• as foreign judges’ contracts set to expire next month,
• govt and judiciary yet to meet with EU to discuss extensions.

Mohalenyane Phakela

THE high-profile trials of politicians, serving and former members of security agencies accused of a litany of crimes are in danger of collapsing because contracts of foreign judges recruited to preside over the cases will expire next month.

Some of the trials include that of former army commander Lieutenant General (Lt-Gen) Tlali Kamoli who stands accused of various crimes including the murder of army commander Lt-Gen Maaparankoe Mahao and treason against the first government of former Prime Minister Thomas Thabane, among other cases.

Lt-Gen Kamoli and his co-accused’s trials were supposed to have begun after the government recruited three foreign judges from Botswana and Zimbabwe in August 2019. They should have been concluded by next month.

The three foreign judges who were recruited are Justice Charles from Zimbabwe and Botswana Judges Onkemetse Tshosa and Kabelo Lebotse.

However, there are only two judges remaining after Justice Lebotse quit early last year in protest at poor working conditions.

However, with the February 2021 deadline just around the corner, none of the trials have been concluded, let alone begun, mainly due to various court actions by Lt-Gen Kamoli and his fellow accused to stall the trials.

Even though the government and the judiciary were aware of the February 2021 deadline, they appear to have left it till late and are only now seeking to engage the European Union (EU) for funding for the extension of the contracts of Justices Hungwe and Tshosa.

Although the judges were recruited with the help of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), funds for their salaries and allowances were sourced from the EU. For their contracts to be extended, the government and judiciary would still have to extend the begging bowl to the EU for their upkeep.

EU ambassador to Lesotho, Christian Manahl, this week said they are yet to meet with the government and judiciary to discuss the extension of the judges’ contracts and the funding needs. Dr Manahl said the delay was caused by the fact that the government and judiciary only informed them earlier this month of the need to discuss the matter.

“We only received a request for an extension from the Ministry of Law and Justice earlier this month,” Mr Manahl said in an interview with the Lesotho Times this week.

“We shall discuss with the Ministry, the Registrar (of the High Court and Court of Appeal Advocate ‘Mathato Sekoai) and the judges themselves to get a better idea of the expected timeline for the trials. It is on that basis that we shall examine the request.”

He said although the initial agreement was for an 18-month contract for the foreign judges, the EU funding programme would only end in April 2021.

This- he said- means that there will still be some funds under the current funding programme to pay the judges up to April 2021. The EU would then only be required to come up with a new package if the trials have to continue beyond that date.

But it is very likely that the trials will have to continue beyond April 2021 because there are currently only two judges for the numerous trials after the resignation of Justice Lebotse.

Another factor that is likely to cause the trials to go beyond the April 2021 date is that none of the trials have actually commenced.  This because of the numerous postponements owing mainly to frequent court applications brought by the suspects to stop the state from trying them.

High Court and Court of Appeal Registrar, Advocate ‘Mathato Sekoai, yesterday refused to comment on the issue. She has previously said she will not discuss issues pertaining the judiciary with the media.

Justice and Law Minister, Professor Nqosa Mahao, kept rejecting calls to his mobile phone yesterday.

Lt-Gen Kamoli and some of his co-accused have been in remand prison since their arrest in October 2017 in connection with various crimes.

These include treason against the first government of former premier Thabane.  In that case, Lt-Gen Kamoli and others are charged alongside former Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing and current Development Planning Minister Selibe Mochoboroane, over the bloody attempted coup of 30 August 2014.

Lt-Gen Kamoli and others are also charged with the June 2015 murder of army commander, Lt-Gen Mahao. Back in 2018, the government approached SADC members states and secured foreign judges to try these and other high-profile trials.

At the time, then Justice and Correctional Services Minister Mokhele Moletsane said while the local judges were competent enough to try the cases, the government and SADC still felt it necessary to engage foreign judges because the cases in question were politically sensitive. He further said that the verdicts of the foreign judges were more likely to be acceptable and less likely to be viewed as biased.

With the help of SADC, the government eventually secured the services of Justices Hungwe, Tshosa and Lebotse in 2019. The judges’ allowances are paid from a fund sourced from the EU.

Justice Lebotse’s resignation left Justices Hungwe and Tshosa with the huge task of presiding over the high-profile trials by themselves.

But the trials have failed to take off due to the numerous frivolous cases filed by Lt-Gen Kamoli and his co-accused. The cases are solely aimed at frustrating the trials from proceeding. Lt-Gen Kamoli and his co-conspirators have repeatedly sought to forestall the trials in the hope that a new government emerges that will let them off the hook. They have put their faith on such a government emerging from the ubiquitous changes that define Lesotho’s politics. Four different administrations have ruled Lesotho in about eight years.  In one such frivolous case at some point, they unsuccessfully sought the recusal of Justice Hungwe, alleging that they were unlikely to get a fair trial as he had already prejudged them by labelling them “killers of Lt-Gen Mahao”.

This particular case was thrown but this did not stop them from filing other constitutional applications to stop the state from trying them.

There is still a pending case before the Constitutional Court in which Lt-Gen Kamoli and 27 other accused want their trials to be permanently halted because they have been in prison for an “unreasonable” time. This case is despite the obvious fact that the accused’s trials have not taken off on account of their own behaviour, causing them to remain in custody.  The accused are also persisting with their bid to have Justices Hungwe and Tshosa to be declared unfit to preside over their trials.

Lt-Gen Kamoli and his fellow members of the security agencies are not the only ones who have sought to stop the trials.

The politicians, Messrs Metsing and Mochoboroane have filed several court applications to stop the state from trying them on the grounds that clause 10 of an October 2018 government-opposition agreement specifically states that they should not be tried at least until after the completion of the multi-sector reforms which were recommended by SADC in 2016.

The trials also faced another hurdle from Lt-Gen Kamoli and his co-accused’s lawyers who withdrew their services and also petitioned Chief Justice Sakoane Sakoane, the government, SADC, the EU and the foreign judges themselves  to stop what they called the “charade of trials meant to produce a determined outcome” against their clients.

In their 18 November 2020 petition, the lawyers repeated allegations previously made by Lt-Gen Kamoli and others of inhuman treatment and poor conditions at the Maseru Central Correctional Institution (MCCI).

They asked Justice Sakoane to urgently address their concerns about the alleged denial of their clients’ rights to adequate food, adequate time to consult their lawyers and documents to enable them to adequately prepare for their trials.

They argued that in some of the cases the state had either refused or ignored their requests to supply their clients with specific documents they need to prepare their defences. They also accused the presiding judges of failing to address their concerns.

They said until Justice Sakoane addressed their concerns, they would withdraw their services to their clients to ensure that they were not be part of “this grotesque travesty of justice”. But this too appeared to have been another carefully orchestrated attempt to sabotage the trials.

However, Justice Sakoane rejected the lawyers’ demands last month. He even warned them against conduct likely to bring the courts into disrepute.

He warned that lawyers’ rights to represent suspects was not absolute and they could withdraw their services if they so wished. But they could not do so in a manner that amounted to scandalising the courts. The trials could still proceed without the lawyers.

The post High-profile trials in danger of collapsing appeared first on Lesotho Times.

• as US govt warns Lesotho’s future is at stake
• while expressing disappointment over lack of progress in addressing human trafficking concerns

Herbert Moyo

With only about a week left, the United States government says it is “disheartened” by Lesotho’s failure to address its human trafficking concerns.

This puts the country on the brink, with the real risk of losing billions of maloti in funding under the second compact and about 45 000 textiles jobs facing serious jeopardy.

The US had given Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro’s government a 1 February 2021 deadline to address an array of human trafficking concerns failing which Lesotho would lose out on a number of American aid and trade instruments meant to help poor African countries.

With just about a week to that deadline, the US government says it is disappointed at the lack of progress.  It now seems likely that Lesotho will not be able to address some of the concerns, which includes demands to prosecute senior officials implicated in human trafficking, in such a short period of time.

That will cause the country to lose out on the multi-billion maloti second compact under the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) as well as eligibility for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) on which the entire local textiles sector is anchored. The AGOA law allows Lesotho to export textile products to the US duty-free, making them highly competitive.   It was because of AGOA that mostly Taiwanese and Chinese entrepreneurs descended on Lesotho in the 2000s to establish large apparel factories that now employ about 45 000 Basotho. But the likelihood of this largest private sector employer being shaken to its foundations is increasingly appearing real.

The US discontent was expressed by its Ambassador to Lesotho, Rebecca Gonzales, in an exclusive interview with the Lesotho Times yesterday. Ms Gonzales said she was “disheartened that Lesotho’s journey to the second MCC compact has been derailed by such significant challenges that could have been addressed years ago”.

She said Lesotho also risked losing out on health funding under the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) which has helped the country make great strides towards containing the deadly HIV/AIDS pandemic.

In addition, the country will also lose out vital security sector assistance programmes such as police and military trainings and exchanges which are crucial to Lesotho’s plans of implementing security sector reforms in line with the 2016 recommendations of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

AGOA gives duty-free and quota-free access to the US market to eligible sub-Saharan African countries including Lesotho. The legislation, which was approved by the US Congress in May 2000, is meant to incentivise African countries to open their economies and build free markets.

It was renewed for another 10 years in June 2015 as the AGOA Extension & Enhancement Act and amended to allow the US to withdraw, suspend or limit benefits if designated AGOA countries no longer complied with its eligibility criteria.

The law mandates the American president to designate countries eligible to benefit from the trade facility on an annual basis after undergoing a review process. Among the main eligibility criteria for the facility are a market-based economy, adherence to the rule of law, the implementation of mechanisms to combat corruption and upholding of human rights.

The MCC was established by the US Congress in 2004 as a foreign aid agency to help lead the fight against global poverty by working with selected partner countries to identify requisite areas in need of funding support.

Before qualifying for compact funding, countries have to meet criteria similar to that of AGOA.

Compacts are large, five-year grants for countries that pass the eligibility criteria. Lesotho received its first five-year MCC compact worth US$362, 5 million (more than M3 billion) in July 2007.

Among other key projects, the US$362, 5 million funded the construction of the Metolong Dam as well as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to mitigate the negative economic impact of poor maternal health, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other diseases.

In 2015, the MCC stalled in renewing the compact programme over rampant human rights abuses under then Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili’s government.

The renewal and eligibility for the second compact was subsequently reconsidered and confirmed by the MCC Board in December 2017 after the ouster of the Mosisili coalition in the June 2017 elections and the advent of former Prime Minister Thomas Thabane’s second coalition government. The Thabane coalition initially promised to address grave human rights concerns of its predecessor before embarking on serious violations of its own.

The Thabane administration lasted until May 2020 when it was replaced by the current Moeketsi Majoro-led coalition. The Thabane coalition was accused of failing to tackle police brutality against citizens and overseeing rampant corruption, among other vices.

The Thabane government also dragged its feet on the multi-sector reforms process. It even missed the May 2019 deadline set by SADC for the full implementation of the constitutional and security sector reforms. All of these issues were part of the eligibility criteria for the second MCC compact.

In addition, the Thabane government was accused of paying lip service to repeated warnings to address human trafficking concerns.

The US government defines human trafficking as “modern day slavery” which involves the movement of persons locally and beyond a country’s borders against their will to get them into forced labour, involuntary servitude and debt bondage.

Back in September 2020, Ms Gonzales revealed that due to its failure to deal with human trafficking, Lesotho had been placed in Tier 3—the lowest tier in the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report for 2020.

She warned at the time that Lesotho risked losing out on reselection to continue developing a second MCC compact if the scourge of human trafficking and other human rights concerns were not addressed by 1 February 2021.

As if the potential loss of the MCC compact is not disastrous enough, Ms Gonzales yesterday warned that even AGOA benefits and other forms of development assistance will be lost if the Majoro administration would not have taken decisive steps to address human trafficking concerns by 1 February 2021.

“Let me be extremely frank: Lesotho’s future is at stake,” Ms Gonzales said yesterday.

“For three years, I directly engaged with my counterparts at the highest level of the Thabane government including ministers.  For three years, the Thabane government did not make significant progress preventing the trafficking in persons, protecting victims or prosecuting perpetrators.  Due to the lack of action by the Thabane government, Lesotho was downgraded to Tier 3 in early 2020 and remains at risk of losing future US development assistance.

“US taxpayers are unwilling to support governments that do not act against human trafficking.  That is why the US Congress passed laws restricting US development assistance to countries on Tier 3.

“Last year, I secured a one-time waiver for Lesotho from the president of the United States.  I wanted to avoid any reduction to US assistance so that the Right Honorable Prime Minister Dr Moeketsi Majoro and his administration would have time to show progress in combating human trafficking and address other critical issues.

“It is worth emphasising that the waiver Lesotho received is not permanent. The government must take action by 1 February 2021.  If not, the restrictions on US foreign assistance will come into force.

“I have spoken at length with the leadership of the MCC.  They are adamant that a second compact will not be signed until the government of Lesotho gets off Tier 3. MCC has some amazing proposals for a second investment in Lesotho—they are eager to make progress on a second compact.  But it is absolutely not going to happen in 2021 unless the government gets off Tier 3 and pursues the credible investigation of officials who are believed to be complicit in human trafficking over the past several years,” Ms Gonzales said.

Asked if the US government felt the Majoro administration had not achieved anything tangible towards addressing the human trafficking concerns, Ms Gonzales said they were encouraged by the premier’s end of year message last month wherein he pointed to some government actions which included passing an anti-trafficking bill as well as creating an Anti-trafficking and Migrant’s Control Division in the police force.

She, however, said these measures were not enough and “the United States is still looking to see sustained action to enforce legislation and bolster efforts to implement new initiatives to address the issues of human trafficking in Lesotho”.

She said her government was aware of widespread allegations against some members of the current government. However, while some of the allegations could be true and others false, it was still incumbent on the government to ensure thorough investigations were conducted, the ambassador said.

Although Ms Gonzales did not mention any names, this could have been in reference to recent allegations by a Home Affairs official that Deputy Prime Minister Mathibeli Mokhothu and senior members of his Democratic Congress (DC) party were involved in human trafficking activities alongside a Pakistani national, Rana Qamar.

The allegations were made by an immigration officer, Mapeete Jonathan, in her court application challenging her transfer from Moshoeshoe I Airport to the head office of the immigration department in Maseru.

In her court papers filed last November, Ms Jonathan alleges that she is being transferred as punishment for refusing to allow Mr Qamar to “traffick” two Pakistanis into the country through the airport earlier this year.

She further alleges that she was reliably informed by a fellow immigration officer that Mr Qamar, who is married to a Mosotho woman, is close to Mr Mokhothu and other senior DC officials. Mr Qamar is alleged to have given the DC six campaign vehicles during the last elections in 2017.

Mr Mokhothu vehemently denies the allegations. Ms Jonathan insists the “donation” had given Mr Qamar leverage over the DC leadership to enable the Pakistani to demand her transfer after she refused his two fellow Pakistani travellers entry into the country in March 2020. The allegations resulted in a public war of words between the DC and its coalition partner- Dr Majoro’s ABC. The two parties have since agreed to refrain from publicly accusing each other and instead work together for the stability of the government.

Ms Gonzales also said trafficking allegations against officials were not only a recent issue, suggesting there are old cases that have been neglected.  She emphasized the need for through probes ensuring that “officials found complicit in any form of human trafficking must be held accountable”.

Outlining what the government ought to have achieved by the 1 February 2021 deadline, she said, “beyond the new legislation, Lesotho’s law enforcement agencies must continue their investigations into credible allegations of official complicity in human smuggling and human trafficking”.

“Let me emphasise the importance of the word ‘credible’.  In the last few weeks, there have been many public accusations and counter accusations of involvement in trafficking.  Some are likely true; others may be false.  I urge the innocent to cooperate fully with law enforcement so that they can be exonerated.  And I urge Lesotho’s law enforcement to spare no effort to identify the guilty so that they can be punished to the full extent of the law.  Official complicity in human trafficking is the worst form of corruption — using one’s high office to profit from buying and selling humans is outright appalling.

“There is time for Lesotho to meet the February 1 deadline.  If the government takes all these actions, up to and including making substantive progress in its investigations of credible allegations of official complicity in human trafficking then perhaps the country may see an upgrade from Tier 3,” Ms Gonzales said.

But for any arrests and prosecutions to be made within that short period, considering the long delays characteristic of Lesotho’s criminal justice system, appears practically impossible, leaving the country on the brink.

The US is Lesotho’s largest bilateral donor. Any loss of American aid will have far-reaching consequences on local development programmes.

The post 45 000 textile jobs at severe risk appeared first on Lesotho Times.

•  accuses Chinese businessman Yan Xie of capturing the state
• criticises court judgement barring govt from evicting Xie from state abattoir.

Pascalinah Kabi

AFTER a long lull, Agriculture and Food Security Minister, Tefo Mapesela, is back and spitting his usual fire and brimstone.

Between 2017 and 2020, Mr Mapesela, who served in different portfolios in the previous Thomas Thabane administration, built a reputation for outspokenness as he clashed with fellow ministers, the army commander and heads of other security agencies over various issues.

Ever since his May 2020 appointment to his current portfolio in the current government, he had largely laid low.

But he is back and this time the object of his wrath is controversial Chinese businessman, Yan Xie, who he accuses of “conquering” and monopolising the most lucrative government tenders at the expense of indigenous business people.

Mr Mapesela alleges that Mr Xie, popularly known as John, should not be allowed to continue to make a living through state properties like the national abattoir in Khubetsoana. He says Mr Xie must be kicked out to give deserving local business people an opportunity to run the facility.

Mr Mapesela’s remarks, in an interview with the Lesotho Times, follow a High Court ruling barring the government from evicting Meraka Lesotho and its parent company, Kerchin Meat Industry Lesotho, from the national abattoir in Khubetsoana.

Meraka Lesotho is said to be owned by Mr Xie.  In 2018, the company was given a tender to operate the state-owned abattoir in Khubetsoana on behalf of the government which was then headed by Thomas Thabane. Mr Thabane was forced to step down in May 2020 and made way for current Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro.

The contract gave Mr Xie an unfettered business monopoly as sole importer of red meat into the country after the Thabane government’s controversial 2018 decision to ban the importation of red meat into Lesotho. The contract was awarded shortly after Mr Thabane had appointed Mr Xie as his head of special projects, special envoy and trade advisor on the China-Asia Trade Network in August 2018.

Meraka was subsequently awarded two big tenders by the Thabane coalition to supply the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) and Lesotho Correctional Service (LCS) with red meat.

That same year Mr Xie told this reporter that he had orchestrated the deal, which placed the only national abattoir in his hands, because his ultimate aim was to see Lesotho exporting red meat to China “in a US$1, 4 billion deal without any interference”. He said the deal would ultimately benefit Lesotho’s economy.

Mr Xie, popularly known as John, is said to have fled the country early last year to avoid possible prosecution for corruption in connection with various tenders he was awarded by previous governments especially the Thabane administration which lasted from June 2017 until 20 May 2020.

Among others, he has been accused by the Small Business Development, Cooperatives and Marketing ministry of defrauding the government of M27 million through a shady business deal packaged as a public-private sector-partnership (PPP).

In this particular case, the small business ministry’s principal secretary, Tankiso Phapano, alleges that Mr Xie facilitated the awarding of three tenders worth M27 million to three companies which are closely linked to him. The tenders were awarded in April 2018. The ministry’s case is pending in the High Court.

As reported by the Lesotho Times last week, the Majoro administration is understood to have begun scrutinising all tenders awarded to the businessman with the aim of terminating every deal which was improperly awarded without following due process.  It remains to be seen whether this will actually happen or whether Mr Xie will snook the process through payoffs to officials as he has done with previous administrations.

So far in line with the objective of reining in Mr Xie, various ministries including the small business ministry have begun moves to nullify the tenders awarded to his companies.

Mr Mapesela has also attempted to evict Meraka Lesotho and retender the contract to run the national abattoir.

Despite an interim order barring him from retendering the contract, Mr Mapesela allegedly sent soldiers to evict Meraka Lesotho from the abattoir last month.

This prompted Meraka Lesotho to approach the High Court resulting in the granting of an order barring the minister from evicting the company and interfering with its business operations (See story on Page 4).

The awarding of the order has provoked a furious response from Mr Mapesela who slammed Mr Xie for monopolising government tenders at the expense of locals.

“Who gave the order? Is it an interim or final order,” Mr Mapesela asked when this reporter asked him about Justice Mokhesi’s judgement. He added, “this is my first time hearing about this judgement”.

“That is the state property. I don’t understand why the government is barred from the state property because that property does not belong to John but to the state. That person (Xie) must build his own property and vacate state property.”

Although he claimed not to have seen the judgement, Mr Mapesela still criticised Justice Mokhesi for the judgement which tied the government’s hands and protected Mr Xie from eviction.

“He (Xie) is occupying that place illegally. Is the judge saying the presence of that person there is legal? Which contract has the judge quoted? Do you think that judgment makes logic when it has not indicated that according to a certain clause of a contract between Meraka and Lesotho government, you are interfering with that person?

“The written judgement will give us all the details indicating why the judgement has been delivered so that we can challenge it.

“It is not only John who has a right to make a living in Lesotho. At some point, the ministry of small business restricted the import of red meat, forcing people to buy meat from John. It forced butcheries to close shop. John is not the only one who has a right to make a living in Lesotho, especially with Basotho assets.

“So, John cannot leave China and come here to conquer the nation.

“Judges must also be aware of this if they are the true patriots of this nation. They must take note when the country is being taken for a ride and not only interpret laws as they are when delivering judgements. I repeat, John cannot come all the way from China to conquer everything here in Lesotho by bribing everyone, judges and all other people.

“Those people are illegally occupying that place because that contract was not in order. It was not in order because it was not even approved by the cabinet. The contract which placed them there expired in 2018 and there has never been a renewal after that.”

Although Meraka was awarded the tender during Mr Thabane’s tenure, Mr Mapesela said the contract had its origins in the Pakalitha Mosisili-led administration which preceded it. He alleged that Ms ‘Mapalesa Mothokho, who served as agriculture minister in the Mosisili government, went to China and negotiated to bring in a company called Kerchin in a joint venture with Meraka Lesotho to run the national abattoir.

He however, could not explain how the said joint venture was then allowed by the Thabane government to operate the national abattoir.

He also could not explain why Meraka Lesotho had not been evicted if its contract was illegal as he claimed.

“I don’t know why they were not expelled. Don’t ask me things that I know nothing about.

“I was appointed agriculture minister last year and started processes to evict them and then they went to court,” said the outspoken Mr Mapesela who served in the Trade and Industry; Defence and National Security as well as the Forestry, Range and Soil Conservation ministries during the Thabane era from June 2017 to May 2020.

He denied allegations that he had sent soldiers to evict Meraka from the national abattoir.

“Soldiers never attempted to evict those people. The soldiers are ploughing state farms there (at the site of abattoir) and the fields are not included in the contract they (Meraka Lesotho) entered into with (former Minister) Mothokho. They were only allocated the Selakhapane site, not the surrounding state fields which the Khubetsoana people were already ploughing for their own benefit. This is why I said soldiers must go and plough those fields.”

Mr Mapesela said he had wanted to get rid of Meraka Lesotho because it had failed to operate the national abattoir and were instead running the place like a butchery. He said the company should give way to others who would properly run the abattoir.

Speaking from his base in Australia, Mr Xie yesterday denied the “state capture” allegations. He said he had long stopped bidding for any tenders. He said if at all he had done anything fraudulent it was up to the minister to report him to the police for investigations.

The post Mapesela breathes fire appeared first on Lesotho Times.

• as Majoro implements his first cabinet reshuffle
• and wields axe on Rantšo, Maliehe

Marafaele Mohloboli

LABOUR and Employment Minister Keketso Rantšo and her Defence and National Security counterpart, Prince Maliehe, have been fired by Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro.

A few other ministers swapped places as the premier implemented his first cabinet reshuffle since taking over from former incumbent, Thomas Thabane, on 20 May 2020.

Those who were reshuffled include Communications, Science and Technology Minister, Thesele Maseribane, who has been moved to the Small Business Development, Cooperatives and Marketing portfolio. The former incumbent, Keketso Sello, was moved in the opposite direction.

Former Public Service Minister Semano Sekatle is the new Health minister, taking over from Motlatsi Maqelepo who has been moved to the Forestry, Range and Soil Conservation portfolio.

Mr Maqelepo replaces Mr Motlohi Maliehe who has been moved to the Public Service portfolio. The cabinet reshuffle had not been officially communicated by the prime minister’s office by the time we went to print last night.  However, the Lesotho Times established Dr Majoro’s first bold act in re-organizing his cabinet.

Mr Sello confirmed his new appointment as communications minister. The rest of the reshuffled ministers and those who were dismissed were not reachable on their mobile phones for comment.

“I can confirm that I have been appointed as the new communications minister,” Mr Sello said in a brief interview with this publication last night.

He would not be drawn into saying why he had been reshuffled or why his two counterparts had been axed from cabinet.

Dr Majoro’s dismissal letters to Mr Prince Maliehe and Ms Rantšo, seen last night by this publication, do not give any reasons for their axing.

“I write to inform you that pursuant to section 87 (7) (d) of the constitution of Lesotho, His Majesty King Letsie III has accepted my advice to release you from the office of Minister on the Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho,” Dr Majoro states in his letter to Ms Rantšo.

“I take this opportunity to thank you for the service you rendered as a minister of the government,” Dr Majoro further states in the letter titled: “Removal as Minister of the Government of Lesotho”.

Mr Maliehe received a similar letter from Dr Majoro.

Dr Majoro’s press attaché, Buda Moseme and Government Secretary Lerotholi Pheko would neither confirm nor deny the dismissals and reshuffles.

“I am not aware of any of these changes or such letters to the ministers,” Mr Pheko said, adding, “Mr Moseme is better placed to comment on the issue”.

On his part, Mr Moseme said, “I am yet to confirm all these issues and I will do so in the morning.”

However, authoritative sources confirmed the sackings and reshuffles.

According to one of the sources, Ms Rantšo, who leads the Reformed Congress of Lesotho (RCL), was sacrificed to pacify members of Dr Majoro’s All Basotho Convention (ABC) who had long resented her appointment along with that of Chief Maseribane who leads the Basotho National Party (BNP).

The ABC members had argued that they saw no need for rewarding Ms Rantšo and Chief ‘Maseribane with cabinet posts when their parties only contributed one and five seats respectively to the current governing coalition which was formed last May. It was formed after national executive committee (NEC) members and legislators in the Thabane-led ABC resolved to withdraw the party from its old coalition agreement with Ms Rantšo’s RCL, Chief ‘Maseribane’s BNP and former Deputy Prime Minister Monyane Moleleki’s Alliance of Democrats (AD).

The ABC went on to forge a new coalition with current Deputy Prime Minister Mathibeli Mokhothu’s Democratic Congress (DC). The coalition was supported by other smaller parties including the RCL and the BNP.

However, several ABC members vented their anger when they were left out of cabinet in favour of Ms Rantšo and Chief ‘Maseribane. They argued that the two were not even needed in the coalition because with their combined 78 seats, the ABC and DC had enough numbers to form a stable government on their own. They said the two ministries given to Ms Rantšo and Chief ‘Maseribane should have been given to loyal ABC members who had helped in Dr Majoro’s rise to power.

“Ntate Majoro has given in to ABC hawks who wanted ‘M’e Rantšo ousted from government…. She (Rantso) is an easy sacrificial lamb as the coalition will survive without her party,” a source said.

“Chief Maseribane survived the sack but he has been moved from the communications ministry and his post has been taken up by an ABC member (Sello). This is part of a grand plan for Dr Majoro to have a handle on the Lesotho Communications Authority (LCA). The premier is miffed with how Maseribane and the LCA handled their fight with Vodacom Lesotho,” the source said.

This was in reference to the LCA’s acrimonious battle with Vodacom which is now before the High Court.

Vodacom is currently locked in a legal battle with the LCA over the authority’s 8 October 2020 decision to revoke the latter’s operating licence.

The LCA issued a notice to revoke Vodacom’s licence after the company refused to pay a M40, 2 million fines imposed on it for allegedly violating its licensing regulations by among other things “submitting audited financial statements that were unaccompanied by a certification issued by an independent external auditor”.

Vodacom instead opted to file an urgent High Court application for an interim order nullifying the revocation. This was duly granted by Justice Thamsanqa Nomngcongo paving the way for the company to continue providing services until its application for a final order against the decision to revoke its licence is heard and finalised by Justice Keketso Moahloli. The matter is still in the courts.

The LCA board chairperson, LCA Chief executive officer, ‘Mamarame Matela, and the LCA are first to third respondents respectively in the application.

Dr Majoro has previously expressed his dissatisfaction with the LCA’s move to revoke Vodacom’s licence, saying it could lead to the loss of thousands of jobs and tarnish the country’s image as an investor friendly destination.

The LCA falls under the communications ministry which, until yesterday, was headed by Chief Maseribane of the BNP.  Dr Majoro had also complained that the move to revoke Vodacom’s licence had not been sanctioned by the cabinet.

There has been an understanding in successive governing coalitions that the different parties forming the coalitions control the ministries they are allocated as well as all the departments or parastatals under those ministries. It would therefore have been difficult for Dr Majoro and his ABC party to get hold of the LCA had the ministry remained under Mr ‘Maseribane’s leadership.  Mr Maseribane is the only coalition party leader – whose party controls more than one seat in the National Assembly, to be shuffled, a clear indication that Dr Majoro wants to get a handle of issues at that important ministry.

“The seizure of the communications ministry by Dr Majoro is the beginning of a process to ring changes at the top of the LCA,” an authority source told the Lesotho Times last night.

Meanwhile, the ABC’s NEC has professed ignorance over the cabinet reshuffle.

“This reshuffle is news to us as the ABC NEC and we want to believe that it is Majoro’s own decision because even the party secretary general (Lebohang Hlaele) is equally perplexed,” ABC spokesperson, Montoeli Masoetsa, told this publication last night.

Mr Hlaele was not reachable for comment on his mobile phone.

Although cabinet appointments and reshuffles are the prerogative of the prime minister, the powerful ABC’s NEC has always demanded a stake in the prime minister’s key decisions. It has always maintained that it should be consulted in crucial decisions including appointments to key political and state jobs.

And if Mr Masoetsa’s use of the term “perplexed” to describe the cabinet reshuffle is anything to go by, it can only mean the perennial ructions within the ABC are still far from being resolved.

Dr Majoro was also expected to shuffle PSs and ambassadors after yesterday’s reshuffle. Mr Sekatle’s wife, Pontso Sekatle, is poised to get an ambassadorship.

The post Two ministers fired appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Pascalinah Kabi

WOMEN in Lesotho have always played a major role in food production albeit at a subsistence level.

In this patriarchal and gendered society, it is inculcated into every female- from toddlers as young as five years to great grandmothers- that theirs is to till the land and put food on the table for their families.

Despite their prowess in farming, most women hardly venture into commercial farming, thanks to the patriarchal system and its attendant customary law precepts which deny women ownership of the land.

While the battle continues for the enactment of laws to fully empower women and give them equal access to land as their male counterparts, a new breed of female commercial farmers is gradually emerging.

Thirty-six-year-old Thakane Mphatsoane is one such woman blazing the trail and leading the way for female entrepreneurs in this male dominated sector.

Hailing from the tiny village of Ha Molengoane, Nazareth in the Maseru district, Ms Mphatsoane was no different from other little girls who were raised to till the land and provide food for their families.

But now she is a renowned farmer producing butternuts, mushrooms, maize, edible herbs and seedlings for other farmers at a commercial level.

Never in her wildest dreams, did she ever dream that one day the land would be her biggest source of income at the grander level of commercial and not subsistence farming.

The bug of commercial farming struck her by accident.

“It was during a trip to South Africa when my attention was caught by this giant billboard with the words: you need a farmer for you to be able to eat breakfast, lunch and supper,’ Ms Mphatsoane recalls.

“The words really struck and I pictured myself as a successful commercial farmer.  I told myself that there was a big opportunity waiting to be exploited and I decided to venture into commercial farming.”

Unfortunately, her first foray into commercial farming coincided with the 2015 El-Nino induced drought which hit Lesotho and other southern African countries hard. She did not realise anything substantial from her sweat that year.

“Things only began to look up in 2017 and I have never looked back since then. I remember renting land and growing 5000 heads of cabbage that year (2017). But as fate would have it, winter came too early and I didn’t harvest anything. I refused to buckle down and I then ploughed maize, radish and beetroot for the summer cropping season. Things went well and I was really encouraged,” she said.

While thousands of women farmers have been dispossessed of their land, Ms Mphatsoane is fortunate to have a farmer father who believes in empowering women.

“In 2017 my father gave me his land which already had water facilities. That was the beginning of my success as a commercial farmer. He said he had decided to give me that farm after realising my hard work and passion.

“He did not even tell me that he was going to give me that farm until one morning when he said to me, ‘the councilors are going to survey my farm and I want you to be there with them. I am giving you that land and your grandmother’s next to it. Tell them to survey both farms as one and register them under your name,” she said.

Her uncles and aunt later followed suit and also turned over their farms to her.

She wants to see more women venture into commercial farming as there are a lot of opportunities in the agro-business sector- from being a farmer, supplier of seedlings or a retailer.

“There is never a time you can go without money in your pocket if you are farmer. Farming is stylish and even billionaires are now into farming. You will not fail but you need to have patient, passionate and invest a lot of time and resources bearing in mind that sometimes things can go wrong the same way they can easily go right.

“Feeding the nation is a fulfilling experience, more so when I lend a helping hand to my fellow community members.”

“I used to produce 130 trays of seedlings but since last year, that has increased to more than 600. I have also ventured into the production of edible herbs. My output has really grown, thanks to the high demand for food. I must say, I love working with women in the Federation of Lesotho Entrepreneurs. Ours is an association of female farmers producing and selling mushrooms. We also engaged a consultant to assist us and test our soil. Covid-19 or no Covid-19, farming is the way to go,” Ms Mphatsoane.

Another female farmer, ‘Machere Seutloali, from the Khubetsoana area in Berea district concurs.

“Covid-19 was a blessing in disguise when it hit the country last year. Our sales increased last April due to lockdown restrictions which restricted travel. Farmers were allowed to sell in their respective villages and people came in large numbers to buy our produce. We even ran out of stock. I remember very well that I was the only one in Khubetsoana supplying people with tomatoes,” Ms Seutloali (also 36) said.

A proud holder of an accounting diploma, Ms Seutloali’s love for farming was nurtured by her subsistence farmer grandparents who raised her.

As a commercial farmer producing tomatoes, green beans, carrots, peppers and mushrooms, Ms Seutloali has had to turn to fellow women to rent their land for her growing business.

“I have bought and registered some farms under my name. I have also come up with another arrangement where I lease two farms, plough both and take the produce from one while sharing the harvest of the other,” Ms Seutloali said.

By her own admission, women like her and Ms Mphatsoane are an exception rather than the norm. They are among a few fortunate female farmers.

Only last year, Ms Seutloali watched helplessly as a fellow female farmer was dispossessed of her land by her in-laws.

The case is a typical example showing that female nutrition champions in Lesotho still have a long way to go to break free from discriminatory the customary laws which favour men when it comes to land ownership and inheritance.

“I have not personally been on the receiving end of customary land rights disputes but there is a Thaba-Bosiu woman who fell victim after we had agreed I would rent her land. This was not to be after her in-laws demanded the land back. They argued that the old woman cannot lay claim to that land, saying it belonged to the family not her. Her husband is dead. I had to abandon the farming project because there were serious complications that I did not have the energy to deal with,” Ms Seutloali said.

She added that she had tried her best to assist the woman to recover the land from her in-laws.

She had even called the community chiefs and councilors to help and she looks forward to a positive outcome.

“Knowing that Basotho women, myself included, continue to champion issues of nutrition in the country despite the land challenges that we experience every day makes me really proud as a Mosotho woman. It is a good feeling because we are feeding the nation and positively touching other people’s lives,” Ms Seutloali said.

In her 2016 research titled: “Customary Law and its Implications on the Enjoyment of Human Rights by Women in Southern Africa: A Focus on Botswana, Lesotho and South Africa”, regional human rights lawyer Makanatsa Makonese says customary laws have a disproportionate discriminatory impact on women when compared to men.

“This is because customary law promotes patriarchal practices that give more privileges to men than women in many areas of life including in leadership, in society and within the family. In addition, history has shown that customary law has been distorted over time mainly with a view to entrenching patriarchy and suppressing the rights of women,” wrote Dr Makonese.

Movement for Economic Change (MEC) deputy leader and parliamentarian ‘Matlhohonolofatso Tšepang Tsita-Mosena has interacted with a lot of women experiencing challenges of being dispossessed of their land by their husbands, male siblings and relatives.

“As a country we need to get to a time where a woman is empowered. When a woman owns the land, we know her family will be secure because she can at least provide food for the family unlike when she has to ask for permission to use the land,” Ms Tsita-Mosena said.

“Women are still disadvantaged compared to their male counterparts. “It is unfair that women have to go the extra mile to safeguard their land rights and that of their children yet for men it is taken as a norm that they will get their land. For example, a married woman must have a will to claim rights over her own assets yet a man is not bothered about the will because the culture protects him.

“We need to change our mindsets; we need to engage more women to join the discourse on their land rights. That means having more women venturing into politics and understanding the dynamics of the economics of the country,” she said, adding they needed a robust non-partisan approach to articulating women’s land rights and other issues in parliament and in the constituencies,” Ms Tsita-Mosena said.

The post Despite patriarchal norms, Basotho women strike gold in farming appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Moorosi Tsiane

FOR a long time, local footballers seemed to have been comfortable playing in the domestic league and not aspiring to move abroad.

Only a few have left to try their luck outside the country, either in South Africa or elsewhere.

The likes of Thapelo Tale, Bokang Mothoana, Moitheri Ntobo and Dlomo Monaphathi among a few others have played in far flung countries like Spain and Tunisia.

Lately, it has been Thabiso Brown, Khosi Mafisa and Nkoto Masoabi who are in Bolivia, Peru and Libya respectively.

We still have players in the United States of America who went under Kick4Life facilitated football scholarships but my focus today is more on players who just decide to up and go in search for greener pastures.

It has been a rare occurrence and my interview with Likuena and Bloemfontein Celtic marksman Motebang Sera intrigued me.

Sera said local players were afraid of making big decisions and go for trials in other countries as they seem to be enjoying being in their comfort zones.

Most local players, once they play for the country’s big guns like Lioli, Matlama and Bantu; suddenly get comfortable and don’t push any further. They would have reached the apex of their respective careers and do not have any desire to go beyond.

It suddenly dawned upon me that this behaviour doesn’t only apply in football but most of our athletes like it when they are here at home with their families.

A simple example can be of our long-distance runners who, for a long time, were dominating South African races until recently when Kenyans and Ethiopians started taking over. All those years our athletes were winning races in South Africa but always failed to rise to the occasion on bigger stages.

The question is: when they were winning, making money why didn’t they at least invest in their careers? Or even relocate to some of the countries where it was going to be easy for them to compete in bigger and better rewarding races?

They failed to even think about moving to Kenya or Ethiopia just for training camps and learn how and why athletes from those nations were knocking them off their perches.

But then I realised that this was not only about sport but Basotho in general. We are firmly strapped to our socio and cultural lives that we rarely if at all entertain thoughts of moving elsewhere.

We are so family oriented that each time one wants to leave, it is never easy.

I think we must work hard and change that mentality as it doesn’t help. Yes, it is good to care about our families and our roots but at the same time, we must go out there and chase our dreams and widen our horizons. Who knows, that move may even open opportunities for the families that we so dearly love.

The post Athletes must get out of their comfort zones appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Leemisa Thuseho

FEDERATION of Athletics Lesotho (FAL) president, Tšeliso Pheta, has thrown his hat into the ring for the organisation’s upcoming committee elections.

Pheta was last October elected the president of the now dissolved FAL committee but he told the Lesotho Times this week that he was not yet ready to give up on his dream to lead the association.

The association’s elections are penned in for 20 March 2021.

Although he was elected last October, Pheta never got into the office as his committee was dissolved according to the advice of World Athletics. The Lesotho Sport and Recreation Commission (LSRC) also disowned the committee.

The committee was dissolved after it was alleged that the elections’ preparation processes were unconstitutional and the elections were held against the recommendations of the LSRC and the association’s disputes arbitration tribunal. The tribunal said the elections should be aborted because they were called unprocedurally.

Pheta was also the vice president of the outgoing FAL committee.

Ahead of the controversial elections last year, the executive committee was divided into two camps. One committee, led by Makhaola Serake, was against the now nullified elections while his secretary Makara Thibinyane led the camp that forcefully held the elections.

After the nullification of the October elections, World Athletics instructed FAL to call and prepare for constitutional elections. It also ordered both camps to work together in preparing for elections.

In the October elections, Pheta was the only candidate vying for the presidency and he said he was hopeful that he will win the elections in March.

“I am ready to contest for the position again and I going to win again,” Pheta told the Lesotho Times this week.

He said he was not discouraged by the nullification of the previous elections and was ready to take the sport to the next level.

“I am not giving up because I want to rescue the sport from individuals who want to use it for their own benefit and pretend as if they love it. The clubs believe that I am the right candidate to rescue the sport,” Pheta added.

The post Pheta in race for FAL presidency appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Leemisa Thuseho

TRIPLE jumper Lerato Sechele is hoping for a fruitful year despite Covid-19 induced disruptions to sporting activities.

Sechele, who has already qualified for the upcoming African Seniors Championships penned in for between May to June 2021 in Algiers, Algeria, said she is targeting a gold medal at the event.

The games were initially set for 24 to 28 June 2020 but were postponed to this year on the back of the Covid-19 pandemic.

She qualified for the tournament in February last year during the Free State Athletics Championships in Bloemfontein.

In her debut participation in the African Championships in Nigeria in 2018, Sechele brought home a bronze medal.

“I have already qualified for the African Senior Athletics Championships and this will be my second time competing in the tournament,” Sechele said.

“This time around my target is to improve from the last edition and win a gold medal, which is every athlete’s dream. If I won bronze in my first appearance, chances are high that I can get a gold medal this time around.”

Having last competed in February last year, Sechele said she was already hard at work preparing for the African Championships. She however, said her preparations are being hampered by the ongoing lockdown during which sporting activities are not allowed.

“I am preparing even though it is not easy because training facilities are closed due to Covid-19. One can’t fully rely on home training while preparing for such big events. I am worried because even if I go out and run, it is still not easy for me to do jumping sessions because they require well-established spaces with sand which I can only get at Setsoto Stadium,” she said.

Sechele admitted that the suspension of sport activities due to Covid-19 had affected their preparations for several big events which they are hoping to participate in. The biggest worry however, is that athletes in other countries continue training and contesting in different competitions.

As her upcoming competition nears, she said she needs a few preparatory competitions to ready herself.

“My plan was to go for competitions this month but due to Covid-19, it is now uncertain when I will start competing. June is not far; only three months away but we can still use the remaining time to get ready. However, that will only be possible if training facilities were open.”

Sechele is also eying her first ever Olympics qualification and says she is confident that she will earn one soon. The Olympics are penned in for July and August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were initially supposed to be held last year but were postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Apart from the African Championships my other target is to qualify for the Olympics and I think there is still time to fulfil the dream,” she said.

Sechele is one of the beneficiaries of the Olympic Solidarity Scholarship for athletes and her personal best is 13:57m. She must jump 14:20m to qualify for the Olympics.

The post Sechele hoping for good season appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Leemisa Thuseho

RUGBY administrator Kananelo Mokhachane has been appointed a member of Rugby Africa’s sub committee for Player Welfare and Participation.

The sub committee falls under the organisation’s broader Women’s Advisory Committee (WAC).

Mokhachane was appointed along with other 11 women from other African countries.

The WAC was established last year to advise Rugby Africa committees on positive gender inclusion practices, with particular focus on women’s rugby.

Mokhachane is also a women’s representative in the Federation of Lesotho Rugby (FLR) executive committee.

She told the Lesotho Times this week that their work as a WAC sub-committee would involve offering guidance and suggestions in the vital areas of women’s rugby development and player welfare.

“I was informed about my appointment on Friday and I am yet to get the appointment terms of reference but we will work on issues related to women participation and welfare in the continent,” Mokhachane said.

Mokhachane said the appointment came as a surprise but believes that her profile, which once sent to World Rugby via Rugby Africa earned her the appointment.

“I didn’t see this coming but I remember applying for one World Rugby scholarship via Rugby Africa some time in December, so I suspect they saw my profile there and maybe saw it fit for me to be in the committee.

“I feel honoured and I thank Rugby Africa for the faith they have shown in me. In Lesotho sport, we work on voluntary basis and it is humbling to have someone from outside the country to have such faith in you. It means that whenever you work, do your best even when no one is watching because the universe has funny way of rewarding you,” she added.

Mokhachane is confident that the appointment will benefit the entire rugby in the country.

“This is an opportunity for me to put in practice all administrative skills that I acquired during several short courses offered by the Lesotho National Olympic Committee (LNOC). Other than that, most of the skills are transferable and we can transfer and apply them in our day to day lives.

“This is not a personal win… if I get exposed to rugby administration at continental level, it means that I will share with fellow administrators all that I will get there. Again, it should be an inspirational to others because I never saw this coming,” Mokhachane said.

The post Mokhachane scores big appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Moorosi Tsiane

LESOTHO Football Association (LeFA’s) first vice president, Khiba Mohoanyane, has explained why he was appointed to the Confederation of African Football (CAF’s) committee for Futsal and Beach Soccer almost a decade ago.

Though old, the appointment was trending on different social media site last weekend with some questioning why Mohoanyane was appointed to a committee of a football discipline that does not exist in Lesotho.

Lesotho currently has neither futsal nor beach soccer.

However, the former Lesotho Sport and Recreation Commission (LSRC) president, this week said the appointment was not based on whether or not the sport was existing in Lesotho.

“There is nothing wrong here because in making its appointments, CAF deploys people depending on the personnel they want for such posts not necessarily based on what the countries have or don’t have,” Mohoanyane told the Lesotho Times.

“The personnel are deployed based on one’s merits.”

Nevertheless, he said Lesotho was on the brink of introducing futsal and beach soccer.

“We are actually at an advanced stage for that to happen. The preliminary stage has already been completed and soon we will venture into the implementation stage.

“But it is going to need patience because it might take us two to three years before we can have teams that can compete in futsal and beach soccer.

“Unlike in football, futsal and beach soccer don’t really need big pitches that will require us to go and look for big sites. We can even use our own sites to construct such grounds, so it won’t be much of a problem for now,” Mohoanyane said.

The post Mohoanyane explains CAF committee appointment appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Moorosi Tsiane

LIOLI is racing against time to replace the late coach Thomas Tshabalala, who died last month.

While president Lebohang Thotanyana this week said they were still strategising before appointing a new coach, an authoritative source at the club said the side was targeting another South African, Thabo Tšutšulupa. Tšutšulupa’s last gig in Lesotho was with Liphakoe in 2019.

“We haven’t talked about him but maybe he wants the job,” Thotanyana said.

“What I can tell you is that there are lots of people who have shown interest by sending their CVs.”

But a source this week said: “They haven’t finalised yet but some have suggested that they give the job to assistant coach Vuyisane Mangaliso while others are pushing for Tšutšulupa as the substantive coach”.

Currently the technical director and head coach for ABC Motsepe League side, Royal Eagles, Tšutšulupa admitted he would jump at an opportunity to return to Lesotho.

The former Kaizer Chiefs Under-17 coach is known for helping Liphakoe to its first top eight league finish in the 2018/19 since their return to the elite league six years ago.

“I would love to return to Lesotho… I am interested in the Lioli job if it is offered to me.

“I would also like to see myself one day coaching a team that competes in the CAF Champions League,” Tšutšulupa said.

He said Liphakoe was a good learning curve for him and he will always cherish the opportunity the club gave him.

The late Tshabalala had played three matches and had won two against Linare and CCX before losing to Lijabatho.

Meanwhile, Lioli on Tuesday appointed assistant coach Mangaliso the caretaker coach.

“The board is happy to announce assistant coach Vuyisane Mangaliso as the Lioli FC caretaker coach.

“This follows the passing of coach Ntsheing Thomas ‘Neva’ Tshabalala. Mangaliso had been serving within the club as Tshabalala’s assistant. His engagement will bring continuity and stability in our technical division,” reads the statement.

“This will also give the board adequate time to consider all alternatives and decide on a permanent future plan,” a statement from the club reads.

The post Lioli targets Tšutšulupa appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Moorosi Tsiane

BLOEMFONTEIN Celtic striker Motebang Sera has admitted that he started the current DStv Premiership 2020/21 season on a rather disappointing note after impressing in his debut season last year.

The energetic striker netted eight goals for Celtic in all competitions including scoring against power houses like eventual league winners, Mamelodi Sundowns and runners-up, Kaizer Chiefs.

The Lesotho international has experienced a slump in performance this season after falling to cement his place in Celtic’s first team.

He has so far scored only twice in all competitions this season.

Sera told the Lesotho Times on Sunday that he was working hard to improve his fortunes.

“I haven’t started the season in the preferred manner compared to last season but these are challenges that one is bound to encounter and must deal with,” Sera said.

“It is just a phase. I will continue working hard both at practices and when I am given a chance to play. A player needs a little luck sometimes and that has been lacking. I have continued working hard and creating chances but luck eluded me and that has dented my confidence because a striker gets confidence from scoring.”

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has worsened the situation as his club has a congested schedule given that his team is competing in the Nedbank Cup, the league and was recently knocked out of the CAF Confederations Cup.

“We are playing back-to-back matches, so it needs a strong and disciplined player because we are not getting much rest. It was tough at first because I wasn’t used to it but I had to adjust. The Covid-19 pandemic is really causing lots of problems too.”

The former Matlama talisman said he was happy to have played in the CAF Confederations Cup.

“It was an exciting experience because that is where you get to learn.”

Asked about his thoughts on local players failing to secure contracts in the more lucrative South African leagues, Sera said most players were risk averse.

“There are so many Lesotho players who can play in South Africa but they lack the courage to take chances and go for trials. We should learn from players from other African countries who are persistent and never stay in their comfort zones.

“We are afraid of rejection and we only want to go where it is guaranteed that we will be signed but that must change. We must take chances.

“Look at Masoabi (Nkoto), he went to Libya took his chance and was signed, so that should be out attitude.”

Sera said he was disappointed after Bokang Sello’s moves to Chippa United and Golden Arrows both fell through.

“I can’t really say what went wrong but I was disappointed to learn that the moves failed to materialise because I feel that he deserves more. Bokang is a talented player and he deserves to play in more professional leagues.”

Looking ahead, Sera said he is targeting to score at least 10 goals this season.

“I had set a 10-goal target last season and I missed by two goals but I am pushing for it this season. Yes, I have had a slow start but I think there is still time to achieve that. I should just keep on working hard,” Sera said.

The post Sera speaks on slow start to new season appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Herbert Moyo

A LEADING local human rights body has slammed the government for its alleged failure to protect the human rights of ordinary citizens by decisively addressing the human trafficking concerns raised by the United States (US) government.

In a statement to the Lesotho Times last night, the Transformation Resource Centre (TRC) accused the government of paying lip service to the US government’s concerns. It said the lack of seriousness in addressing the issue could affect human rights of Basotho and lead to the loss of economic opportunities which Lesotho had gained over the years from US development assistance programmes such as the multi-million-dollar Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).

It said the failure to deal with trafficking could also result in the US carrying out its threat to revoke Lesotho’s eligibility for preferential trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

The TRC’s remarks come against the background of a warning three weeks ago by the US Ambassador to Lesotho, Rebecca Gonzales, that unless it addressed human trafficking concerns by 1 February 2021, Lesotho risked losing billions of maloti in funding under the MCC second compact as well as eligibility for AGOA on which the entire local textiles sector is anchored.

The AGOA law allows Lesotho to export textile products to the US duty-free, making them highly competitive.   It was on the basis of AGOA that many Taiwanese and Chinese entrepreneurs came to Lesotho in the early 2000s to establish large textile factories that now employ about 45 000 Basotho. But those jobs are now at risk due to the government’s failure to address the US government’s concerns of official complicity in human trafficking.  Without AGOA’s duty free status, Lesotho’s textile exports into the US cannot compete with those from well-established and competitive textile manufacturers like Vietnam, Bangladesh and China.

Ms Gonzales further warned that Lesotho also risked losing out on health funding under the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) which had helped the country make substantial strides in containing the deadly HIV/AIDS pandemic.

In addition, the country will also lose out vital security sector assistance programmes, such as police and military training events and exchanges, which are crucial to Lesotho’s plans of implementing security sector reforms in line with the 2016 recommendations of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Lesotho was placed in Tier 3, the lowest ranking in the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report for 2020.

Normally, a country in Tier 3 automatically loses all forms of US assistance but Ms Gonzales revealed that she had recommended a waiver of any punishment against Lesotho to enable Dr Majoro to act on the issue since he had only assumed office as recently as 20 May 2020.

Last month, Ms Gonzales said Lesotho had to take concrete actions to retain its eligibility for development assistance which included making substantive progress in its investigations of “credible allegations of official complicity in human trafficking, arresting suspects and prosecuting them in the courts of law”.

Last week, Home Affairs Minister Motlalentoa Letsosa said the government had submitted its report to the US government detailing the measures it has taken to address the latter’s concerns about alleged rampant human trafficking.

He however, refused to say what was contained in the government’s response or whether it had done enough to address the US concerns.

However, the TRC feels there have not been any tangible investigations of suspected trafficking crimes particularly against high profile individuals.

“The TRC is concerned by the lack of seriousness on the part of the government of Lesotho to address issues of human trafficking,” the TRC said in its statement.

“This is evidenced amongst others, by the lack of tangible investigations into alleged heinous crimes of human trafficking and constant polarisation of this sensitive human rights issue.

“The TRC is concerned that whenever a political figure is suspected of a crime, the issue is immediately presented as a fight among political parties seeking to tarnish each other’s reputations and that way the matter is never actually investigated and prosecuted to its logical conclusion.

“The current concerns on human trafficking are not an exception. Politicians in Lesotho have the unfounded position that institutions supporting human rights and democracy such the police should not be used to scrutinise their conduct. This unfortunate perception is aimed at discouraging and frustrating state institutions’ attempts to scrutinise and hold the executive accountable. The police, prosecution and judges must do their constitutional duties without any political interference,” the TRC said.

The human rights body also castigated the government for refusing to make public its human trafficking report to the US government.

“The government of Lesotho’s decision not to disclose its response to such heinous crimes flies in the face of principles of accountability and transparency. It is expected that the government should conduct its administrative functions in an open way without any unwarranted secrets so that the public can believe and trust that government is genuine and fair in conducting its affairs.”

The TRC therefore urged both the Lesotho and US governments to disclose the contents of the report.

Ironically, Mr Letsosa is deputy leader of the Democratic Congress (DC) party whose senior officials have been accused of involvement in human trafficking activities.

Deputy Prime Minister Mathibeli Mokhothu leads the DC, the second biggest party in the governing coalition led by Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro of the All Basotho Convention (ABC) party.

Messrs Letsosa and Mokhothu have both denied allegations implicating their party in trafficking activities. They have dismissed the allegations as the work of their detractors bent on tarnishing their image to scupper their chances of winning next year’s crucial general elections.

The post TRC blasts govt over human trafficking appeared first on Lesotho Times.

• wants govt to account for Covid-19 spending

Bereng Mpaki

PARLIAMENT will reopen next Monday with the thorny issue of the government’s response to the deadly Covid-19 pandemic expected to take centre stage in the deliberations of the august house.

Parliament adjourned for its annual Christmas break on 27 November 2020. In a memo to legislators and other stakeholders this week, National Assembly clerk, Advocate Fine Maema, said it would reconvene on Monday.

“You are hereby notified that the 11th meeting of the First Session of the 10th Parliament will be held in the New Parliament Building in Maseru on Monday 15 February 2021 at 9am,” Adv Maema states in his memo.

Although, his brief circular did not provide any further details, Opposition Alliance of Democrats (AD) secretary general, Mahali Phamotse, yesterday said her party would demand full disclosures on how the government had spent the M698 million allocated for the Covid-19 response.

Dr Phamotse, who served as Justice and Correctional Services minister and later as Gender, Sport and Recreation minister in the previous Thomas Thabane administration from June 2017 to May 2020, said her party was unhappy with the manner in which the government had spent the funds and therefore expected explosive debates on the matter.

“We want to understand how the government has spent the Covid-19 funds it was allocated for the 2020/21 financial year,” Dr Phamotse said in an interview with the Lesotho Times.

“We expect sparks to fly on that issue. The public is also unhappy with the way the government has handled this whole Covid-19 issue. As representatives of the people in parliament, it is incumbent upon us to communicate their views to the government.”

There has been a lot of controversy regarding the use of the Covid-19 funds.

First there were allegations of the money being misused by the now disbanded National Emergency Command Centre (NECC) which allegedly gobbled M161 million out of the M698 million budget set aside to fight Covid-19.

Confidential government documents seen by this publication last year revealed that a sizeable chunk of that money was not spent on core activities aimed at fighting the pandemic but on luxuries like food and other items bought at highly inflated prices.

The extravagant command centre allegedly spent more than M10, 7 million on food for its staffers drawn from different ministries at the time health professionals were going with no personal protective equipment (PPE). Other money was spent on purchasing office equipment and other related items at grossly inflated prices.

The NECC, which had been set up in March 2020 by then premier Thabane, was disbanded by current Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro and replaced by the National Covid-19 Secretariat (NACOSEC) in June 2020.

However, NACOSEC has not fared any better with Acting Auditor General Monica Besetsa’s September 2020 preliminary audit findings showing that the Covid-19 budget had ballooned from the initial M698 million to M1, 5 billion “due to extra expenses to pay for operational costs of NACOSEC” and not necessarily interventions required to contain the deadly pandemic.

Apart from demanding full disclosures on the Covid-19 spending, Dr Phamotse said her party would also ask the government to come up with a comprehensive economic recovery plan in response to the Covid-19 induced slowdown in business activity.

The government’s plan should detail how it intended to revive the economy and provide relief to vulnerable sections of the population whose livelihoods have been negatively affected by the pandemic, she said.

“Many people have lost jobs as a result of the pandemic while others have lost their loved ones who were bread winners. We therefore, expect parliament to address this matter by continuing debate on a motion that was adjourned before the recess,” Dr Phamotse said.

Shortly before parliament adjourned for Christmas last November, the AD’s Semena constituency legislator, Tlohelang Aumane, had tabled a motion in parliament calling on the government to develop a national economic recovery plan to stimulate the economy after the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, the motion was suspended. Dr Phamotse believes it is now the right time to revisit the motion.

“That motion will address many issues related to Covid-19 that we are currently struggling to cope with. It will assist the government to better respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. We therefore, expect the motion to be revived during the upcoming session of the house.”

Meanwhile, Home Affairs minister, Motlalentoa Letsosa, said he expected parliament to dedicate a lot of time to debating and approving the 2021/22 budget.

“The usual business of debating and enacting laws as well as considering reports will continue when we reopen.

“However, with the tabling of the 2021/22 budget estimates on the horizon, my expectation is that the bulk of the house’s business will be towards that until the budget has been approved,” Mr Letsosa said.

On his part, Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) secretary general Teboho Sekata, said he expected parliament to pass outstanding bills into law.

“We expect parliament to finalise the Local Government Bill which seeks to harmonise the national elections with local government elections and ensure they are held concurrently.

“The bill is already before the house and we expect parliament to make a final decision on it,” Mr Sekata said.

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•  as 47 out 60 inmates test positive for deadly virus in Qacha’s Nek

Mohalenyane Phakela

THE raging Covid-19 pandemic is ravaging the country’s prisons. This after revelations by the Lesotho Correctional Service (LCS) authorities that 47 out of 60 inmates at its Qacha’s Nek facility had tested positive for the deadly virus a fortnight ago.

This means that about 78 percent of all the Qacha’s Nek inmates are infected at a time when the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that any infection rate of above five percent should be regarded as a major cause for concern. To date, Lesotho has recorded 9804 infections and 210 deaths.

LCS spokesperson, Assistant Superintendent Pheko Ntobane, said all in all, correctional facilities in three out of the country’s 10 districts had recorded Covid-19 cases.

He however, said prison authorities were on top of the situation as they had swiftly moved to contain the situation by quarantining the patients and implementing public health regulations such as social distancing of inmates and improving hygiene in the prisons.

“We started recording Covid-19 cases last December when the country experienced an influx of people returning from South Africa,” Ass-Supt Ntobane told the Lesotho Times this week.

“Some of the returnees were fugitives from justice and therefore had to be jailed.

“All in all, Qacha’s Nek has 60 inmates and of these, 47 tested positive last month. Quthing which has 80 inmates, recorded 17 infections while Mohale’s Hoek which is also housing inmates from Mafeteng, only recorded seven cases.”

Ass-Supt Ntobane said there was no reason to panic because some of the patients had since recovered while others were convalescing in isolation from other inmates.

He said contrary to what was reported in a local weekly last week, they had not recorded any Covid-19 deaths at their Maseru facilities or any other prison.

“We have only recorded infections in three districts. Some of the patients have recovered while others are stable and on their way to full recovery.

“We have not recorded any cases in Maseru and the other six districts. There was a Maseru inmate who died two weeks ago and it was suspected that he had died of Covid-19. However, a post-mortem showed that he died of other health complications and not Covid-19.”

Ass-Supt Ntobane’s revelations are unlikely to reassure inmates and a sceptical nation amid widespread belief that the Covid-19 infections are understated by the National Covid-19 Secretariat (NACOSEC) due to its limited capacity to test for the virus.

Moreover, the country’s prisons are known to be notoriously overcrowded, a situation that enables rapid spread of the disease.

Several high-profile prisoners including former army commander Lieutenant General Tlali Kamoli have filed several unsuccessful court applications for their release on the grounds that the prisons are filthy, overcrowded and therefore unfit for human habitation.

They said three prisoners were made to share a single blanket thus exposing them to killer diseases such as Tuberculosis. They said as a result of the congestion and unhygienic conditions, diseases were prevalent in the prisons.

In his affidavit, one of Lt-Gen Kamoli’s fellow inmates, Lance Corporal Leutsoa Motsieloa, alleged that “the holding cells at Lesotho Correctional Service (LCS)’s Maseru Central Correctional Institution (MCCI) are overcrowded, unhygienic and filthy”.

“A cell is sometimes flooded with 20 plus inmates and during the night when nature calls, detainees help themselves in the presence of others.

“Furthermore, a mattress meant for one individual is shared by three people and blankets are scarce. Ticks are very dominant in the cells,” Lance Corporal Motsieloa stated in his court papers.

The claims were however, rejected at the time by the LCS inmates’ rehabilitation and welfare officer, Superintendent Limpho Lebitsa, who instead accused Lt-Gen Kamoli and his co-applicants of scandalising the LCS through false allegations to secure their release from prison.

However, Ass Supt Ntobane this week conceded that prisons were congested but said they had taken measures to improve the situation and prevent the spread of Covid-19.

“Maseru has the greatest number of inmates but it has not recorded a single Covid-19 case because it has better facilities and is a bit spacious. Even though we have a great challenge of infrastructure across the prisons, we try by all means to isolate the inmates whenever there is a suspected case.

“Since the breakout of Covid-19, we have moved inmates from some of the cells in order to use them as quarantine facilities. We have mini-clinics at all our facilities manned by health professional to treat Covid-19 patients.

“We have come to an agreement with the magistrates’ courts and the police that we should only detain suspects accused of serious crimes while releasing those who are accused of minor offences on bail to reduce congestion.

“We also adhere to public health regulations issued by the government and these include the suspension of prison visits by inmates’ relatives to reduce the chances of spreading infections,” Ass Supt Ntobane said.

The post Prisons’ Covid-19 nightmare appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Mohalenyane Phakela

THE street vendors’ application to reverse the government’s ban on street vending during the hard lockdown failed to take off in the High Court this week due to their failure to file their court papers on time.

The case is now only of academic interest because the ban on street vending which began when the lockdown was imposed on 14 January 2021 was lifted on 3 February 2021 by Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro.

However, the vendors are insisting on the case being heard in the hope that a court victory will set a precedent wherein the government will not be able to ban their operations whenever it imposes hard lockdowns in future to combat Covid-19.

Late last month, five vendors teamed up to file an urgent application to reverse the government’s decision to impose a total lockdown barring them from conducting business.

The five are Mareni ‘Mabathoana, Paul Pakisi, Lesole Ramole, Kotsi Koali and Teboho May.  They are represented by Advocates Napo Mafaesa, Fusi Sehapi and Neo Komota.

By imposing the lockdown and banning vending, the five argued they had been unfairly made to suffer for the politicians’ own failure to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

They further argued the ban would permanently destroy their businesses while politicians, civil servants and others continued earning their monthly salaries while at home during the lockdown.

They had also wanted the courts to order the security forces not to brutalise them when enforcing the lockdown regulations announced on 12 January 2021 by Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro.

Dr Majoro imposed a nationwide lockdown on 14 January 2021 in response to the exponential increase in Covid-19 infections and deaths in the country in the aftermath of the Christmas holidays in December 2020.

As part of the hard lockdown rules, street vendors were not allowed to operate their stalls or conduct any business. However, the lockdown restrictions were eased on 3 February 2021, allowing vendors to resume operations.

Nevertheless, the street vendors are insisting on their application being heard to finality.

Dr Majoro, Health Minister Motlatsi Maqelepo, Police Commissioner Holomo Molibeli, army commander Mojalefa Letsoela, the Ministry of Small Business Development, Cooperatives and Marketing and Attorney General Haae Phoofolo are the first to sixth respondents respectively.  They are being represented by Attorneys Monaheng Rasekoai and Kuili Ndebele as well as Adv Christopher Lephuthing.

The application was initially supposed to be heard by Justice Tšeliso Monapathi on 22 January 2021 but he postponed it to 7 February 2021 to allow both sides to file additional court papers including affidavits and heads of argument.

However, the case could not be heard on Sunday as the court buildings were being fumigated to stop the spread of Covid-19. The matter was then postponed to the following morning.   Although the normal practice is for cases to be heard during week days, they are sometimes heard on Sundays to ease the backlog.

But on Monday, Justice Monapathi was again forced to postpone the case, this time to 14 February 2021, because the applicants were not ready to proceed.

The applicants had still not filed their heads of argument and they therefore pleaded for the postponement.

“We are not ready to proceed. We ask for indulgence to file our heads by Wednesday (yesterday) and we also apologise for not being able to paginate the file,” Adv Komota pleaded on behalf of the applicants on Monday.

The vendors’ plea did not go down well with Justice Monapathi who said he had “sacrificed so much in order to hear the matter”.

“I was so desperate and still are desperate to have this matter finalised. There must not be an impression that the court is delaying hearing this matter. We are sacrificing for this case to be heard. Let us come back on 14 February so we can hear this matter,” Justice Monapathi ordered.

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Pascalinah Kabi

PRIME Minister Moeketsi Majoro has denied ever speaking to controversial businessman, Yan Xie, over the latter’s complaints about ministers seeking M3 million bribes to protect the Chinese businessman from losing his lucrative government tenders.

The premier also denies ordering Mr Xie to stop financing struggling local businesses which would have been awarded government tenders but without resources to implement them.

Dr Majoro this week rejected claims by Mr Xie that he had alerted the premier of unnamed cabinet ministers who had demanded bribes as high as M3 million each to talk the prime minister and his cabinet out of their alleged plans to cancel all government tenders controversially awarded to Mr Xie.

In a brief interview with this publication this week, Dr Majoro’s press attaché, Buta Moseme, said contrary to Mr Xie’s claims, the premier had not spoken to the businessman in a very long time. In fact, according to Mr Moseme, Dr Majoro had not spoken to Mr Xie ever since he became prime minister in May 2020.

“All the allegations made by Mr Yan Xie purporting to derive from a conversation with the prime minister have no basis in truth.

“The information I received from the prime minister is that he has not spoken to Mr Xie for a long time and certainly not during his tenure as prime minister,” Mr Moseme said this week.

Dr Majoro’s denial, through Mr Moseme, follows Mr Xie’s claims last week that the premier had ordered him to stop financing local businesses because he had been widely attacked in the media over the Ministry of Home Affairs’ controversial park homes tenders.

Also known as John, Mr Xie stands accused of defrauding four companies awarded the tender to supply the Home Affairs ministry with park homes in 2019.

The four companies were paid a total of M26 million by the ministry on 22 March 2019 but the money was allegedly fraudulently transferred into Mr Xie’s accounts by the controversial businessman’s employees.

It is alleged that Mr Xie had access to the four companies’ accounts after he financed their tender bids.

It is alleged that he had funded them on the agreement that he would control 51 percent equity in each of the companies as well as gain access to their bank accounts to protect his investments.

He is said to have fled the country early last year for Australia to avoid possible prosecution for corruption in connection with various tenders he was awarded by previous governments especially the Thabane administration which lasted from June 2017 until 20 May 2020.

He however, denies fleeing and insists he will return to the country someday.

Last Wednesday he gave a telephonic interview to the Lesotho Times, saying he had stopped funding needy local companies on the orders of premier Majoro.

“The prime minister told me to stop financing Basotho companies. He (Majoro) sent me a clear message saying John stop financing these people. As a result, there are no companies that we are currently assisting,” Mr Xie said last week from his base in Australia.

Mr Xie has previously boasted of funding virtually every politician and political parties in the previous governments including former prime ministers Thomas Thabane and Pakalitha Mosisili.

Last week, he however denied funding them in their personal capacities, saying he often did so when they approached him on behalf of underprivileged Basotho.

He said he therefore did not understand why people were unfairly accusing him of funding politicians in exchange for lucrative government tenders.

He said it was only now during this current Majoro-led government that some ministers had badgered him with requests for money for their own personal use.

“Only in this government (are ministers asking for money for themselves).

“Yes, there are ministers in this current government asking me for money and these are huge sums. There is somebody (minister) who came to us but I don’t want to mention names.  He said this government is after me and they want to cancel all my contracts.

“He said I must give him M3 million for him to talk to the prime minister and others (not to cancel the contracts). I sent that message to the prime minister a long time ago and I don’t understand why they (ministers) have not stopped (asking for bribes). I sent two messages, three and six months ago,” Mr Xie said.

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• govt, nurses to meet today in bid to break impasse

Limpho Sello

A CRIPPLING strike by nurses and nursing assistants at Queen Mamohato Memorial Hospital (QMMH) entered its ninth day yesterday.

Newly appointed Health minister Semano Sekatle is now slated to meet the QMMH management and the Lesotho Nurses Association (LNA) today for talks aimed at resolving the nurses’ grievances and ending the strike.

QMMH nurses and nursing assistants went on strike last Monday to press the government to award them salary increments to match their counterparts in other government and private institutions.

The job action followed the health ministry’s failure to address the nurses’ grievances by the 27 January 2021 deadline given by the nurses.

The strike is crippling the already ailing health sector, already struggling to deal with Covid-19 infections which have risen exponentially since the end of the festive season last month.

Lesotho had recorded a cumulative total of 9718 infections and 207 deaths by yesterday.

Apart from the Covid-19 burden, nurses and other health workers are also struggling to deal with other diseases such as AIDS and tuberculosis.

QMMH nurses say they have not been awarded any increments since 2012 when the government and the Christian Health Association of Lesotho (CHAL) increased the salaries of nurses at other institutions.

According to the LNA nurses at QMMH earn about M9000 each per month, way less than the M13 000 earned by their colleagues in CHAL facilities and other government hospitals.

Opened in 2011, QMMH is owned by the government but is run by the Tšepong consortium comprising of five companies, namely Netcare Healthcare Group and Afri’nnai of South Africa, as well as Excel Health, Women Investment and D10 Investments from Lesotho.

Although QMMH operates as a public-private sector partnership (PPP) agreement between the government and the Tšepong consortium, the hospital’s public relations manager, Mothepane Thahane, last week said nursing staff and nursing assistants were left out when the government reviewed the salaries of health workers in 2012.

She said QMMH could only award increments if they first approved by the government which also had to avail the funds since it bankrolled the operations of the hospital.

However, Minister Sekatle is singing a different tune, saying Tšepong had to dig into its coffer to see if it could use some of the funds it had already been advanced by the government to fund the increments.

Mr Sekatle was only moved to the health portfolio from the Public Service ministry last Wednesday by Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro. He could not have asked for a tougher start to his new job.

The previous incumbent, Motlatsi Maqelepo, is now Forestry, Range and Soil Conservation minister. He failed to stop the nurses from striking last week. Mr Sekatle must now negotiate an end to the strike.

Yesterday, he told this publication that a breakthrough had thus far proved elusive despite the parties holding meetings last week and on Sunday.

“We have not agreed on anything and the talks are continuing,” Mr Sekatle said in an interview with this publication yesterday.

“QMMH employs the nurses and it is they, not the government, who pays their salaries. We are talking to both parties (QMMH and the nurses) because our interest as government is that they should resume work and provide services to the public,” Mr Sekatle said, adding he would meet both parties today.

LNA president, Raphael Tlali, yesterday commended Mr Sekatle for the “positive move” to hold talks aimed at addressing the nurses’ grievances.

“He (Sekatle) called us for a meeting and we had long discussions on the salary issue. He also told us that he would meet the QMMH management to get them to review the salaries. This showed us that the new minister is committed to addressing the issue.

“The talks are expected to continue on Thursday (today) and the minister expressed optimism that an agreement will be reached on that day,” Mr Tlali said.

QMMH public relations manager, Mothepane Thahane, also confirmed that they expect to meet Minister Sekatle and LNA representatives today.

Ms Thahane however bemoaned the strike saying it had negatively affected service delivery at the country’s main referral facility.

“The patients are suffering because services have become so slow due to the strike. It is a very bad situation and we are just waiting to see how the talks will unfold and hear what the government has to say,” Ms Thahane said yesterday.

The post Tšepong nurses’ strike continues appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Bereng Mpaki | ‘Marafaele Mohloboli

MINING minister Serialong Qoo has sent condolence messages to families of seven Kao Mine employees who were killed in a bus crash in Butha-Buthe on Monday.

Tragedy struck when the driver of the staff bus with 21 passengers aboard, lost control of the vehicle at the Tlaeeng Pass in Butha-Buthe and it overturned killing the seven on the spot.

The other 14 passengers and the driver sustained serious injuries and were hospitalised, the police said. The driver was however, discharged from Queen ‘Mamohato Memorial Hospital (QMMH) yesterday.

The bus was on its way from the mine to Maseru when the accident happened.

Mr Qoo yesterday sent condolence messages to the bereaved families.

“I take this opportunity to convey my condolences on behalf of the government to the bereaved families, the Kao Mine and the public at large.

“I also wish a speedy recovery to the employees who are currently getting medical attention in hospital. I thank all those who responded to the distress call and lend their hand at the accident scene,” Mr Qoo said.

According to the Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS), indications are that the accident could have been caused by bad weather.

“A bus overturned when its driver lost control while traveling through a bad hailstorm around Tlaeeng Pass,” police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Mpiti Mopeli said.

Snr Supt Mopeli said the police were now investigating the driver for culpable homicide and malicious damage to property.

On Monday the mine said it was working to contact the families of the deceased.

“The company’s emergency procedures were immediately activated (after the accident) and our industrial safety and occupational health personnel went to the scene to carry out rescue work.

“The mine management is working tirelessly to get in touch with their families and loved ones, while continuing to ensure the safety of those that have been affected,” the mine said.

Kao Mine chief executive officer Mohale Ralikariki could not be reached for comment yesterday as his phone rang unanswered.

The owner of the hired staff bus, Peter Molefi said he suspects that the accident was caused by the slippery road surface due to bad weather.

“So far we have lost eight people but there is a possibility of the numbers increasing. From what I have been told, it had lightly snowed and the road was slippery and the driver lost control of the bus until it over turned,” Mr Molefi said.

He said other passengers were still admitted at QMMH.

Located in the Butha-Buthe highlands, Kao Mine is operated by Storm Mountain Diamonds. South African company Namakwa Diamonds owns 75 percent of SMD while the remaining 25 percent is controlled by the government. The mine started operating in 2010.

The post Qoo consoles families of Kao bus accident victims appeared first on Lesotho Times.

‘Marafaele Mohloboli

NEWLY appointed Defence and National Security Minister, Lekhetho Mosito, has accused his colleague Tefo Mapesela of damaging his reputation through “unfounded and baseless allegations”.

Mr Mosito is livid that his reputation has been seriously besmirched in the eyes of His Majesty King Letsie III, army officers and the public through Mr Mapesela’s “unwarranted attacks”. He thus wants a code of ethics put in place to govern the conduct of cabinet ministers to guard against similar “baseless attacks” in future.

Mr Mosito is the main ruling All Basotho Convention (ABC)’s legislator for the Likhetlane constituency. His comments follow last week’s acerbic attacks on him by fellow ABC legislator and Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mapesela.

Mr Mapesela described Mr Mosito as an “unprincipled goat and rebel” who was allegedly loyal to ousted former prime minister and ABC leader, Thomas Thabane.

He questioned why Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro had appointed Mr Mosito when the latter was allegedly a Thabane loyalist.

Mr Mosito was appointed in place of another ABC legislator Prince Maliehe (Teyateyaneng constituency) who was fired in last Wednesday’s cabinet reshuffle by Dr Majoro.

This week Mr Mosito hit back at Mr Mapesela for his utterances saying his “baseless” accusations were likely to undermine his standing in the eyes of the King, soldiers and the public at large.

“For the past few days since the publication of the Right Honourable Prime Minister’s decision to appoint me as Minister of Defence and National Security, my name has been mired in the mud for all the wrong reasons,” Mr Mosito said in a statement this week.

“My name and that of my family have been compromised in the court of public opinion. This regrettable crusade was further compounded by a colleague in the National Assembly, a fellow cabinet member and comrade from the ranks of ABC, Honourable Tefo Mapesela.

“I am being attacked and harassed by my own kith and kin in my own country,” added Mr Mosito.

He said Mr Mapesela’s attacks on him had shown that there was a “dire need” for cabinet ministers, politicians and legislators to be reined in and taught to rise above their differences and avoid making “unfounded allegations” against one another which could damage other people’s lives.

“There is dire need to formulate a code of ethics for members of the cabinet and the reinforcement of collective ministerial responsibility which is often violated by all and sundry (sic) particularly cabinet ministers.

“This unfounded attack on me has clearly lowered the esteem of His Majesty King Letsie III and it is by all means regrettable.

“I am a trained soldier and I know for a fact that the reckless statements made about me attract and perhaps pose a threat to the security of the land in the sense that the army will not have that element of deference to me as the administrative head of defence and national  security,” Mr Mosito said.

He said he had previously served in the army in the 1990s but did not say what rank he held.

He revealed that sometime in 1994, he was accused of stealing firearms from the army but the charges were withdrawn and he was never tried for the alleged crime.

“I was arrested and detained for close to a month. I was released on bail afterwards but my criminal case was never prosecuted and consequently the trial was discontinued,” Mr Mosito said.

Last week he made headlines when Mr Mapesela and other prominent ABC officials including Deputy Water Minister, Lepota Sekola, questioned his appointment on the grounds that he was allegedly a rebel who was loyal to Mr Thabane.

Mr Mapesela led a delegation of ABC members which included Mr Sekola to voice their concerns to Dr Majoro at State House on Friday. Others who were part of the Mapesela delegation are MP Fako Moshoeshoe, ‘Mathato Phafoli (chairperson of the ABC’s parliamentary caucus) and ABC chief whip in parliament, Mankoe Maime.

Mr Mapesela said they were due for another meeting with the premier last Sunday in their bid to convince him to reverse Mr Mosito’s appointment.  Messrs Moshoeshoe and Sekola yesterday confirmed that the meeting took place as planned on Sunday but refused to say what was decided.

The fiery Mr Mapesela alleged that Mr Mosito was a rebel who had shown his loyalty to Mr Thabane by allegedly failing to vote for the constitutional amendment bill to clip  any prime minister’s powers to advise the King to dissolve parliament and call for fresh elections whenever they lost a no confidence vote in parliament.

The bill was passed into law and could have been used to stop Mr Thabane clinging to power had he not agreed to step down in May 2020. This after his own ABC pushed for his resignation and withdrew the party from the then ruling coalition which also included the Basotho National Party (BNP), Reformed Congress of Lesotho (RCL) and the Alliance of Democrats (AD).

“This rebel (Mosito) was not loyal to the party and yet he gets to be picked over men and women who stood by the ABC in support of the 9th Amendment to the Constitution Bill,” Mr Mapesela said last week.

“I won’t support this rubbish (Mosito’s appointment to cabinet), it is unacceptable. I won’t agree to this, never.

“Many MPs are not happy with this decision and it should not be forgotten that he (Mosito) is part of the State House (Thabane) faction. Those close to the PM must tell him to remove this goat of his before it runs our government. (sic)

“They have to start taking me seriously, I am not a clown. When I say something, you have to take it seriously or ignore at your own peril.”

Mr Mapesela and his colleagues were not reachable for comment on their mobile phones this week and it could therefore not be established if at all they had met Dr Majoro on Sunday and how he had responded to their demands to reverse Mr Mosito’s appointment. Dr Majoro’s press attaché, Buta Moseme, did not respond to questions on the issue.

The cabinet reshuffle has divided the ABC’s national executive committee (ABC) with some members like ABC secretary general Lebohang Hlaele and spokesperson Montoeli Masoetsa accusing Dr Majoro of making unilateral decisions without consulting them. Others like deputy leader Professor Nqosa Mahao and Deputy Secretary General Nkaku Kabi are fully in support of Dr Majoro.

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