MASERU — The Labour Appeal Court will tomorrow rule whether it has jurisdiction to hear a contempt of court case brought by a former employee of Letšeng Diamond Mine. Bofihla Makhalane, who was a former security superintendent at Letšeng filed contempt of court charges against his former employers after they refused to reinstate him to […]
MASERU — The integrity of a report commissioned by the Law Society of Lesotho to investigate the state of the judiciary is in danger. That is because the note-taking process during the commission’s hearing was inadequate. The Lesotho Times can reveal that there are crucial aspects of the proceedings that might be missing in the […]
MASERU — A 23-year-old Berea man is temporarily off the hook after the prosecution yesterday withdrew charges of murder filed against him. Tlohang Lekhanya was charged with murder together with Thabiso Ramotaboka and Tšepo Sefele for allegedly killing a woman in Berea three years ago. The prosecution said the trio “on or about the 4th […]
THE government seems to be having enormous challenges regarding the issue of integrating economic policy between its different ministries. The Ministry of Trade, Industry, Co-operatives and Marketing is for instance leading trade negotiations at World Trade Organisation and other bilateral levels. On the other hand the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning is the focal […]
I WISH to comment on your last week’s lead story on the closure of illegal schools operating in Lesotho. I hope my comments will serve as an eye-opener to all your readers and the country at large. When the government takes stringent measures to rectify our education system it is clear that it is the […]
THE Public Service Day, which was celebrated on October 29, should be an opportunity for public servants such as police officers, soldiers and health workers to celebrate and express their grievances. It should be a day of introspection. It should provide civil servants with an opportunity to evaluate ministries and government departments on their performance. […]
MASERU — Lesotho’s property market is booming with new projects sprouting around the capital Maseru. Property developers who spoke to the Lesotho Times this week said the residential property market was slowly picking up. Lesotho Steel Products managing director, Andre Bothma, said there was a high demand for residential property in Maseru. “There is a […]
MASERU — Mothae Diamond Mine says it has so far recovered 2 101.72 carats since operations resumed last June. The 2 101.72 carats were recovered from the 89 928 dry tonnes that were mined at the Mothae kimberlite. The mine said the value of the diamonds that had been mined so far would only be […]
Will anyone raise a finger if Scrutator says despite all our pompous talk about sovereignty, we are a bona fide a province of South Africa masquerading as a country? Scrutator used to regard this as malicious claptrap coming from unpatriotic zealots until it was confirmed last week that we have had to import a South […]
MASERU — The Lesotho Football Association (Lefa) chief executive officer, Mofihli Makoele, says there are serious administrative flaws within the football association. Makoele, who assumed the reins after replacing acting chief executive officer Mokhosi Mohapi last September, was speaking in an exclusive interview with the Lesotho Times on Monday. He said the administrative flaws were […]
MASERU — Lioli Football Club on Tuesday received a whopping M400 000 cheque from their sponsors Alliance Insurance. Lioli signed a sponsorship deal with Alliance Insurance in August last year that would see the club backing the insurance firm’s funeral scheme. The M400 000 includes M200 000 that will go towards the buying of a […]
MASERU — Local athletes, Lebenya Nkoka and Mamoroallo Tjoka, are M100 000 richer after they won the Soweto Marathon in the men and women’s categories last Sunday. The Basotho athletes put behind their bitter dispute with the Lesotho Athletics Amateur Association (LAAA) over the issue of contracts to dominate the race. Nkoka clocked 2 hours, […]
QWAQWA – The Tabola Primary School athletics team received an early Christmas present after it won the 2010 Qwaqwa Cross-Country Development Races last Saturday. The school walked away with a R500 shopping voucher, a certificate and floating trophy after they were named the 2010 overall winners. Other schools that took part in the competition were […]
MASERU — The Lesotho Football Association (Lefa) is holding a coaching clinic for 28 local coaches in an attempt to professionalise the domestic game. The week-long clinic which began on Monday in Leribe is scheduled to end this Saturday. Lefa chief executive officer, Mofihli Makoele, said the Leribe workshop was a Level One coaching clinic […]
MASERU — The government will shut down bogus and unregistered private schools at the end of this month, the Lesotho Times can reveal. The clampdown could throw hundreds of secondary school pupils into the streets. There are dozens of unregistered schools that have been operating illegally for the past few years. There are fears in […]
MASERU — Central Bank of Lesotho (CBL) governor Moeketsi Senaoana is being sued by his brother-in-law over a car loan deal that went sour, the Lesotho Times can reveal. Mokhachane Makoanyane, whose sister is married to Senaoana, filed his suit in the High Court this week in a case that is likely to cast aspersions […]
MASERU — The haggling and bitter infighting within the All Basotho Convention (ABC) party sounds a death knell for the opposition party, analysts have warned. The ABC held a chaotic special conference last weekend at Maseru High School that saw delegates call for the ouster of the party’s entire national executive committee. The meeting ended […]
MASERU — Local Government Minister Pontso Sekatle is suing the defunct Voice of Free Democrats newspaper for M800 000 for defamation. The partisan newspaper was published by some members of the ruling Congress for Democracy (LCD) youth league. Sekatle claims the paper, which collapsed due to financial problems, defamed her character and damaged her reputation […]
MASERU — Four women who were allegedly recruited by a bogus employment agent received the shock of their lives this week when they reported for “duty” at the police headquarters in Maseru. The woman, who was arrested on October 22, is alleged to have swindled about 32 people out of their money after she claimed […]
MASERU — The Speaker of the National Assembly Nthloi Motsamai has rejected a request by Thomas Thabane to replace his constituency secretary. A constituency secretary is an official appointed by parliament to co-ordinate activities between the constituency and parliament. The secretary works directly with the constituency’s MP. Thabane, who leads the main opposition All Basotho […]
MASERU — A 34-year-old serial rapist from Mohale’s Hoek could face life in jail for raping a minor seven months ago. Bereng Moshoeshoe was convicted of raping the 10-year-old minor in Mohale’s Hoek in April. The Mohale’s Hoek magistrate’s court referred the case to the High Court for sentencing after it decided Moshoeshoe deserved a […]
AS reported in one of our stories in this issue the government is moving swiftly to shut down all illegal schools operating in Lesotho. The Ministry of Education has given all unregistered schools until November 30 to either shut down or face legal action. The move will see hordes of unregistered schools failing to open […]
THE problems Lesotho is experiencing in connection with the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) are not new. However, the problems appear to have worsened after Lesotho signed the Interim Economic Partnership Agreement (IEPA) with the European Union (EU). The agreement came at the same time that we also experienced a serious decline in the national […]
MASERU — The Law Society of Lesotho (LSL) says it fully respects the decision by the Court of Appeal to dismiss their appeal against the conferment of the title of King’s Counsel on Leaba Thetsane. Thetsane, who is the Director of Public Prosecutions, has been involved in a fierce spat with the Law Society after […]
MASERU — Hundreds of government workers celebrated the annual Public Service Day at Setsoto Stadium last week. Held under the theme “Strengthen leadership management for improved public service delivery in Africa” the occasion was hailed as a success. The civil servants looked delighted. Yet it is hard to imagine that the general public, the people […]
MILITARY coups, corruption in high places, assassinations, mis-governance — and now rape: Africa has cornered the market in all these “sins”. The latest mass rape was in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), an excuse of a country if ever there was one. Men and boys were among those raped. This could only occur […]
AT last, some good news! The country’s national Under-20 football team two weeks ago defied the odds when it qualified for the African Youth Championships to be held in Libya next year. I want to focus on this piece of good news. Journalists have been accused of churning out negative stories week in week out. […]
MASERU — Two long-distance runners are facing punishment for “purposely humiliating the country” at the Commonwealth Games in New Dehli last month. Both Sechaba Bohosi and Tiisetso Ramokheseng failed to finish the men’s marathon, with the two allegedly citing sickness. However, the Lesotho Athletics Amateur Association (LAAA) suspects the two runners had deliberately faltered in […]
MASERU — Matlama were last night locked in a fight to remain in the Vodacom Soccer Spectacular following the circus that marred their quarterfinal match at home to Mokhotlong LMPS. The match, at Central Prison on Saturday, was called off at halftime after Matlama and tournament sponsor Vodacom Lesotho failed to agree on who was […]
No repeat of MKM debacle
IN November 2007, the Central Bank of Lesotho (CBL) shut down MKM for operating a banking business without a licence. The central bank said MKM was also operating a money multiplication scheme in violation of the country’s banking and insurance laws. The country is still trying to come to terms with the consequences of that […]