit (EFU) deepened this week after the government made a court application to compel the unit’s former workers to hand over operation files to the education ministry.  The workers had refused to hand over the files complaining that the ministry was offering them new employment terms without […]

MASERU — Voting patterns at last weekend’s ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) special youth league conference showed that there is still simmering discontent over last year’s dissolution of the party’s national youth league executive committee. The weekend conference held at ’Manthabiseng Convention Centre saw only 690 delegates out of an expected 1 860 attending the […]

MASERU — Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili last week demanded a full investigation into last month’s assassination attempt on his life. “They (would-be assassins) should tell us who they are, who sent them and why they did it. They should be held accountable for what they did,” Mosisili said. Mosisili escaped unhurt when armed gunmen, believed […]

MASERU – Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili last weekend lashed out at former national executive members of his party’s youth league saying they had succumbed to pride. He also accused the youths of gross insubordination. Mosisili made the remarks as he officially opened the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) youth league special conference at ’Manthabiseng Convention […]

. . . still bitter over torture allegedly suffered in custody, ordeal in exile MASERU — “I was in              the dark, cold, hungry and sore. My whole body was aching. I was not given any food. I had lost sense of time and place.” These were the words of Motlomelo Motlomelo as he described his […]

MASERU — Prince Harry’s one million pound charity has only given out a paltry 84 000 British pounds to Aids orphans, according to British media reports. Sentebale, founded by Prince Harry in honour of his late mother Princess Diana, had only distributed a tenth of the money it had raised to orphans leaving about £600 000 lying […]

MASERU – Eight students were on Monday caught red-handed while allegedly writing national exams on behalf of their friends. Among those arrested were five students from the National University of Lesotho’s (NUL) Faculty of Science and Technology. The students sat for the Cambridge Overseas School Certificate (COSC) Mathematics exam at the Examinations Council of Lesotho […]

MASERU — ‘Maleshoboro Mopeli is grieving. Her nephew, Borane Raletsatsi, died last Wednesday after being crushed to death while digging for clay to sell. The walls of the pit caved in, crushing Raletsatsi and his friend only identified as Mohlomi to death. He was only 18. Raletsatsi, the sole breadwinner for Mopeli and his five […]

AS I SEE IT THE purpose of this article is to assess the concept of African renaissance from a layman’s point of view. I want to assess its relevance to me as a Mosotho man. The concept is known by academics and intellectuals as rebirth, regeneration and renewal of African people to ensure social, cultural, […]

The newly formed ABC gave the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) a bloody nose at the next polls when it won 17 seats during the 2007 elections with the ruling party winning 61 seats. This was a stunning electoral success. There was hope among thousands of Basotho that the ABC would at the next […]