IT took more than 15 months of dodging and ducking by the police to hide what had happened to their colleague, Police Constable (PC) Mokalekale Khetheng who had disappeared in their hands. It took about 15 months for the Mosisili regime to devise and attempt to hide the well-known secret of the murder of […]
Nthakeng Pheello Selinyane SOME remarks by the former Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) commander, military ruler and later beleaguered leader of the Basotho National Party (BNP) Major-General Justin Metsing Lekhanya on the promised security reforms (“’Dialogue should precede security reforms”’, Lesotho Times 27 July 2017) sound suspiciously dangerous even if apparently innocent. They, therefore, beg some […]
The reinstatement of Mosito as president of Court of Appeal THE rule of thumb of good governance is that public appointments and dismissals should be done in good faith and without malice and a vendetta. Those who forget this rule often unwittingly work against their own interests. They look petty and foolish at the […]
What the LLA pension tells us Nthakeng Pheello Selinyane SO the 24-year old wailing of the Lesotho Liberation Army (LLA) of the Basutoland Congress Party (BCP) which is the parent party of all Lesotho’s Congress parties in one way or another, has for the first time fallen on sympathetic ear of a government that […]
IT can never be over-emphasised that any government must do everything in its power to engender public confidence and it would appear that the four party coalition is going out of its way to do just that. The new government came to power in the aftermath of the 3 June 2017 snap elections. The […]
THE use of surveillance equipment to spy on any individual, more so the prime minister of a country is bound to suggest sinister motives. As we report elsewhere in this edition, hidden electronic surveillance equipment was discovered in Prime Minister Thomas Thabane’s office this week. Some of the devices had been planted under his […]
Hlalele Hlalele ONE only needs to encounter a challenge related to law enforcement to realise that Lesotho still has a long way to go before uhuru. It was not until I had to lodge a personal complaint against the Quthing Police when I discovered that the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) in is not an […]
Motlatsi Ramafole SINCE independence in 1966, the Kingdom of Lesotho has experienced many political crises that have negatively impacted on the country’s economic growth. Lesotho has been dogged by poverty and hunger, endemic diseases, unemployment and corruption among other things. Politicisation of the country’s main institutions such as the civil service, security sector, judiciary and […]
Progress and challenges AS expected, the newly-formed government of Lesotho faces a phenomenal task to unscramble a deliberate plan by former premier Pakalitha Mosisili to figuratively rule from the grave. As indicated in an earlier article, central to the scheme was to ensure that the government would be bogged down for up to a […]
‘Mako Bohloa I WROTE this opinion piece in response to an article I read in the Lesotho Times of 29 June 2017 “Govt to revive Job Summit process”. The article was about plans Finance Minister Moeketsi Majoro to revive the jobs summit. I thought I should take this opportunity to share with Lesotho Times […]
LAST Friday, King Letsie III called for the speedy implementation of all the Southern African Development Community (SADC) recommendations and the depoliticisation of security institutions to ensure stability in the country. In His Majesty’s Speech from the Throne in the National Assembly, the King also said: “I would like to see my government working on […]
Teddy Atim INTERNATIONAL and national laws broadly recognise equal rights for all. These include the right to fair and equitable access to justice. But justice for women and girls before the courts remains elusive in many African countries. This is partly because they face unique hurdles that disadvantage them from start. These include the fact that […]
Hlalele Hlalele LESOTHO now has its third government in five years after the previous two failed to last the distance. For the new government to work, there is need for a paradigm shift among political leaders from being egocentric to becoming selfless. This opinion piece underlines some of the pitfalls of the previous coalition […]
Neo Tapela When it comes to killer diseases in Africa many people think of infectious diseases like tuberculosis, malaria, or even Ebola. But the reality is that diseases like cancer, diabetes and heart disease – known as non-communicable diseases (NCDs) – are a major threat. It’s estimated that there will be about 3.9 million deaths from these […]
Nthakeng Pheello Selinyane A LOT of the things that could have been predicted by a political toddler as poised to trip, and even bring down, our historic first coalition government stuck out like an ugly pimple on the face of that government, but were borne by it with inexplicable forbearance. Its fate is now […]
Jannie Rossouw SOUTH Africa’s march into a democracy was greatly helped by a multiparty government of national unity established after the 1994 elections. It governed from 1994 to 1999, and has been largely credited with fostering unity of purpose and relative confidence between previously warring parties attempting to build trust in a joint future. The […]
Mafa Sejanamane AS opposed to a rebellion, a coup is never a spontaneous development. It takes time and plotting to put the pieces together. The important thing to note however is that all coups are a result of agitation often outside the barracks. The calculations whether the environment exists for a coup; and, the […]
Can this circle be broken? Professor Mafa M. Sejanamane ADDRESSING questions of political instability in Lesotho has been one of my main pre-occupations in the past two years or so. This has been so after a recognition that Lesotho is by all indicators regressing as a result of never ending instability, while the rest […]
Pascalinah Kabi POLITICAL parties have been warned not to read too much into their performances in past elections as the upcoming June polls are likely to be determined by the new dynamics which are currently at play and shaping the country’s political landscape. Political analyst, Sofonea Shale this week delivered the warning in an […]
THE war of words which erupted this week between Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili and his Labour Minister, Advocate Thulo Mahlakeng would have been comical had they not been tragic, given the seriousness of the issues of workers’ livelihoods that were involved. As we report elsewhere in this edition, Dr Mosisili started the war of […]
‘Mako R. Bohloa ON Sunday, 30 April 2017, I watched in dismay as Maluti Sky made its very last flight to Johannesburg. As a resident of Mazenod Airport City, I watched as the jet took off and circled around Mazenod before it disappeared into the clear blue sky to the land of milk and honey. […]
Desperation when defeat is certain Professor Mafa Sejanamane FEAR sometimes drives some people to do weird things. Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili’s actions and utterances lately are largely driven by fear which leads him to do and take desperate measures. It is not fear of elections, but fear of the consequences of losing elections especially […]
. . . as Lesotho goes to the polls again John Aerni-Flessner WHEN Tom Thabane and the All Basotho Convention (ABC) took power after the 2012 elections, it marked the first peaceful transfer of power in Lesotho’s relatively brief history. It also marked the country’s first instance of coalition government. Many southern African political […]
Patricia Scotland IT was just by chance that I discovered a weaver’s workshop, a little gem hidden away in the back of the government-operated Basotho Hat craft shop in the mountain kingdom of Lesotho. This is where I met Esther, a weaver who has been capturing the essence of Lesotho’s culture and history in hand […]
. . . as Lesotho goes to the polls again John Aerni-Flessner WHEN Tom Thabane and the All Basotho Convention (ABC) took power after the 2012 elections, it marked the first peaceful transfer of power in Lesotho’s relatively brief history. It also marked the country’s first instance of coalition government. Many southern African political commentators, […]
THIS article stems from the 11 May 2017 article in the Lesotho Times by Professor Mafa Sejanamane titled “Has the DC committed political suicide?” In the article, Prof Sejanamane opines that the electoral pact between the Democratic Congress (DC) and Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) would fail. In fact, he concluded that the agreement was […]
Professor Mafa Sejanamane THE overriding reason for forming political parties to exist is to vie for power. In a democracy accession to power has a direct relation to winning elections on your own or in alliance with likeminded political parties. Alliances and/or unions amongst political parties are based on the understanding that alone one is […]
Dr Fako Likoti FREEDOM of speech is a good thing and something that must be protected at all cost. The constitution of Lesotho in Chapter II also supports this fundamental freedom of expression. However, nowhere in the world is this freedom extended to abuse and badmouthing others. Professor Mafa Sejanamane has a tendency of […]
Nthakeng Pheello Selinyane I HATE self-referencing, but hardly a quarter-year after I wrote here against our state’s “technicisation” of death, respect of those killed and slowly dying security forces members at its mercy; and we are back there in one quick stroke thanks to the Health minister Dr ‘Molotsi Monyamane. As parents filled private […]
Let us live within our means
HEADS much wiser than our own have wondered at the propensity of human beings to fear so many things including goblins and supernatural creatures whose existence has never been proven. We fear such while embracing more realistic things that we ought to fear like drugs, unprotected sex and debt. Other wiser heads spoke of […]