Mathatisi Sebusi  DEPUTY Prime Minister Nthomeng Majara has told parliament the government is ready to negotiate an end to the three-week strike of health workers in remote areas who are demanding an increase in their hardship allowances.  Ms Majara told legislators the government would address the grievances of the health workers who want their hardship […]

Moorosi Tsiane  STANDARD Lesotho Bank (SLB)’s former employee, Kolisang Morienyane, has been charged for defrauding the bank of M1,339,420.29 between June 2022 and December 2023.  He was this week jailed after he failed to pay M15 000 cash and M40 000 surety for bail.  This Masowe III man, who was working as the team leader in […]

Hopolang Mokhopi  THE Sentebale Children Foundation has been defrauded of M247,050 by a 34-year-old woman who pretended to represent a service provider.  The accused, ‘Malieo Mosobela, had allegedly made a false representation that she was still working for a company that provided services to Sentebale.  She appeared before the Butha-Buthe Magistrate Court on Tuesday where […]

Leemisa Thuseho   LETŠENG Diamonds has spent M108 million on Corporate Social Responsibility Investments (CSRI) initiatives in the last 11 years, the mining company has said.  According to Letšeng Diamonds Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, Ts’epo Hlojeng, the M108 million was used to fund an array of community projects from 2012 to 2023.  He spoke at the mine’s […]

Mathatisi Sebusi  THE Lesotho government has been urged to audit the country’s land and develop a 50-year national land masterplan to enforce accountability and sustainable utilisation of the country’s soil.  Lesotho’s land regulation policies were not enforced, resulting in agricultural land diminishing in a country which has only ten percent of arable land.  According to […]

…Chief Bereng Seeiso pleads with men to screen for prostate cancer  Letsatsi Selikoe  IN the quiet village of Phamong, in Mohale’s Hoek, a poignant reminder of the importance of cancer screening was echoed by Chief Seeiso Bereng Seeiso, the Principal Chief of Matsieng. This as he eulogized the late Chieftainess Nthati Bereng, who lost her life […]

Staff Reporter  ASPIRING scholars have until Saturday to apply for the prestigious Moshoeshoe I Scholarship offered under Econet’s HigherLife Foundation.  This scholarship, now in its third cohort, seeks to identify and support academically gifted students who have completed their Lesotho General Certificate of Secondary Education (LGCSE) exams and are below the age of 21.  The […]

…despite govt threatening a ‘no work no pay’ policy  Mathatisi Sebusi  THE Ministry of Public Service has threatened not to pay health workers who have been on strike for the past two weeks demanding an increase in their hardship allowances.  The health workers, located in remote areas, want the allowances hiked from M275 to M1000. […]

Mohloai Mpesi  THE inability of successive governments to last their full five-year terms had contributed immensely to skyrocketing levels of corruption in Lesotho, the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) has said.  The DCEO’s Director of Public Education and Corruption Prevention, Litelu Ramokhoro, told an anti-corruption seminar in Maseru this week that far from helping […]

Mohloai Mpesi  NEWLY appointed Commissioner of Police, Borotho Matsoso, has been warned not to get entangled in politics if he is to discharge his mandate effectively.  This because Lesotho’s previous security chiefs had consorted with politicians to the detriment of their work and the national interest.  This advice was this week issued to Advocate (Adv) […]

…But LEC boss labels the probe a “smear campaign”  Mathatisi Sebusi  THE Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) says it is probing a senior Lesotho Electricity Company (LEC) manager over his alleged theft of M5 million.  The power utility’s customer experience manager, Lebohang Mohasoa, is alleged to have requested M5 million from the LEC to buy […]

Mohloai Mpesi  PRIME Minister, Sam Matekane’s cabinet has made history by being the first to fully declare its members’ assets to the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO).  The move is meant to help the anti-graft body track the wealth of public officials and become aware if they loot state funds.    The declaration was disclosed […]

Mathatisi Sebusi  CLERK to the National Assembly, Fine Maema, has, on behalf of parliament, directed the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Business Development, to implement the controversial business indigenisation regulations banning foreigners from 47 economic sectors “with immediate effect and without alteration”.  Adv Maema wrote to Minister of Trade, Industry and Business Development, Mokhethi Shelile, […]

…but gvt berates ABC leader for consorting with the gangs  Moroke Sekoboto  ALL Basotho Convention (ABC) leader, Nkaku Kabi, wants the government to immediately reverse its ban of famo groups, accused of fuelling spiralling violent crime across Lesotho.  But the government has hit back at Mr Kabi, accusing him of wanting the criminal gangs to be left […]

  AUDITOR General ‘Mathabo Makenete is concerned by the continued failure of government officials to comply with public financial management laws and regulations.  Ms Makenete, who was appointed auditor-general in March 2023, has just published her maiden audit report on the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Government of Lesotho for the year ended 31st   of March 2022.   […]

…confirms soldiers met with Metsing before raiding police stations  Moorosi Tsiane  RETIRED soldier, Brigadier (Brig) Ntlele Ntoi, has confirmed that senior soldiers met with former Deputy Prime Minister, Mothetjoa Metsing, at his Maseru West residence a few hours before their coup attempt on the night of 29-30 August 2014.  Brig Ntoi, who was the then Lesotho […]

Letsatsi Selikoe  TOBACCO remains a major cause of various non-communicable diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses, resulting in millions of preventable deaths worldwide.  It is also the leading cause of premature deaths worldwide, accounting for over seven million deaths annually.  This is according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), in a statement issued ahead […]

Lesotho Water and Sewerage Company (WASCO) in undergoing change management. The initiative which commenced in 2021 is under the Lesotho Lowlands Water Development Project Phase II (LLWDPII) Component III financed by the World Bank. The component had three activities namely, Change Management Initiatives, Reduction of Non-Revenue Water (NRW) and Financial and Technical Data Improvement (FinTech).   […]

…vows to continue strengthening relations with Lesotho  Staff Reporter  THE United States (US)’s Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has contributed immensely towards Lesotho’s efforts to provide universal healthcare by constructing about 140 health clinics throughout the country since its dawn in 2007.  The MCC has also funded the construction of 30 000 latrines, renovated and equipped 15 […]

Letsatsi Selikoe  First National Bank (FNB)-Lesotho and the Basotho Enterprise Development Corporation (BEDCO), recently marked Africa Day by assembling small businesses from the northern parts of Lesotho for a flea market to help them showcase their products.   The flea market was held at Pitso House in Hlotse, Leribe.  Small business owners and entrepreneurs from the Berea, Leribe, and Butha […]

 A team of Chinese medical specialists offered free medical consultations and health screenings to community members from over ten villages within the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) Phase II area from 22 to 23 May.  The team included specialists in obstetrics and gynaecology, internal medicine, general surgery, orthopaedics, acupuncture, anaesthesiology, and radiology.  The medical outreach […]

  THE Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) launched its 2024 financial literacy campaign with sessions in five villages in Mokhotlong this May.   The campaign, initiated before the construction stage of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project Phase II (LHWPII), aims to address low financial literacy, and promote access to financial services for rural communities, particularly those […]

Mathatisi Sebusi  A senior prisons official stands accused of threatening inmates against testifying truthfully at an ongoing Commission of Inquiry into the torture and assault of convicts in December last year.  Lesotho Correctional Service (LCS) Assistant Commissioner (AC), Tsoto Manaka, is said to have threatened prisoners with severe consequences once the business of the Commission […]

…while Basotho are also banned from listening to famo music  Mohloai Mpesi  MEDIA practitioners will now be charged criminally should they continue to report about the recently outlawed famo gangs, Acting Police Commissioner, Mahlape Morai, has said.  The startling development surfaced during the Lesotho Mounted Police Services (LMPS)’s weekly press briefing on Tuesday.  Addressing journalists […]

…recommends swift construction of new police stations  …suspects chained to a pole due to lack of cells   Mathatisi Sebusi  THE government must draw up a plan to demolish and replace the dilapidated, derelict structures that masquerade as police stations and posts in Lesotho, the Ombudsman, Tlotliso Polaki, has recommended.  Some of the Lesotho Mounted Police […]

Letsatsi Selikoe  HA TS’EPE, a rural community in Leribe district, recently commemorated World Communications Day, with the unveiling of a M3 million communications tower connecting the area to the world.  The momentous occasion was chaperoned by Minister of Information, Communications, Science, Technology, and Innovation, Nthati Moorosi.    She said the unveiling of the network tower symbolized […]