Mohloai Mpesi
MOURNERS from different walks of life, especially the media fraternity, politics and civic organisations, gathered at Ha Majara in Berea on Saturday to bid farewell to the late prominent journalist Keketso Lawrence.
Mr Lawrence died on 25 December 2023 at the age of 54, succumbing to a stroke.
An emotional Qeto Lawrence, a niece to this former Lesotho Times shareholder and co-founder, could not hold her tears as she said her last goodbyes to her uncle.
She told the gathered public that Mr Lawrence was more of a father to her due to his unconditional love which he exhibited for every member of the family.
“He was not only an uncle to me, but was also like a father to me and the entire Lawrence family. He had a good heart, he was a gift in our lives, and he was our role model,” she said with a trembling voice.
According to Mr Lawrence’s younger sister Nthabiseng Lawrence, her brother passed away after a short illness. He had been swiftly taken to the Queen ‘Mamohato Memorial Hospital. He never recovered from the stroke he suffered on Christmas day.
As condolences poured in, many remembered him as a hard-working, intelligent and multi-talented journalist who was passionate about different trades, from writing to composing music, singing and engaging in theatrical performances.
Former Minister of Law and Justice and Popular Front for Democracy (PFD) leader, Advocate Lekhetho Rakuoane, attended Mr Lawrence’s burial as well as All Basotho Convention (ABC) spokesperson, Montoeli Masoetsa.
Prominent Senator, Seabata Motsamai and newly appointed Chief of Staff in the Prime Minister’s office, Sofonea Shale, were also present.
Mr Lawrence cut his teeth as a cub reporter in 1989 with the state-owned Lesotho News Agency (LENA), where he remained until 1991 when he joined the private media, working for the once formidable, The Mirror, under the guidance of its owner and editor, the late Mike Pitso.
Mr Lawrence’s career later transmogrified into training. He mentored many journalists practising today across southern Africa through training organisations like the now defunct Maputo based Nordic Sadc Journalism (NSJ) training centre which regularly sought his services.
While working as a trainer, he also started and owned Mopheme newspaper, from which the Lesotho Times originated.
He was instrumental in the establishment of a number of media organisations both locally and in the region, including the Media Institute of Lesotho (MILES), now called Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Lesotho.
Mr Lawrence was part of the founding forum of the Media Defence Fund (MDF) within MISA. The structure was meant to bolster local journalists’ legal protection and enhance media freedom through relevant investigative journalism and strategic litigation.
He was also a founder of an organisation called Africa Dot Com, which reported on regional affairs.
He trained a large number of local reporters under his Newshare Foundation. He started his writing profession as a short story writer. His most notable work was the long-running love story of ‘Mamokoto, which was published in the then-best-selling but now defunct magazine, Shoeshoe.
He also worked for Public Eye newspapers both in Lesotho and Free State as a news editor, editor and training editor.
On the international front, he was a regular correspondent for Reuters, The Voice of America, Afro News, AFP, and the South African Broadcasting Corporations (SABC).
He was instrumental in producing newsletters and wrote annual reports for several local organisations such as the TrasnformationResource Centre (TRC), the Christian Council of Lesotho (CCL), Letṧeng Diamonds, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and the Lesotho Red Cross Society (LRCS).
He trained and worked in, among others, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana, and later became an NSJ trainer. He was a strong advocate of the protection of human Rights and spent many years working part time as a UNICEF child rights trainer while also dabbling in United Nations (UN) gender related issues.
Mr Motsamai told the mourners that Mr Lawrence made a big contribution in defending job losses in the factories in line with his pssion for human rights.
“We had to bring the factory workers and the management of the factories together and find a solution to their squabbles. I was able to unite the two sides through the help of Mr Lawrence. The human rights violations that were happening at the factories decreased,” he said.
Mr Masoetsa said Mr Lawrence oozed bravery from a tender age when he started unearthing corruption scandals of different leaders of the country.
“He started engaging in the national issues at a very young age…,” Mr Masoetsa said.
“He was working for a newspaper called The Mirror. That newspaper was unearthing corrupt activities made by leaders of this country. The world does not have justice, when you do things that God loves, people start to be filled with evil spirits because they don’t want you to speak the truth.
“People in powerful positions want people to say only nice things about them even when they do bad things. Lawrence was daring and told the truth.
“Ntate Lawrence became brave at a very young age, he was investigating, and The Mirror’s sole mandate was investigative journalism,” he said.
Basildon Peta, the publisher and owner of the Lesotho Times chronicled his interactions with Mr Lawrence.
“I have lost a dear brother and my closest friend ever…,” Mr Peta said.
“I first met Lawrence in the early 2000s when I was secretary general of the Southern African Journalists Association, a project of the Brussels based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).
“The IFJ wanted SAJA to go into southern African countries to assist journalists in forming strong trade unions to look after their own affairs. In Lesotho, Lawrence immediately became my point-man and we clicked the very first day we were introduced.
“As I tried to implement the IFJ mission in Lesotho, me and Lawrence agreed that there was need for a strong print media sector from where members of the union could be drawn. At that time, there was hardly a strong print media brand in Lesotho. The Mirror had closed and there was only Public Eye.
“As I was also in business, I agreed to mobilise resources to invest in Lawrence’s Mopheme newspaper and boost it into a major national brand publishing regularly.
“Mopheme had largely been a small newspaper, appearing infrequently. We acquired everything needed to convert it into a viable brand and assembled a team of 40 staffers. I took 80 percent equity in lieu of my investment and Lawrence took 20 percent.
“However, during our first staff meeting in early April 2008, the staff suddenly revolted. They all thought it was not a good idea to go along with the title Mopheme….One of the staffers, I think it was Felile, had already drawn a Lesotho Times masthead. It really looked attractive and good than the Mopheme one.
“I am not sentimental about things and I immediately got sold into the staff’s suggestion to rebrand into the Lesotho Times. I persuaded Lawrence that we take the staff’s suggestion. He first appeared aggregable but deep down he was not happy.
“A few months down the line, we drove to Bloemfontein as we usually did during our free time and sat down for a frank drink. He told me he was not happy with the decision to ditch the name Mopheme and wanted to quit the Lesotho Times completely and resume publishing under the Mopheme name.
“I tried to persuade him otherwise but failed. That was when I learnt, Lawrence was a principled and focused man. Once he decided on something, you could not sway him away from it. I had no option but to buy him out and he divested.
“For some time, after he walked away, we became competitors and our solid friendship of six years at the time flailed a bit. We however met one day and agreed that we should never allow business to interfere with our friendship and brotherhood.
“We just laughed and reminisced about the many things we had done as friends. Our friendship resumed in full force and we became solid again. I have lost a loving brother and durable friend. His many good deeds are his solid legacy.”
Mr Lawrence, who was a divorcee, is survived by his mother, ‘Mme ‘Makeketso, his younger sister Ntṧeliseng, his two sons, Molise and Khabane, his daughter Pearl, a niece and three grandchildren.
