MASERU –– Pitso Maisa, the interim youth president of the All Basotho Convention (ABC) party, will have to battle it out with Libe Moremoholo at the youth league’s conference on Saturday if he wants to be elected the substantive president. It’s a battle of two people who all claim they are qualified to lead the […]
MASERU – The deputy attorney general Tsebang Putsoane has been roped into the ongoing fight between civil servants and money lenders over loan payments. More than 100 civil servants had demanded that the treasury department stops deducting money from their salaries to pay their debts to three prominent money lending institutions pending finalisation of their […]
MASERU –Prominent lawyer Haae Phoofolo wants Police Commissioner Malejaka Letooane behind bars. Letooane was convicted of contempt of court last week and sentenced to six months in prison but she was not jailed because she sought and got a stay of execution in the High Court last Friday. Justice Semapo Peete gave the interim order […]
MASERU –– A strike called by National University of Lesotho (NUL) students ended yesterday after the National Manpower Developmental Secretariat (NMDS) paid their loans. The students boycotted classes on Tuesday vowing not to return to classes until they were paid. The students demonstrated at the Roma campus on Tuesday singing songs and blocking cars seeking […]
MASERU –– The Labour Appeal Court (LAC) has fined Lerotholi Polytechnic College and its director M80 000 for contempt of court after they failed to comply with an order to reinstate a lecturer who had been unprocedurally dismissed. The college had fired Blandina Lisene for allegedly using her relative to mark final examination papers for […]
MASERU — Employees of Matekane Mining Investment Company (MMIC) a company sub-contracted by Lets’eng Diamond at its mine in Mokhotlong are planning to down tools on Monday. If the workers carry out their threat, work at the mine will come to a halt. The workers are bitter that the MMIC has refused to recognise their […]
MASERU –– The small stream that has provided water to the people of Tsénola’s village for a long time has run dry. For years this stream that runs through the village has provided some people with drinking water. They have washed and bathed in this stream. The parchedness of the stream could spell disaster for […]
AS I SEE IT ISSUES of disability will always be with us and it is within our interest as society to embrace this reality. How accommodative is our environment to people with disabilities? Do we think about them when we plan our roads, buildings and other public places? Are people with disabilities able to […]
WE want to congratulate Vodacom Lesotho for unveiling a whopping M1 million sponsorship deal for a local football tournament. The telecommunications giant on Tuesday said it had injected M1 million into the Vodacom Spectacular tournament, up from M400 000 last year. However, we think more can still be done to improve the state of the […]
AN interesting gathering took place in Mokhotlong this week. The meeting was converged to discuss matters of the heart and encourage people to stick to one partner and fight “the disease.” Judging by the subject under review it looks like we are a fornicating society. We seem to be bent on seeking that extra thrill […]
Yours truly had a hearty laugh this week when he read about the US man who was arrested at a grocery store after workers found him at a table in the deli, eating avocados, cake and other items. Police said the 38-year-old man was intoxicated and had a hearty spread, including cake, cookies and plums, […]
MASERU –– As far as dreadful beginnings to a league campaign go Matlama’s start to last season was an absolute horror movie. By December Tse Putsoa had amassed just two wins from ten games and were languishing in the middle of nowhere, drifting like a rudderless ship. In fact Matlama were helped by a timely […]
MASERU –– Matlama have a tough job on their hands if they plan to hold on to their star defender, Nkau Lerotholi. The Lesotho international has been heavily linked with a move away from Pitso Ground all winter with Lioli very public in their pursuit of the 18-year-old. However Lerotholi, a product of Matlama’s youth […]
MASERU –– The COSAFA Senior Challenge Cup is back on. Last week the Lesotho Times reported that the tournament had been shelved after prospective hosts Zimbabwe failed to raise the funds to hosts the championship. However, following a week of uncertainty the Zimbabwean government on Tuesday announced that the regional showpiece will take place after […]
MASERU –– The conundrum over who will represent Lesotho in next year’s CAF Champions League is virtually over, the Lesotho Times can reveal. LCS have finally received an official confirmation letter from the Lesotho Football Association (LEFA) verifying Masheshena’s participation in the 2010 edition of the tournament. “We received the letter on Tuesday and as […]
MASERU — Police Commissioner ‘Malejaka Letooane (pictured) was this week sentenced to six months in prison for contempt of court. The shock judgment was delivered on Tuesday after Letooane failed to appear in court to testify in the trial of Majake Ramoroke who is facing car theft charges in the Maseru Magistrates’ Court. The state […]
MASERU — High Court judge Thamsanqa Nomncongo this week lashed out at crown and defence lawyers for delaying proceedings in the trial of eight police officers who are charged with murder. The police officers are accused of killing the principal chief of Phamong Bereng Letsie Bereng seven years ago. The case was first heard in […]
MASERU — The Law Society of Lesotho has banned 65 lawyers from practising for failing to pay their annual subscription fees to the organisation. The laws governing the legal profession stipulate that the lawyers should pay their fees in order to get practising certificates. The practising certificates allow the practitioners to appear in court representing […]
MASERU — The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) last night tried to distance itself from the mess surrounding the allocation of proportional representation seats, sources who attended the closed talks told the Lesotho Times. The IEC has been accused of wrongly allocating PR seats, causing serious friction between the government and the opposition. But last night […]
MASERU –– The Labour Appeal Court on Monday ordered Fahhida Cash & Carry to pay M405 000 to a group of former workers who were unfairly dismissed four years ago. The court said Fahhida Cash & Carry should pay the 31 dismissed workers within 30 days. Fahhida Cash & Carry had taken its case to […]
QEME –– All Basotho Convention (ABC) leader, Thomas Thabane, on Sunday said the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) was not a neutral arbiter in the dispute over the proportional representation seats. Thabane told a poorly attended rally in Qeme constituency that the IEC’s neutrality was questionable as it was favouring the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy […]
MASERU — A new aviation company on Monday introduced domestic flights to ferry passengers throughout Lesotho. The Mountain Airways Company will also provide cross-border flights to selected destinations. It becomes the second airline after South Africa’s Airlink to operate in Lesotho. “The airline will transport people to different mountainous places and will carry 10 people […]
TALKS between the government and opposition on the disputed proportional representation (PR) seats finally roared into life yesterday. The talks are being facilitated by the Christian Council of Lesotho and are chaired by retired Anglican bishop Phillip Mokuku. It is our fervent hope that the dialogue process will bring finality to this long-running saga that […]
AS I SEE IT TWO weeks ago the Lesotho Times carried a story about a judgment by the High Court in a case in which a local chief, Masupha Phosholi, was acquitted of murder. The murder charge had been hanging over Phosholi’s head for the past 13 years. In a surprising twist to the […]
I want to salute all women who are working hard for the wellbeing of our nation. This month, Lesotho celebrates the role that our women are making in building the nation. We pray for them. We pray for those who died while giving birth. We thank all those who in spite of abuse, rape and […]
I have always maintained that there is no political will to see the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) debacle coming to an end. It is sad that poor people such as the woman in last week’s story headlined “The poor cry foul over new payment system” have to suffer like this. IFMIS is a […]
I WONDER if Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili is the leader of Lesotho or only of the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD). I think he is advancing the interests of the LCD rather than those of the nation. I think it would be best if he does not seek re-election in 2012. He should give […]
MASERU –– Lesotho’s tourism sector last year raked in M207 million, a 35 percent increment from the previous year’s total revenue of M154.2 million. Matobatsi Mohobane, who heads the research and development desk at the Lesotho Tourism Development Corporation (LTDC), said the sector was experiencing a boom in tourist arrivals. Mohobane was addressing a one-day […]
JOHANNESBURG –– Standard Bank Group last week announced impressive results in the first six months of this year despite operating in a tough environment. In a statement to the media, Standard Bank said headline earnings, at R5 407 million, were down 24 percent on the comparable six-month period while normalised headline earnings from banking activities […]
Tighten screws on Mugabe
SOUTH Africa’s President Jacob Zuma was today expected to head north to help feuding members of Zimbabwe’s coalition government resolve their differences. At the time of writing, Zuma was expected to meet President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and other key members of the government. Almost a year after the signing of the agreement […]