Pascalinah Kabi
LESOTHO will today celebrate Public Service Day by planting indigenous trees and offering different services to the local community in Ha Rahlao in Mafeteng.
The day is commemorated annually on 23 June but government decided to postpone the celebrations after realising that the wintry weather conditions would not be conducive to outdoor commemorative events.
This year’s theme is “Public Governance for inclusive growth towards Africa we want”.
Public Service ministry principal secretary, Lebohang Moreke this week told a media conference that government would mark the day by bringing different services to the residents of Ha Rahlao.
He said the decision was reached after realising there was massive land degradation in the area and they had to come up with remedial strategies.
He said the Ministry of Forestry and Land Reclamation would take the lead in the planting of indigenous trees.
“We have undertaken studies which showed that the country is in this situation because we have been planting trees that exacerbate land degradation,” Mr Moreke said, adding it was time the country corrected its mistakes by planting indigenous trees that are friendly to Lesotho’s environment.
He said they had engaged Ha Rahlao community members to ensure that “there will be ownership from the community and they will be able to take good care of these trees in our absence, making it a sustainable project”.
He said in addition, the Home Affairs ministry would provide National Identity and Civic Registration (NICR) services to Ha Rahlao villagers.
Mr Moreke also said the Public Works and Transport and Local Government ministries had collaborated in upgrading road infrastructure to Ha Rahlao ahead of the celebrations in line with government objectives to have all ministries work closely in service delivery.
“We want sustainable development and it is only through collaborations that we can achieve this as there will be no duplication of efforts,” he said, adding “best performing public servants will also receive awards on Thursday.”
