News

MASERU – There is chaos in the Education Facilities Unit (EFU) which falls under the Ministry of Education and Training after workers at the unit downed tools protesting against their inclusion in civil service structures without clear contracts. Before this the workers were not part of the civil service. The Lesotho Times can reveal that […]

MASERU — The fight for the control of People’s Choice (PC) FM has intensified with revelations this week that station boss Motlatsi Majara has asked for protection from the police. Majara has asked the head of police’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID), Assistant Commissioner John Selete, to urgently intervene after a detective raided his office last […]

MASERU — Students at the Lesotho College of Education (LCE) had to scrounge for food because the National Manpower Development Secretariat (NMDS) has not paid their grants for two months. The students said since the semester started in February their lives have been miserable because they are too broke to afford the basics like food, […]

MASERU — Controversial politician Moeketsi Tsatsanyane has dumped the newly formed Senkatana party in a move that he says brings to an end his political career. Tsatsanyane, popularly known as Chaltin, says he has decided to end his political career that spanned over 41 years because he wants to dedicate his time to work for […]

QACHA’S NEK – A 29-year-old man from Tebellong in Qacha’s Nek was on Monday slapped with a 10-year jail sentence without an option of a fine for rape. Thakhisi Lebetsa was convicted of  raping a 31-year old woman at Sekiring in November last year. Testifying before the court, the complainant said Lebetsa raped and threatened […]

MASERU  — Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili last Saturday said the death of National Independent Party (NIP) leader Dominic Motikoe had shocked him more than the foiled attempt on his life three weeks ago. Mosisili was speaking at Motikoe’s funeral last Saturday in Maputsoe. Motikoe was murdered in cold blood two weeks ago in Maputsoe by […]

MASERU — The court battle for the leadership of the National Independent Party (NIP) is still on despite the death of party president Dominic Motikoe, a lawyer dealing with the matter said this week. Advocate Thabang Khauoe, representing NIP founder Anthony Manyeli who is challenging the legality of the executive committee that was led by […]

MASERU — The Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) is set to effect a 150 percent rent hike for tenants occupying its residential and commercial properties around the country, Lesotho Times has learnt. The hike will affect tenants at Katse Village, Mohale Dam and ‘Muela. The LHDA has also issued new leases with additional conditions. The […]

MASERU — Taxpayers living in areas far from the Lesotho Revenue Authority (LRA) offices but are close to any of the Standard Lesotho Bank branches will no longer take long trips in order to pay tax. The bank and the LRA on Tuesday this week launched a value added service that will enable VAT filing […]

Anxiety may be understood as the pathological counterpart of normal fear and is manifest by disturbances of mood, as well as of thinking, behaviour, and daily physical activity. Anxiety disorders include panic disorder, agoraphobia which is the abnormal fear of being helpless in a situation from which escape may be difficult or embarrassing, characterised initially […]

STEAMING IT OFF WHAT is it with ex-lovers who do not want to let go? Ok, I know that those feelings you two shared do not just disappear — especially if you had some sort of an intimate relationship. There is a Sesotho saying which, when translated, means that feelings — strong ones at that […]

MASERU — The Lesotho Football Association (LEFA) is looking for a substantive chief executive officer, the Lesotho Times has learnt. An advert for the post was expected to be flighted in the media this week. LEFA administration officer Mohapi Mokhosi has been acting as the CEO since Mafole Sematlane quit in September last year. Sematlane […]

MASERU — A year after their controversial arrival in the Premier League, Sekamaneng Young Stars are returning to the first division. Young Stars will go down with one of the league’s worst ever records. The Sekamaneng outfit have won just once in 27 league games this season and have garnered just seven points all term, […]

QOALING — When Lesotho’s national Under-15 side returned home from Botswana two weeks ago they were empty-handed. It was not because their luggage had been lost but rather because the team had lost all their games at a four-team Under-15 tournament — 2-1 to Botswana, 4-0 to South Africa and 1-0 to the hosts’ B […]

MASERU — The government’s new financial system has unearthed thousands of ghost workers that have been on the payroll for the past five or more years, the Lesotho Times can reveal. Sources close to the issue said the new financial management system has revealed that the government has been losing millions of maloti by paying […]

MASERU — Three fugitives who returned to Lesotho last March to answer charges of treason on Monday resigned from the All Basotho Convention (ABC) party. The resignation of the three, all card-carrying members of the ABC, could pile pressure on party leader Thomas Thabane. The fugitives served as bodyguards for Thabane before they fled to […]

ROMA — Pressure is piling on the National University of Lesotho (NUL) council to suspend vice-chancellor Adelani Ogunrinade for allegedly flouting university regulations, neglecting duties and poor performance. Ogunrinade, who was appointed vice-chancellor in 2006, is also accused of abusing funds from a Kellogg Foundation programme undertaken in conjunction with the NUL. The latest calls […]

MASERU — Ultimate FM station manager Lerato Tsósane has been kicked out of the youth radio following the station’s brief closure after a labour dispute last month. Tsósane was reassigned to Lesotho Television which falls under the Ministry of Communications’ department of broadcasting on April 15, two weeks after the incident that forced the station […]

MASERU — Two men who are alleged to have been involved in last month’s failed attempt to assassinate Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili appeared in court last week charged with kidnapping and robbery.  Solomon Mabasa, 46, from Orange Farm in South Africa and Antonio Joseses Lopes, 37, from Mozambique appeared before chief magistrate Molefi Makara last […]

MASERU — A 54-year-old Mafeteng man, Neo Rapitsi, was this week jailed for five years after he was found guilty of culpable homicide. Rapitsi stabbed Motiki Khoasa on the chest killing him instantly following an argument over Khoasa’s wife. The prosecution said Rapitsi provoked Khoasa during a traditional feast at Thabaneng when he asked him […]

THERE are growing concerns over the manner in which the judicial system is conducting its business. Citizens and other stakeholders have for a long time now been clamouring for transparency and quality in the delivery of justice. It would be pretentious to assume that these people who are calling for an overhaul of the judiciary […]

DOCTOR’S CORNER TRANSIENT feelings of sadness and disappointment are a part of normal life. When these feelings are prolonged and “overly intense and continue beyond the expected impact of a life stressor or arise in the absence of a stressor”, we say that the person has a depressive disorder. In medicine, the term depression has […]

STEAMING IT OFF I WAS rather annoyed the other day when some dude commented — snidely at that — that I use my mobile phone too much! He was so intent on telling me this that the flashing red lights, looking like daggers in my eyes, were not enough warning for him to back down. […]

MASERU — For the first time in the history of football in Lesotho, two Premier League teams will play in a virtually empty stadium this weekend. The Premier League management committee has decreed that Rovers and LMPS replay their abandoned match at Roma with virtually no supporters watching. This comes after the abandonment of the […]

JOHANNESBURG — South African legend Mark Fish has decried age cheating in football which he says is Africa’s biggest problem. The former Bolton Wanderers defender, capped 62 times by South Africa, said football on the continent had failed to realise its potential because of rampant age cheating. “Age cheating in African football is a big […]

JOHANNESBURG — The Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa has assured the world that the country’s new government will not affect preparations for the event. Controversial politician Jacob Zuma will be inaugurated as the country’s new president this weekend after leading his African National Congress to victory in last […]

JOHANNESBURG — The world football governing body FIFA has said it is too early to say whether or not the outbreak of swine flu will affect next month’s Confederations Cup in South Africa. FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke said they were monitoring the outbreak of the fever that sparked alerts throughout the world. By last […]

MASERU — Two months after winning promotion to the Premier League, Leribe outfit Nyenye Rovers completed a “double” when they won the A-Division Top Eight finals in Mokhotlong on Sunday. “The fairytale continues,” Hopolang Ntseli, Rovers’ president, told the Lesotho Times this week. “We are people who believe. I don’t know what else I can […]

MASERU — Paul Mullen from the English Football Association left Lesotho on Tuesday after spending two weeks in the country. Mullen, who is the FA’s head of governance projects, was in Lesotho as part of the UEFA/CAF Meridian Project started eight years ago. The project provides smaller football associations with assistance from more established ones. […]