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SUMMARY OF EVENTS IN LESOTHO Volume 3, Number 1 (First Quarter 1996) |
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Summary of events in Lesotho is a quarterly publication compiled and published by David Ambrose since 1993 at the National University of |
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SUMMARY OF EVENTS IN LESOTHO Volume 6, Number 3 (Third Quarter 1999) |
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Summary of events in Lesotho is a quarterly publication compiled and published by David Ambrose since 1993 at the National University of Lesotho, P. O. Roma 180, Lesotho. |
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International Gold Sales have Devastating Repercussions in Lesotho and South AfricaThe announcement that the International Monetary Fund was to sell off gold to create a fund to pay off Third World debt was not greeted with enthusiasm in southern Africa where the production of gold is a major source of employment and foreign exchange. As far as Lesotho is concerned, the gold mining industry is the largest single employer of Lesotho citizens, who go to South Africa as migrant workers. The IMF announcement was compounded when the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, announced on 7 May that Britain was to sell off over a period 415 tons of gold, more than half of its gold reserves. Switzerland also announced its intention to sell part of its gold reserves. In the case of Britain, it was speculated that the motive of the Chancellor of the Exchequer was to forestall, at least in part, the requirement that Britain would have to transfer a proportion of its gold reserves to the European Central Bank if it joined the euro. Whatever the reason, the sale announcement had the predictable effect of causing gold prices to plummet from already low levels. Gold was trading at $287.95 per ounce the day before the Chancellor’s announcement, but the price for the first 25 tons of gold auctioned early in July was just $261.20. By mid-July, the gold price was just $257.60, a fall of 10.5% since 7 May. The Chancellor had made $234 million for Britain from the sale, but by lowering the gold price had wiped $690 million (£440 million) off the value of Britain’s remaining reserves. Financial analysts in Britain were quick off the mark to criticize the folly of the sale in terms of Britain’s own interests. According to the Weekly Telegraph of 14 July 1999, every man, woman and child in the United Kingdom was now £7 worse off as a result of an utterly predictable fiasco. However, the implications for gold producers in the Third World were far more serious. The gold price was now at its lowest level since 1979, and in South Africa further mine closures seemed inevitable. In early July, East Rand Proprietary Mines (ERPM), one of the oldest gold mines, announced it was closing down with a loss of 5000 jobs. Other mines were expected to follow suit. The crisis in the gold industry led to unprecedented action which united management and the labour force. The Chairman of the Anglo-American Corporation, the largest gold mining group, Bobby Godsell, travelled to London and Washington with President of the National Union of Mineworkers, James Motlatsi (who comes from Mohale’s Hoek, Lesotho). At first it seemed that they had achieved very little. On their return, on Saturday 17 July, mineworkers and management together led a march on the British High Commission and the Swiss Embassy in Pretoria.
Longer term, Godsell and Motlatsi were considerably more effective, because
it seems they triggered off a process by which Central Banks met and planned a
joint strategy. On 26 September, 15 central banks announced they would not sell
any gold for the next five years above sales already scheduled, and the IMF,
under pressure from gold-mining countries and the US Congress, dropped plans to
sell on the open market. The effect on the gold price was significant. Within
three days it had already risen above $300 per ounce and seemed likely to
continue on an upward trend. Migrant workers next in line for retrenchment could
for the moment breathe a sigh of relief. However, there was still little joy for
the large number already retrenched. According to the Lesotho Gold Crisis
Coordinating Task Team, quoted in Public Eye of 24 September 1999, the number of
Basotho employed in South African mines had dropped by more than half in the
space of ten years, from 127000 in 1989 to 62000 in 1999.
New Religious Television Station in Maseru
Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) a new Christian television station began
broadcasting from offices in Maseru on 21 June 1999. Its Managing Director is
Rev. Daniel Maqhama, and it is already on the air 16 hours a day airing
programmes from outside Lesotho until arrangements are complete to receive
materials from local churches. Rev. Maqhama said, however, that he was concerned
that ‘mainline churches’ were not responding to an invitation to use the new
channel. Daniel Maqhama, born in Mokhotlong, is a graduate of Assembly Bible
College. According to Public Eye of 20 August 1999, he ‘met Trinity Christian
Television while pestering [presumably ‘pastoring’ is meant] in Transkei and
talked with those involved about bringing TBN to Lesotho’.
BCP Internal Squabbles result in Expensive Court CaseAt the BCP Party Conference on 24-25 April 1999, the two rival factions of the party had vied for control of the conference venue, Sefika Hall, leading to some violent scuffles. The dispute had subsequently been taken to the High Court. On 6 July, Mr Justice Ramolibeli, after hearing the evidence at length, took four hours to deliver a 65-page judgment. The judge found that the 24 April conference was a continuation of the January conference, that the credentials committee then in operation remained the legal one, and that therefore the 24 April meeting was the legal one and not the rival meeting on the following day. The National Executive Committee elected on that day (and not the rival one elected on the following day) was therefore the legal NEC. Newspapers hailed the judgment as a victory for the ‘six pack’, led by the BCP Deputy Leader, Tšeliso Makhakhe. However, the judgment noted that the leader of the party, Molapo Qhobela, retained his position in the NEC, since his five-year term had not expired, as did G. M. Kolisang (General Secretary) and Mpho Moeketsi (President of the BCP Women’s League). The so called ‘six pack’ (now reduced to five after the death of the veteran politician Rathala Ramolahloane) consists of the Deputy Leader, Tšeliso Makhakhe; the Chairman, Ntsukunyane Mphanya; the Treasurer, Sekoala Toloane; Jack Mopeli; and Thulo Mahlakeng.
Following
the
court
case,
the
weekly
BCP
newspaper,
Makatolle,
which
was
controlled
by
the
Qhobela
group,
failed
to
appear,
no
doubt
in
case
it
was
seen
to
be
in
contempt
of
court.
It
had
been
revived
on
5
May,
but
ceased
publication
on
9
July
after
ten
1999
issues.
However,
its
editor,
Afrika
Molungoa,
is
also
editor
of
the
independent
weekly
newspaper,
Mohahlaula,
and
this
did
continue
to
appear
and
to
include
news
about
the
Qhobela
grouping
within
the
BCP.
Membership Changes in Interim Political Authority; Arson Attack on Home of New MemberDespite its short intended life and limited membership, the Interim Political Authority (IPA) seemed fated to suffer more changes to its membership than an elected Parliament. The two BNP members had already been replaced by their party in April, and in June, according to Legal Notice 55 of 1999 (10 June 1999), Ms Rethabile Sakoane of the Sefate Democratic Union had been replaced by Mr Lebona Ntšasa. At the same time, another small party, the Christian Democratic Party, replaced its members Phai Fothoane and Mrs ’Malekunutu Sekonyela with Thuso Litsooane and Ntja Thoola. As a result of the court ruling on the Basutoland Congress Party which recognised one of the two rival National Executive Committees, by Legal Notice 74 (8 July 1999) Lebenya Chakela replaced Dr Khauhelo Deborah Raditapole. On 12 July, Chakela’s house at Maputsoe was damaged in what seemed to be a deliberate arson attack.
The removal of Dr Raditapole from the IPA resulted in the need for the body
to appoint a new joint Chairman. The IPA elected Bereng Sekhonyana of the BNP
(who had joined the IPA in April) to the position. However Dr Raditapole
challenged her removal from the IPA, and won the case in the High Court on 16
August 1999, following which she was reinstated.
Minister of Finance Resigns after Road AccidentThe Minister of Finance, Dr Victor Leketekete Ketso, aged 45, was involved in a car accident on Kingsway, Maseru, near the Lesotho Bank Tower, at 3 a.m. on Sunday 4 July. The most detailed account of what happened appeared somewhat later in the newspaper Leselinyana la Lesotho of 12 August 1999, embroidered with some journalistic hyperbole. At the time of the accident, Ketso was driving a Lesotho Government Toyota Land Cruiser, registration X 7783. He collided with an Audi Camry, driven by Letuka Moketa of Lesotho Flour Mills, as a result of which a passenger in the second car, Itumeleng Ramatheko, aged 43, a well-known member of the Maseru Vocal Waves Choir, died instantly. A woman passenger in the government vehicle, Lieketseng Rataemane, of Maliele, sustained cuts and was treated at Maseru Private Hospital. According to the Leselinyana account, at the time of the accident, ‘Ketso’s car was being driven up Kingsway in the direction of the traffic circle like a Mosotho woman zigzagging into a flock of chickens to catch the one she had selected for slaughter’ (e tsamaea joaloka mosali oa Mosotho a thiba bo-’malitšibana ha e tla hlaba hlohlolingoane). Ketso was taken to Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, where he was uttering ‘crude insults’ (mahlapha a tala a metoa) saying to the police that they were ‘devils’ (lisatane) unable to do their work. ‘The insults were so intense that even the policemen’s parents could tell something was happening by the pots which were falling off their shelves.’ (Batsoali ba mapolesa, ba ne ba bone ka lijana ho heleha mehaoloaneng.) ‘It is understood that this former lecturer in economics at Roma had a skinful (a bo khile ka likhopo) and was holding a beer can.’ ... ‘It is understood that Trooper Mohale could not use a breathalyser to measure Ketso for alcohol in his bloodstream’ (a sa ka a nyantša Ketso tami, ea ho lekanya makhampompo a neng a le maling) [it is doubtful in any case whether the police are equipped with breathalysers]. But, the Leselinyana account continued, using a simpler test, ‘he was unable to maintain his balance when asked to stand on one leg’.
Ketso resigned from his ministerial position on 21 July, although his future
as the MP for Maseru West was still uncertain. He appeared before the Maseru
magistrate on 29 July and was charged with culpable homicide in connection with
the accident. The case was adjourned until 2 September.
Allegations of Brutal Training for Counter Crime Unit DeniedAllegations appeared in Moafrika newspaper of 9 July that training methods at the Counter Crime Unit at Khabo military base in Leribe District had turned the camp into a Lesotho ‘Vlakplaas’, no better than a Nazi concentration camp. The story appeared after a delegation of three persons from seven northern constituencies had released a letter about their findings to the Interim Political Assembly and the South African High Commission. It contained allegations that amongst training exercises was the carrying of a heavy electric pylon, and stripping naked to cross a river, during which a soldier had been killed.
The Lesotho Defence Force replied by calling a press conference on 9 July to
deny the allegations, and it was stated that the training methods were no
different from those used in the past. It appears that the Counter Crime Unit,
which had not received any significant publicity in the past, is a new police
initiative. The police members for the unit are trained at Khabo base under
joint military and police supervision in which there is also Botswana Defence
Force participation.
Theft at Police Station
The high crime rate in Lesotho was underlined by the fact that even police
themselves were not immune from robbery. According to Leseli ka Sepolesa of 8
July 1999, thieves had broken into the office of the CID in Hlotse on 13 June
and stolen three large firearms (? rifles, lithunya tse kholo in Sesotho), 60
bullets, a generator, video machines, a hi-fi set, and a satellite receiver.
Some of these items were exhibits in a court case which was pending. Two
residents of the adjoining Mankoaneng area of Hlotse were later arrested on
suspicion of having carried out the robbery.
Opening of New Post Office at Motimposo
For a number of years, there have been complaints that the suburbs of Maseru
are poorly served with postal services and this continues to be a largely valid
criticism. However on 10 July 1999, the new Motimposo Post Office was officially
opened, serving a large built-up area north-east of central Maseru. It is not
the first time that Motimposo has had a postal service. A postal agency had been
opened there on 22 February 1965, but closed down approximately three years
later.
SAA City Centre Takes over Maseru Travel AgencyThe former International Freight and Travel Service (IFTS) which later became American Express has for a number of years been located on Kingsway adjoining the Maseru Book Centre. In September 1998, four Basotho women employees took over the agency and formed Intercontinental Travel. On 14 July, in a further development, the agency was relaunched as South African Airways City Center (SAACC) Maseru Travel. SAACC Maseru Travel, managed by a veteran of the travel business, Mampe Khaebana, is a joint venture between SAACC, SA Air Link and Intercontinental Travel, and is now the only International Air Travel Association (IATA) approved travel agency in Lesotho. SA Air Link is a subsidiary of South African Airways, and since earlier in the year when Air Lesotho closed down, is the only company providing air services between Maseru and Johannesburg.
The privatised Air Lesotho, according to some sources, attributed its
unprofitability and consequent collapse to the Lesotho Government’s decision to
open the route between Maseru and Johannesburg to SA Air Link, which halved the
number of passengers using its own flights. Although the collapse of Air Lesotho
did not seriously inconvenience passengers on flights to Johannesburg, because
they could use SA Air Link, it was disastrous for those who used domestic
services. These disappeared overnight, leaving expensive air charters as the
only method of reaching some remote parts of Lesotho by air.
Central Maseru Relief Road to be ConstructedA road which had been part of the plans for Maseru for more than 20 years is at last going to be constructed, and it was announced on 18 July that the M53 million contract had been signed with the construction company. The Central Maseru Relief Road, will leave the Main South Road near to the University’s Institute of Extra-Mural Studies (taking some of its ground in the process) and skirt the hillside behind the National Convention Centre (completed but still not in use, and with much of its equipment already stolen). It will then pass between residential houses and the steep hillside; and also behind St James’ High School and Primary School. The route at the foot of the hill then passes Ministry of Agriculture warehouses and a number of former shopping centres destroyed in the September 1998 riots. It then pass goes between the former High Court and Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, continuing behind the Moshoeshoe I statue and under Pioneer Road near the OK Bazaars car park. There will be slip roads at this two-level intersection. The new road will finally come out on Kingsway behind the Basotho Shield and across the Maseru Club playing field. The original alignment of the road had been from the main traffic circle by the Catholic Cathedral, and it is not yet clear what access to the roundabout will be provided at that point, particularly since a new AME church has been built on the old relief road alignment. Extensions at the back of Queen Elizabeth II Hospital have also intruded into the original planned alignment, and it is not clear how this problem has been solved in the new road design, although the wing of the High Court, gutted by fire in the September 1998 riots, will allow some flexibility if it is demolished.
The new road will have two lanes in each direction and also have pedestrian
sidewalks. When the new road is complete it is proposed that much of Kingsway
will become a pedestrian mall.
JPTC Becomes LHWC
The Joint Project Technical Commission (JPTC) was set up in 1986 as the joint
Lesotho-South African body overseeing the Lesotho Highlands Water Project. In a
Public Notice released early in July, the JPTC announced that it was now renamed
as the Lesotho Highlands Water Commission. The name change was part of measures
provided for by Protocol 6 to the Treaty on the Lesotho Highlands Water Project,
and this protocol had been entered into on 4 June 1999 by the the governments of
Lesotho and the Republic of South Africa. The protocol provides for
supplementary arrangements regarding the system of governance for the Lesotho
Highlands Water Project.
Lesotho Bank Employees Given NoticeThe transfer of the management of Lesotho Bank to Standard Bank resulted in the 679 Lesotho Bank employees being given notice that their services with the bank would end on 31 July 1999. Those who were not employed by the new bank (approximately half of the total) would be given a moputso oa tsela-tšoeu or severance bonus. According to the new manager, Michael Wooller, the new bank under Standard Bank management, would be called Lesotho Bank 1999 Limited. The name of the original Lesotho Bank, which was founded in 1971, would thus be preserved. Full details of the approved privatisation scheme for Lesotho Bank had appeared in the Lesotho Government Gazette as Legal Notice no. 61 of 1999 dated 17 June 1999. Under ‘Company Profile’ this stated that ‘The total liabilities of the Bank are far in excess of its assets which are mainly comprised of non-performing loans and advances. The capital position of the Bank is negative owing to sustained large losses incurred over the years’. The approved scheme was a sale of a majority stake to Standard Bank (Pty) Ltd by ‘private placement’. The strategy envisaged the issue of Government bonds and infusion of cash by Government to meet the net assets shortfall of the bank. Although the Legal Notice proposed the date of divestiture as 1 July 1999, it was later announced that this had been postponed for a month.
Customers of the privatised Lesotho Bank did not notice any immediate
improvement in the service, nor any reduction in the length of the queues where
they could wait for three hours at busy times. There were in fact many
complaints about new obstacles to smooth banking. One of these was the Automatic
Teller Machines. All cards immediately became inoperational without prior notice
on one Monday morning, apparently as a security measure to prevent former bank
staff using their knowledge to obtain money fraudulently. Getting cards
revalidated involved joining a long queue where photocopies of passports and the
passports themselves had to be submitted before the cards could be revalidated.
Even with the revalidated ATM cards, customers of the bank were lucky to get
service. The Roma ATM was out of service for weeks at a time, and when it woke
up, the slips were totally illegible, the printer on the machine having long
been without ink. The Foreign Exchange process was also less convenient for
customers, because all foreign cheques paid in were placed in ‘suspense’
accounts automatically, irrespective of the creditworthiness of the writer of
the cheque. This even applied to US Treasury cheques, which were hardly likely
to bounce. Lesotho Bank had previously credited such cheques from reliable
institutions direct to accounts without resorting to the time-consuming process
of creating a separate suspense account for each foreign cheque. Banking
elsewhere in Maseru was hardly better. Fears about the demise of Lesotho Bank
had resulted in many customers transferring to Nedbank or to the main branch of
Standard Bank, but with extra customers these banks had also developed long and
time-consuming queues for service.
Privatisation of other State AssetsApart from Lesotho Bank, privatisation was proceeding in relation to other state assets (which might be more accurately described as state liabilities). According to the approved privatisations scheme, the Plant and Vehicle Pool Service of Government was to be taken over on 15 July 1999 by Imperial Plant Services with an 80% shareholding. Not all privatisation schemes work out in accordance with approved plans. Loti Brick, in which Lesotho Bank has a 22% share, had been the subject of a signed agreement between the Lesotho Government and Weenen Investments (Pty) Ltd on 22 January 1999. Weenen Investments was appointed for a period of 2½ years to manage Loti Brick with an option to purchase a portion of the equity. However, shortly thereafter Weenen Investments went into liquidation in South Africa and the management contract had to be terminated. Loti Brick was now the subject of a new privatisation scheme for which bids were being asked for by the 30 July 1999.
Not yet successfully privatised is Basotho Fruit and Vegetable Canners which
has run with massive losses for the past five years. Lesotho is believed to be
producing only 10% of the 900 tons asparagus canning capacity of the plant and
the firm managing the operation has been bringing in asparagus from South Africa
to make more economical use of the plant. Also still waiting for privatisation
is the Maluti Abattoir, which suffered damage during the September 1998 riots.
Lesotho Oil and Cake Mills was apparently not even a candidate for privatisation
and has closed down after severe losses.
Date of Royal Wedding FixedIt was announced in mid-July that the date of the wedding between His Majesty King Letsie III and Miss Karabo Motšoeneng would be in February 2000. Celebrations would extend over three days, beginning with the wedding ceremony in Maseru on 18 February and continuing in the bride’s home, Hlotse, the following day, and in the bridegroom’s home, Matsieng on 20 February.
As reported in Setsomi of 3 August 1999, it had been said in recent years of
a young woman who wore a provocative dress that o tena Letsie la Boraro, she is
wearing a ‘Letsie the Third’, it being thought that the King might thereby have
his head turned. As the newspaper commented, it was now time for such
irreverences to come to an end.
State of the Environment Report ReleasedA substantial book, State of the environment in Lesotho 1997, was released following a launching party hosted by the National Environment Secretariat on 22 July 1999. As its title suggests, two years have been spent preparing the manuscript for publication. It is the work of 16 different authors, the majority of them local citizens, and is edited by Qalabane Chakela of the National University of Lesotho. The publisher is the National Environment Secretariat which is a component of the Ministry of Environment, Gender and Youth Affairs.
The book ranges over environmental issues, and contains considerable
commentary and criticism of the failure of government policies to protect the
cultural heritage and the natural environment, as well as to prevent pollution,
soil erosion and loss of biodiversity. It contains a great deal of useful and
mainly accurate information, but has no index.
Government Reshuffle Following Ketso’s ResignationFollowing the resignation of the Minister of Finance on 21 July, a Cabinet reshuffle was announced. The Deputy Prime Minister, Kelebone Maope, a lawyer by profession, was appointed as the new Minister of Finance. His previous position as Minister of Agriculture was taken over by Vova Bulane, the former Minister of Health. The Health portfolio was taken over by Tefo Mabote, who had also been Minister of Health in the previous government. The post of Minister of Environment, Gender & Youth Affairs, which had been occupied by the late ’Mamoshebi Kabi, was given to ’Mathabiso Lepono, thereby ensuring that there would again be a woman member of the cabinet. Others affected by the reshuffle were Shakhane Mokhehle, the Minister of Works, who was moved to become Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs; and Mofelehetsi Moerane, formerly Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, who replaced Shakhane Mokhehle as Minister of Works. The former Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Sephiri Motanyane, was moved to replace Mofelehetsi Moerane as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office. The complete list of ministerial portfolios with effect from 22 July 1999 was listed in Legal Notice no. 79 of 1999 as follows: Prime Minister, Minister of Defence & Minister of the Public Service Pakalitha Mosisili Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance & Minister of Development Planning Kelebone Maope Minister of Local Government & Minister of Home Affairs Mopshatla Mabitle Minister of Foreign Affairs Motsoahae Thomas Thabane Minister of Natural Resources (Water, Lesotho Highlands Water Project, Energy, Mining and Technology) Monyane Moleleki Minister to the Prime Minister Sephiri Enoch Motanyane Minister of Education Archibald Lesao Lehohla Minister of Communications (Information, Broadcasting, Posts & Telecommunications) ’Nyane Mphafi Minister of Employment & Labour Notši Molopo Minister of Agriculture, Cooperatives & Land Reclamation Vova Bulane Minister of Tourism, Sports & Culture Hlalele Motaung Minister of Public Works & Transport Mofelehetsi Salomome Moerane Minister of Justice, Human Rights & Rehabilitation & Minister of Law & Constitutional Affairs Shakhane Robong Mokhehle Minister of Health & Social Welfare Tefo Mabote Minister of Environment, Gender & Youth Affairs ’Mathabiso Lepono New Head of Security Service
It was announced in July that Colonel Boomo Letsapo had been confirmed as the
new Director General of the Lesotho Intelligence Service (formerly the National
Security Service). This followed the dismissal of Colonel Ramaluti Fobo, who had
refused to discharge 350 of his staff who were alleged to have supported the
opposition demonstrations at ‘Freedom Square’ in August and September 1998. The
dismissal of the staff was believed by many to have been in accordance with an
International Monetary Fund requirement that there should be major staff cuts in
the public service, and the allegations of political involvement had been a
convenient excuse.
Former LHDA Chief Executive on Massive Fraud ChargeThe former Chief Executive of the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority, Masupha Sole, was charged in the Maseru Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday 28 July with receiving bribes totalling in excess of M12 million from companies which received Lesotho Highlands Water Project contracts. 51-year old Sole, was released on M200000 bail and was required to surrender his passport. The case was postponed to 31 August 1999. The charge sheet included charges of fraud relating to travel expenses and receiving bribes from the following companies: Impregilo, US$250000; Highlands Water Venture (a consortium consisting of Hochtief, Conco and Group Five), US$733404; Spie Batignolles, FF738630; Sogreah, FF84000; LHPC Chantiers, FF392967; ED Züblin, DM819862; Lesotho Highland Project Consultants DM105639; Diwi Consulting, DM4500; ABB, FF250000; Lahmeyer Consulting Engineers, DM16000; Acres International, C$279539; and Dumez International, FF509905.62. When totalled the amounts come to over M12 million. There is a further charge of perjury in that Sole on oath had deposed and sworn during a previous court case that he had no bank accounts in South Africa and overseas, when in fact he had accounts with Standard Bank of South Africa in Ladybrand and Bloemfontein, and bank accounts in Switzerland with Union Bancair Privé in Geneva; the Banque Multi Commerciale in Geneva; and the Union Bank of Switzerland in Zürich.
The investigation leading to the charges is said to have taken two years to
complete and involved assistance by French and Swiss authorities to the Lesotho
and South African governments. Sole had been suspended from his job as Chief
Executive in December 1994, when the Joint Project Technical Commission had
ordered a management audit. He was dismissed in October 1995.
Death of MP for Kolo
The Member of Parliament for Kolo, Mokete Dixon Khalema, died on Friday 30th
July 1999 at the age of 72 after a short illness. He was buried at Kolo Ha
Nkhabu on 21 August 1999.
Project on Conserving Mountain Biodiversity in Southern Lesotho CommencesA locally published United Nations magazine, UN in Lesotho, in its July 1999 issue provided details of a large new project, Conserving Mountain Biodiversity in Southern Lesotho. The project will concentrate on the Mohale’s Hoek, Quthing and Qacha’s Nek Districts of Lesotho. The United Nations component of this project amounts to US$2.4 million contributed by the Global Environmentat Facility (GEF), a funding agency composed of the World Bank and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and is the largest in the portfolio of projects under UNDP’s Country Cooperation Framework for the period 1997-2001. The total project cost is budgeted at US$12.39 million including direct and in-kind inputs from other donors and government. Aims of the project are to create a network of small protected sites covering Lesotho’s biodiversity and to incorporate biodiversity values into rangeland management systems through a system of incentives and regulatory frameworks. In parallel with the project a Biodiversity Unit will be established within the National Environment Secretariat (NES).
The project, with an office in Moyeni, was expected to become fully
operational shortly. NES (the major component in the Lesotho Government’s new
Ministry of the Environment, Gender, and Youth Affairs (MEGYA)) will oversee and
coordinate the project on behalf of the government. Implementation will include
subcontracting specific tasks to technical departments of government, the
National University of Lesotho, and also to a local Non-Governmental
Organization, the Quthing Wildlife Society.
Death of Chieftainess ’Maqajela LebonaThe death was announced in August of Chieftainess ’Maqajela Lebona, Chief of Thaba-Tšoeu in Mohale’s Hoek District. As one of two ‘Independent Chiefs’ she had some of the rights of Principal Chiefs, but did not qualify as a Senator ex officio. She had nevertheless been made a nominated member of the Senate. She died aged 49 at Matsieng at the home of the Queen Mother and was buried at Thaba-Tšoeu on 28 August 1999.
Chieftainess ’Maqajela was the second child of the Principal Chief of
Quthing, Tšepo Qefate Nkuebe, and was sister to the present Quthing Ward Chief,
Chief Hlabathe Nkuebe. She succeeded to the Thaba-Tšoeu chieftainship on the
death of her husband, and leaves three sons and a daughter.
Setlamo and Khokanyan’a Phiri Democratic Alliances FormedThe main opposition parties held a joint political rally on Sunday 8 August 1999 at which they pledged themselves to work together ‘on serious issues pertaining to Lesotho and her people’. The meeting formalised the creation of a Setlamo Democratic Alliance led by BNP, BCP and MFP, and including as other members the United Democratic Party (UDP), Lesotho Labour Party (LLP) and Lesotho Education Party (LEP). Setlamo (which means ‘a bond’) has a rival association of five other political parties known as Khokanyan’a Phiri Democratic Alliance (from an idiom meaning ‘people with a common purpose’), which consists of the Popular Front for Democracy (PFD), National Progressive Party (NPP), Kopanang Basotho Party (KBP), National Independence Party (NIP), and the Christian Democratic Party (CDP). The two alliances include all except one of the parties which together with the ruling LCD make up the membership of the Interim Political Assembly. The party which stands aloof from the opposition alliances is the Sefate Democratic Union (SDU) led by Bofihla Nkuebe.
In terms of policies, an article in The Mirror of 2 July 1999 had suggested
that while Setlamo might opt for a pure proportional representation system,
Khokanyan’a Phiri did not favour complete abandonment of a constituency system.
New Catholic Radio Station
A new radio station, Catholic FM, broadcasting on 103.3 MHz, went onto the
air on 10 August. Station Coordinator is Frank Nkhabu. Catholic FM is the fourth
new licensed independent radio station since private stations were allowed to
operate late in 1998. It was announced in the Catholic newspaper, Moeletsi oa
Basotho of 26 September that the official opening of the new station would be
celebrated by a celebration of mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Victory in
Maseru on 9 October 1999. The station’s studios are situated in the Catholic
Community Centre Maseru, adjoining the Cathedral.
Central Bank Annual Report for 1998 PublishedThe Central Bank of Lesotho annual report for 1998 was published in August 1999. S. M. Swaray had taken over from A. M. Maruping as Governor of the Bank with effect from 9 September 1998.
The Report provides a gloomy picture of the setbacks to the economy as a
result of the civil unrest in September 1998, which occurred in the same year
that there was tapering off of construction activities in Phase 1A of the
Lesotho Highlands Water Project. The rioting and looting in September resulted
in the loss of approximately M200 million worth of property and 600 jobs. Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) fell by 8.6% in 1998 compared with a 3.5% increase in
1997, and Gross National Product (GNP) fell by about 9.4% in 1998 compared with
a rise of 0.8% the previous year. It was the first time that both GDP and GNP
had fallen in the same year since 1983. Exacerbating this grim situation was an
estimated 21.2% drop in mine migrant labour employment, a much greater decrease
than the 4.6% decrease of the previous year. The one bright spot was the
inflation rate which was 7.8% in 1998 compared with 8.5% in 1997 and 9.1% in
1996.
Appropriate Technology Section Visits BethelSouthern Star of 3 September 1999 contained a report of a visit on 13 August 1999 by the Appropriate Technology Section of the Ministry of Home Affairs and Local Government to the Bethel Business and Community Development Centre (BBCDC). Those who undertook the journey to Bethel Ha Qiqita went by road to Mount Moorosi and then by ferry across the Senqu. The report speaks with enthusiasm about the use of solar energy at Bethel to power computers, a satellite telephone, water heating and a cold room. BBCDC offers a two-year course and issues its own certificates. It is not registered with the Ministry of Education. Its course includes solar technology, carpentry, woodwork, building construction, metalwork, domestic science, animal husbandry and organisational training. All structures on the site including boys’ hostels, girls’ hostels, staff houses, guest house, cold room etc were constructed by the students.
BBCDC owes its origins to a Canadian, Ivan Yaholnitsky, who originally came
to Bethel ten years earlier as a high school teacher. His enthusiasm for
creating an educational institution more relevant to the needs of community
development has resulted in the Bethel Centre.
Death of Speaker of National AssemblyJohn Teboho Kolane, Speaker of the National Assembly, died in his sleep on Saturday 14 August 1999, in Accra, Ghana, where he had gone for a meeting of the Speakers of Commonwealth Parliaments. He was 73 years of age, and the longest serving parliamentary speaker in Africa. J. T. Kolane, known to his friends as ‘Joki’, was born on 22 February 1926 in the Old Police Lines in Maseru. He began his schooling at Loretto Primary School in Maseru in 1934, and continued his education at Catholic schools in South Africa: St Francis School, Aliwal North; Maria Zell Secondary School, East Griqualand; and St Francis High School, Mariannhill, Natal. He returned to Lesotho and in 1948 was the first Mosotho to graduate from Pius XII College, where he majored in English and Political Philosophy, was active in football and tennis, and was remembered as a trumpet player in the dance band, ‘Varsity Downbeats’. For a short time after graduating, he was employed as a lecturer at the same college, but by 1950 had joined the civil service, in which he served in various capacities, first as an interpreter and later as public prosecutor. Clerk to the National Assembly at the time of Independence, he replaced Walter Stanford as Speaker when the Interim National Assembly was convened in April 1973. Following the military coup of 1986, when there was no Parliament, he was made High Commissioner in London from 1986 to 1989. From 1990 to 1992, he was Speaker of the National Constituent Assembly and finally of the democratically elected National Assembly of 1993. The National University of Lesotho awarded him the degree of Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) in 1985.
Radio Lesotho observed two days of mourning on 26-27 August by playing solemn
music instead of its normal programmes. The funeral of the Speaker was held on
Friday 27 August 1999 in the grounds of Machabeng College, after which he was
buried in the cemetery at Maseru West. A delegation of Members of Parliament
from Ghana attended the funeral. The Speaker is survived by his wife, five
children and eight grandchildren.
Students Demonstrate Against National Manpower Development Secretariat
Several days of lectures were missed early in the new academic year when
Basotho students enrolled at the National University of Lesotho found that their
loan bursary funds were not available. When they were still not available two
weeks into the term, students mounted a demonstration in Maseru, walking with
placards from the University’s Institute of Extra-Mural Studies to the offices
of the National Manpower Development Secretariat. In fact it was several days
into the following week before the cheques were received by the students, and
many were still without money even days after that, because of inefficiencies
resulting from the take-over of Lesotho Bank by Standard Bank. The normal
bursary pays M600 per month to students.
Senior Policeman Shot Dead at Prime Minister’s PitsoAt the Prime Minister’s pitso at Butha-Buthe on Friday 20 August 1999, Lieutenant-Colonel Molefi Kholokholo, who was regional head of the Northern Districts, was shot dead while the Prime Minister was addressing the rally. Immediately after the shooting, a former policeman, Marabe Marabe was arrested. According to Mopheme of 24 August 1999, the man arrested boasted to onlookers that he had just done a good job. It is said that he had been on a disciplinary charge of defacing a portrait of the Commissioner of Police, had been discharged from the police force, had appealed against his dismissal, and had that same morning heard that his appeal had failed. After the incident, the pitso continued and the Prime Minister completed his speech.
Lieutenant-Colonel Kholokholo was buried on the 4 September at Ha Kholokholo,
Quthing District at a service attended by Prime Minister Mosisili and his wife.
Maseru Town Clerk Resigns after Accusations that he Forged CertificatesAccording to a report in The Mirror of 27 August 1999, George Matobole, who had been Town Clerk of Maseru for less than a month, resigned on 20 August. Matobole had apparently been personally appointed by the Minister of Home Affairs and Local Government, Mopshatla Mabitle, in conjunction with the Mayor, Mohau Kobile, an appointment which was irregular because the post had not been advertised as procedures required. After a series of stormy clashes deriving from his management style, Maseru City Council employees demanded that Matobole produce evidence that he had the qualifications he claimed to have, and this demand was backed by the Acting Principal Secretary in the same Ministry, Motlamukele Matete. Matete gave Matobole 14 days to produce evidence of his qualifications, but before the time was up he resigned.
The Mirror reported that they had information that Matobole had left both
BEDCO and the Qwaqwa Development Corporation in similar circumstances, and
stated that it also had a copy of a forged degree certificate which he purported
had been issued to him by the National University of Lesotho.
Death of Desmond Taylor OBEThe death occurred on 24 August in Petersfield, England, of Desmond Taylor, a former member of the colonial administration, whose close association with Lesotho continued until his death at the age of 80. Desmond Taylor served in a number of capacities. In the early 1950s, he was the officer in charge of Pilot Project in Berea District, the first integrated rural development project in Lesotho. In 1956, he was the Census Officer, and he was also District Commissioner in several districts. After Independence he served for a while with the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Rome, Italy, and in Lesotho headed the Food for Work Project which was engaged in building many rural roads and tracks. Later he was employed by the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority as a consultant on compensation for villagers affected by the project. In his earlier days a keen cricketer, and always a keen fisherman, Desmond had families in both England and Lesotho, and spent part of most years in each country. He leaves a wife, Jean, in England, and three sons, one in each of England, South Africa and Lesotho.
His cremation service was held in England on Friday 27 August, and a memorial
service was arranged by his Lesotho family at St John’s Church, Maseru, at
exactly the same time. His ashes were later scattered at Oxbow, Lesotho, a place
where he often went trout fishing.
Court Martial of Lesotho Defence Force Soldiers ContinuesThe Court Martial before which 41 soldiers were appearing accused of mutiny was still continuing nine months after it commenced in December 1998. In August, it was interrupted by disputes about the rates of pay for the defence counsel. According to Mopheme of 24 August 1999, the Senior Prosecution counsel, Hendrik Viljoen, was being paid M8000 per day for his appearances, while his assistant, Dennis Molyneaux, was receiving M6000 per day. The Judge Advocate, Brendan Cullinan, was receiving M10000 per day. By comparison, the defence counsel were only being paid M350 per day each, an amount which had been already increased from the standard M190 per day for High Court appearances. The case continued after back pay owed to defence counsel was paid out, but like the parallel treason trial of the policemen seemed likely to continue for a long time further.
On 9 September, it was found by the Court Martial that three of the soldiers
who had pleaded not guilty had no case to answer. They were released, but the
remaining 38 soldiers continued to be held in the Maximum Security Prison
pending the outcome of the Court Martial.
Soldiers Charged with Burning HousesMeanwhile a series of trials were commencing of persons, most of them soldiers, who were alleged to have burned down houses during the September 1998 riots. 9 persons were accused of burning down the house of the Prime Minister, Pakalitha Mosisili at Thoteng Ha Sekautu, Roma; and 6 of the same persons were accused of having burnt down the nearby house and property of the then Minister of Finance, Leketekete Ketso. 11 other persons were accused of burning the houses of four military officers in Maseru; and 4 others were accused of having burnt down the house of Chieftainess ’Manapo Majara at Sekamaneng on the northeastern outskirts of Maseru. One of those accused of having been involved in the burning of the houses of the military officers, Raphoka Seleke, was further charged with burning down the house of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Motsoahae Tom Thabane; and also of attempting to kill the then Minister of Agriculture, Kelebone Maope, and of burning two cars in the Minister’s garage.
According to Mololi of 1 September 1999, as the accused appeared in court,
songs were heard coming from the youth of the opposition Setlamo (BCP, BNP &
MFP) alliance.
Death of Former Principal Chief of Ramabanta
The death was announced late in August of Mathealira Solomon Api, who had
formerly been Principal Chief of Ramabanta. He was buried on 4 September 1999 at
Ha Ramabanta at a funeral attended by the King and the Minister for Home
Affairs, Mopshatla Mabitle. The funeral service was held in the Fatima Mission
Catholic Church at Ramabanta. However, the local Catholic priest refused to
officiate saying that he would not bury a person who had never been to Church. A
Rev. ’Malehi of the African Methodist Episcopal Church stepped in and conducted
a full service in the Church. Meanwhile others were despatched to Roma to find a
Catholic priest who was willing to conduct the service. When a Catholic priest
finally arrived, he began a new church service right at the beginning.
St Augustine’s Seminary Celebrates its 75th AnniversaryOn 27 August 1999, St Augustine’s Seminary at Roma celebrated its 75th anniversary. At an occasion attended by three Archbishops and by other bishops and clergy, it was recalled that since its foundation in 1924 to serve southern Africa as a whole, the seminary had produced some 297 priests, of whom some 14 had become bishops in various southern African countries. Amongst those who attended the occasion were Queen ’Mamohato and the future Queen, Karabo Motšoeneng, who is a third year biology and chemistry student at the nearby National University of Lesotho.
St Augustine’s is one of two institutions in Roma which train priests. The
adjoining Oblate Scholasticate, founded later, produces ‘religious’ priests,
members of the religious order of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the order from
which more than 90% of Lesotho’s catholic priests are drawn.
Maluti Mountain Brewery Hit by Economic DownturnThe public relations officer of the Maluti Mountain Brewery, Mpho Setlalekhosi, was interviewed by Public Eye of 27 August 1999 after the Managing Director of the company had announced that the economic climate had forced a downsizing of activities. Setlalekhosi said that business had taken a downturn as a result of the political instability of August and September 1998, when ‘most of the shops, especially bottle stores and restaurants which are customers of the brewery company, were looted or burnt down to ashes’. She also said that smuggling of beer from South Africa, where the tax on it is 14%, compared to Lesotho’s 20%, was also having an impact. Details of a retrenchment plan were still under consideration.
Maluti Mountain Brewery is one of Lesotho’s biggest employers, and has a
staff of 500 at the main brewery plant in Maseru, and other staff at depots in
Butha-Buthe, Mafeteng and Mohale’s Hoek.
BCP Internal Squabbles Lead to Violence and Injuries
The continuing friction between the two factions of the Basutoland Congress
Party led to an outbreak of fighting on Sunday 29 August. The Youth League of
the ‘Six-Pack’ faction had announced that it was going to take over the BCP
headquarters building near the Cathedral Circle on the Sunday morning. The
leader of the party, Molapo Qhobela, had alerted the police to the possibility
of violence, but police had not yet arrived when the Youth League, led by
Lebohang Hlaele, attacked the building with sticks and pangas. Those inside were
prepared for the attack, and Hlaele was seriously injured and taken to hospital.
‘Saenang’ Pakela on the same side was also injured, while on the Qhobela side,
Rantšo Mantsi, former MP for Thaba-Phechela, was also injured, and a car
belonging to Lehlohonolo Khoboko was badly damaged. The fighting was stopped by
the arrival of the police.
Newspapers Report on Anniversary of the Riots of 1998The approaching anniversary of the riots which devastated Lesotho’s towns resulted in South African newspaper coverage. The Star of 30 August 1999 sent a reporter, Tefo Mothibeli, to Maseru and he quoted an assessment by the Lesotho Chamber of Commerce & Industry together with the Association of Lesotho Employers which found that in the riots M97 million damage was done to premises while loss of stock through fire and looting amounted to M164 million. 1500 persons had lost their jobs. Mothibeli interviewed Thabo Motlatsi, a former worker in a Maseru clothing shop, who had been formerly earning M1500 per month. The loss of his job had resulted in extreme hardship for his family, and even his sister had been unable to complete her Form 5 education. Motlatsi understandably expressed an extreme hatred for the politics which had led to his miserable situation.
Equally bitter was Joe Tšepo Ntabe, the owner of the former Husted’s
Chemists, the oldest pharmacy in Maseru, which had been totally destroyed in the
riots. Its former site had now been bulldozed flat. Ntabe had employed 19 people
before the riots broke out, and he suffered around M1 million in losses. His
insurance refused to pay out for damages from political violence. Ntabe
considered he had been pushed 30 years backwards by the riots, and had had to
sell almost everything he owned to reopen in a small way at another location. He
can now afford to employ only 8 of his original 19 staff.
AIDS Cuts a Tragic Swathe through the Life of the NationThe countries of southern Africa have become common victims of the AIDS pandemic, suffering rates of infection even higher than those of East Africa a few years earlier. Although hard statistics are difficult to come by, medical personnel are in general agreement that the scourge of AIDS can scarcely be exaggerated. As many as 25% of the adult population may already be infected, and over the next decade it may result in the deaths of half of all persons between the ages of 15 and 45. The demographic and manpower implications are enormous, quite apart from the scale of human tragedy. One lonely death described here is unfortunately representative of many others. Linono Koetse of Tloutle Ha Shale was from a poor family, which had insufficient income to pay school fees. Consequently, Linono was only able to attend primary school for a short period, insufficient for her to acquire functional literacy even in Sesotho. In what should have been her schooldays, she had to work hard to help her family obtain a meagre living from the soil. When in 1998, the opposition parties appealed to the youth to come to demonstrate at the Palace Gates, and also offered to feed them, it was an opportunity to escape from a humdrum existence, and she was one of the many young people who responded. By now she was an attractive 16-year old, and she went to Maseru despite her father having recently died and her mother being ill and in need of care. Villagers appealed to her to return to the village to look after her mother, but it was only for her mother’s funeral that she came home, and shortly afterwards she again joined the crowds toyi-toying and sleeping at the Palace Gates (or ‘Freedom Square’ as the opposition leaders liked to call it).
In late September 1998, Maseru was in ruins and the youths had been dispersed
to return reluctantly to their villages. Not long afterwards, Linono found she
was ill. The hospital diagnosed AIDS, and as with so many other victims of the
disease, said there was nothing more it could do to help her. She was discharged
with a supply of gloves which could be used by those who might be prepared to
help to look after her. The villagers saw her sitting outside the family hut
daily, the recently beautiful girl now lean, haggard and wasting away. Her
funeral was held at the village on 11 September 1999. Linono Koetse at her death
was just 17 years of age.
Lesotho Postage Stamps Plumb New Depths of IrrelevanceFor the past two years, since it decided to dispense with a committee to advise on stamp issues, the Lesotho Post Office has apparently had its stamp issues chosen for it by a firm in New York, the Inter-Governmental Philatelic Corporation (IGPC). This family firm employs artists who are less concerned with accuracy or relevance than they are with making money. Moreover, they seem to have no concern whatsoever about the damage that is done to the image of Lesotho by what is being depicted on its stamps. Lesotho is the only country in southern Africa to have sold its stamp issuing independence to a foreign firm. Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Mozambique and South Africa all maintain a stamp issuing policy which ensures that their stamp designs depict themes of national relevance. They are well aware that stamps on envelopes are like tiny ambassadors which penetrate to the far corners of the earth, each carrying a message about the country which often endures for many years to come as a treasured part of some schoolchild’s or adult’s stamp collection. Amongst some 300 ‘Lesotho’ stamps issued during the past two years have been ‘Fauna and Flora of the World’ depicting animals such as the Galapagos Penguin, Right Whale, Golden-shouldered Parrot, and Diademed Sifaka. Of the animals depicted on the 37 stamps, only one, the Cape Vulture or Cape Griffon, actually occurs in Lesotho. The brochure which advertises the stamps simply, like the stamps themselves, gives the names of the animals, and does not bother to give further details as to where they might be found. The issue in any case seems to be misnamed. One is hard put to find any flora at all on the stamps, other than a bit of grass beneath the feet of the Kangaroo, and an unnamed and possibly imaginary flower on the stem of which the White-bellied Sunbird is perched. Other issues have been similarly poorly documented including ‘Cats of the World’ (20 stamps), ‘Dogs of the World’ (18 stamps), ‘Birds of the World’ (26 stamps) and ‘Orchids of the World’ (37 stamps). Although Lesotho has 342 recorded species of birds, not one appears on these stamps, and although there are 52 species of orchids in Lesotho, some of them with quite spectacular flowers, none of those depicted are from Lesotho. It seems that the New York Public Library (or wherever IGPC borrows its pictures for copying) is biased towards the New World, because most birds and flowers seem to be from the Americas. There has also been a recent issue on ‘Marine Life’, with no less than 53 different fish stamps. However, again the issue is a misnomer, because as it happens quite a few of the stamps depict fresh water species, including (presumably by chance) five species which have been introduced into Lesotho waters. The reference book used was, however, clearly quite out of date, because the stamp gives the scientific name of the Rainbow Trout (one of the fish which has been introduced into Lesotho) as Salmo gairdneri when it was in fact changed to Oncorhyncus mykiss some years back. An issue on ‘World Cinema’ includes nine films with African themes, one of which, Cry Freedom, includes a story line which has Donald Woods fleeing to Lesotho, although the filming was actually done in Zimbabwe. Here at last, even if tenuous, is a Lesotho connection, but the brochure fails to mention this, and commits a solecism by misspelling one of the other films, as ‘King Solaman’s Mines’. Along with the African films are ten different stamps depicting Japanese film stars. What next? Well, in August 1999, new depths of irrelevance were plumbed. The postal authorities marked anniversaries which no one in Lesotho would probably have otherwise noticed. The 150th death anniversary of the Japanese painter, Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) was celebrated by issuing 14 different stamps. Along with these were four stamps for the 250th birth anniversary of Goethe (called VON GOETHE on the stamps). The scene on one of these stamps is described as ‘Mephistopheles appears as a dog in Faust’s study’. The stamp does appear to depict this, but it depicts rather more, because apart from the name LESOTHO, across the stamp twice, in curved arcs, also appears the name GUYANA. Guyana (along with Equatorial Guinea, Grenada and the Republic of Maldives) is amongst the countries whose inhabitants have had the misfortune of having their stamp issuing independence hijacked for commercial gain. Had the artist momentarily forgotten which country he was serving? August 1999 has also been the time for Lesotho to issue five stamps for ‘The Queen Mother Celebrates 100 Years’. Well, Lesotho does have a Queen Mother, but her name is Queen ’Mamohato. The lady depicted on the stamps is the British Queen Mother, but the stamps seem rather premature, since it was only recently that Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, celebrated her 99th birthday. What are the consequences of all this? Who actually buys these stamps? In fact IGPC has a market in North America amongst children (whose parents may buy them packets of stamps in supermarkets). Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck have been staple fare here, and Lesotho stamps have often featured these alien characters, but a small crumb of comfort has been that IGPC recently lost the contract with the Disney company. IGPC also has a market amongst thematic stamp collectors, and Lesotho might count itself lucky that so far Elvis Presley, Madonna and Marilyn Monroe have not yet appeared on its stamps as they have in other IGPC countries. When stamps are issued which are totally irrelevant to the country which purports to issue them, the image of the country is degraded in the eyes of the world, and the damage is permanent, because stamps once issued penetrate to and are preserved in the far corners of the earth, and cannot be withdrawn. There is another downside to the process, the loss of jobs in Lesotho. Artists in New York are undertaking work which was formerly done by Lesotho artists. Moreover, the gain in sales in the USA is accompanied by stamp collectors cancelling their orders for stamps which used to be sent direct to Lesotho. Collectors want stamps which tell them something about the country they are collecting.
The new Post Office Building in Maseru has at the right hand side of its main
hall a staircase leading to the grandly named Lesotho Philatelic Bureau. At the
top of the stairs there is a smaller hall, which nevertheless has four separate
large counters for supplying philatelists with their needs, and there are indeed
enough women employees (although these days out of sight) to staff these
counters. However, it is indeed a very rare sight (once a day, once a week, once
a month?) to see a stamp collector there. Those who patronise the counters are a
few people who have discovered they can avoid the queues downstairs and buy
stamps in bulk upstairs at the Philatelic Bureau. If the Post Office is
subjected to the same cost-saving scrutiny as was recently applied to Lesotho
Bank, the staff of the whole Philatelic Bureau is likely to lose their jobs, or
at least be transferred downstairs where a single ‘bulk and philatelic stamp
sales’ counter could meet all present demand.
IPA Delays Put April 2000 Poll in JeopardyMore than nine months after it had been set up, the Interim Political Authority had still not completed its first major task of agreeing on a new electoral system for Lesotho. Some small progress was announced at a press conference on Friday 3 September, when it was announced that agreement had been reached on a hybrid system embracing elements of ‘first past the post’ as well as proportional representation. The IPA co-chairman, Bereng Sekhonyana, also announced at the press conference that the number of MPs would be increased to 130. However, there was still discussion in the IPA as to whether the 130 seats should be distributed between the two electoral systems on a 65/65 or 80/50 basis. It was announced that the IPA had decided there would be a new voter registration for the April 2000 elections, and that local and general elections would be held simultaneously.
Observers were generally rather critical of the slow progress of activities
by the IPA. Some wondered how an additional 50 parliamentary seats could be
justified at a time when the economy had received a serious setback. Additional
salaries would be needed and a new and larger Parliament building. The wisdom of
holding national and local elections simultaneously was also questioned. There
was also the question of the future of the Independent Electoral Commission. Its
work at the previous General Election had been made difficult by the short time
span allotted it to complete its work, and it now looked as if it was again to
be given an unrealistically short period to prepare for the election. This would
be even more serious if the IPA’s discussions about replacing the present
membership of the IEC resulted in new and inexperienced IEC members.
1996 Population Census Analytical Report PublishedThe two volume 1996 Population Census analytical report was finally published in September 1999. It threw some light on the previously announced total de jure 1996 population figure of 1862275, which if true would represent an average annual growth rate of just 1.5% for the ten years 1986-96, far below all predictions, most of which were close to the 2.6% recorded for the 1976-86 period. The Analytical report admits serious problems in conducting the census. School teachers, who normally conduct the census, had recently been on strike, and it was decided ‘to resort to ill experienced, non-working matriculated youths’, in other words unemployed school-leavers. These were clearly more interested, for the most part, in what they were going to be paid than in ensuring everyone was counted, and indeed the population pyramid showed that children under 10 must have been frequently overlooked. To correct for children who were presumably not counted, the analytical report adds 117702 children aged 0 to 9 years, producing together with some other ‘smoothing’ a new population total of 1960069, which corresponds to a 2.0% intercensal growth rate. Much more difficult to estimate is the number of whole households which were missed, and the census report does not discuss this. Anecdotal evidence from the many people who said they were not counted at all suggests that this number was high, and could easily have been as high as 5%. If 5% had been missed, then the intercensal growth rate would have been 2.5%, much more in accordance with earlier estimates. However, the truth is that this census is the most unreliable to have been conducted since Independence, and the published estimates of the Lesotho population could be subject to an error of up to at least 5%. Other aspects of the census are revealed in the Analytical report. For reasons not made clear in the report, all enumerator areas (EAs) were redrawn, making local growth rates very difficult to estimate. (In fact what happened was that there had been only one master set of the 1986 EAs drawn on maps. These had been borrowed, without backup copies being made, and taken into the field by Elections Office staff at the time of electoral registration in 1992. Many were mutilated or lost, so there had been no possibility of using these again.) Although local shifts in population cannot be commented on, at district level these have been tabulated. They show Maseru District as having the greatest in-migration rate at 21.1 in-migrants for every 100 born in the district, while Mokhotlong has the lowest in-migration rate with 4.2 inhabitants born elsewhere for every person born in the district. As far as out-migration is concerned, Leribe District has the lowest figure with 7.9 persons living elsewhere in Lesotho for every 100 persons born in the district and still there. The highest figure given is for Thaba-Tseka District at 45.9 out-migrants per 100 persons born in and still in the district. This is more than three times the Qacha’s Nek and Mokhotlong figures, and the report declares ‘the rate at which Thaba-Tseka is loosing [sic] its inhabitants should be of major concern’. However, it seems likely that this report has based itself on erroneous figures in the statistical tables in volume II of the report. Table 2.15, for example, has figures for the Thaba-Tseka population which are far too high and derive from mistakenly adding the population outside Lesotho (from all districts) in the previous table to the Thaba-Tseka population. The error in Table 2.15 is unfortunately not the only one in the Statistical Tables. In fact errors in the tables are so common that the whole volume is of dubious value. Other examples of major errors are (page 18) assigning parts of the Qacha’s Nek, Thaba-Tseka and Mokhotlong populations to the Foothills Zone [there are no Foothills in any of these these districts] and (page 174) stating that 103 females aged under 15 had had one child born alive (regrettable but plausible), 36 had had two children born alive (just possible), 23 had had three children born alive (scepticism about the statistics begins to set in), 11 had had four children born alive (can this be true?), and so on until the last column gives 39 females under 15 as having had 12 or more children born alive, proving that the table contains figures which are complete nonsense. Another table full of nonsense is on page 53, where it appears that no-one in Lesotho had lived more than ten years in the same district and most people had moved from another district in the year immediately before the census. The census reports published in September 1999 are volume II, 1996 Population Census tables; volume IIIA, 1996 Population Census analytical report: population dynamics; and volume IIIB, 1996 Population Census analytical report: socio-economic characteristics and population projections. Volume I, Administrative report is still to be published. However, there had been an earlier unnumbered volume, 1996 Population Census village lists. The villages are listed by district, but in fact, several EAs appear in the wrong district, which must inevitably throw further doubt on district growth and migration rates in the Analytical report.
Concerns about the quality of the census were so widespread that the World
Bank despatched a small group of demographic experts to Lesotho to investigate
ways in which the published data could be rectified.
MILES Encounters Problems but Gains New PremisesThe Media Institute of Lesotho (MILES) is a constituent part of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) and has had an established office in Maseru, headed by Bethuel Thai as National Director since 1994. Following the disturbances in Maseru in September 1998, MILES was the recipient of donor funds, mainly from the Netherlands Media Institute for Southern Africa (NIZA). The funds were intended to compensate newspapers for equipment burned or stolen during the riots, but after a meeting of the MISA Trust Funds Board in Windhoek, concern had arisen that two newspapers owned by Mr Thai, Mopheme and Public Eye had received the lion’s share of the donor funds. The MISA General Council appointed Judge John Manyarara of Zimbabwe and Mr Joseph Masanilo of MISA Tanzania as commissioners to conduct an inquiry into the matter in the period 16-21 August. The report of the inquiry became available early in September and it was found that there had been a conflict of interest, and that the MISA Regional Chairman, Moshe Tšehlo, and the MILES National Director, Bethuel Thai had equal shares in a company known as Voice Multimedia, incorporated in 1997 with share capital of M5000.00. This company was publishing Public Eye and providing the NewsWire service, and that this latter service had been faxed to clients using MILES office facilities. In general there had been a lack of transparency in MILES operations. Recommendations were made to address these findings and these included the quantifying by MISA and subsequent invoicing of benefits improperly obtained; the release of funds allocated specifically by NIZA to those who had lost equipment in the riots; and the activation of an established MILES Disciplinary Committee.
There was some relief from the problems which had been besetting MILES on 24
September. A Media Resource Centre for MILES financed by Irish Aid was handed
over in a ceremony on that date.
Shooting Incident at Miss Lerotholi Contest
The beauty contest at the Lerotholi Polytechnic to choose Miss Lerotholi on
Saturday 11 September was interrupted shortly after midnight when there was a
burst of gunfire at the entrance to the hall. Two youths were injured, one of
whom had to be admitted into intensive care. According to a report in Southern
Star of 17 September, the identity of the assailant was unknown and he was still
at large.
LTC to be PrivatisedThe Lesotho Telecommunications Corporation (LTC), which provides Lesotho with its telephone service, was reported in Public Eye of 17 September 1999 as likely to be soon privatised. A loss of M12.9 million in 1997 had led to LTC being declared technically insolvent, and the corporation was currently retrenching some of its 785 employees to meet the required number of 491. Some 150 had already been given notices in July that their employment would teminate on 4 August. This was in preparation for privatisation, according to the Principal Secretary for the Ministry of Communications, Monyane Mathibeli. In a scathing denouncement of LTC, Mathibeli said that LTC had neither financial nor personnel capacity to improve its services and there was meanwhile a waiting list of 20000 applications for telephone connections. Privatisation could bring in new partners with access to capital and managerial and technical expertise.
Meanwhile further confirmation that all was not well in the management of LTC
had appeared in a message dated 3 September 1999 from the Acting Deputy Chairman
of the LTC Board of Directors Mrs F. N. Ntho. This message, printed in MoAfrika
of 10 September, stated that the Acting Manager of LTC, Thamahane Rasekila, had
had his appointment ‘revoked because the Board as a whole had lost confidence in
him. There were many reasons for this.’ Goethe Stamps Publicised by Radio MoafrikaThe postage stamps which had appeared in August for the 250th anniversary of the birth of the German writer Goethe received unexpected publicity on Radio Moafrika on 17 September. In a phone-in programme, the presenter, Candi Ramainoane, described the miniature sheet which had been issued depicting Faust’s dealings with Mephistopheles. However, rather than speaking about the irrelevance of Goethe to Lesotho, he concentrated on the decorations on the ample selvedge, which included a full frontal male nude. Those listening in to the programme were surprised to hear an anatomical description which included Sesotho vocabulary never before heard over the air.
One consequence was that the Philatelic Bureau suddenly had an unexpectedly
large number of Basotho female customers, and the stamps were soon sold out.
Indeed for the first time, the Philatelic Bureau used three of its counters
simultaneously. The Deputy Director of Postal Services was asked by Radio
Lesotho to reply to Radio Moafrika’s comments. He said that the stamps were not
intended for sale to Basotho, but were designed for foreign collectors.
Lesotho Wins Gold at All African Games
In the Seventh All African Games held in Johannesburg from 9 to 19 September
1999, Lesotho was one of 50 nations competing, and according to Southern Star of
24 September 1999 (other newspapers gave slightly different details), the
Lesotho team came home with 6 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze medals. Most of the
medals were won by the men’s and women’s Tae Kwondo teams. Boxers also took a
silver and a gold medal.
Murderer of Bank Manager Convicted after Six Years in GaolA long pending court case, resulting from the murder on 10 September 1991 of Barclays Bank Manager, Toloko Kimane, was finally brought to completion on 21 September 1999 when Nkalimeng Mothobi was found guilty (with three others who had been tried earlier) of murdering Kimane and of conspiring to murder the Standard Bank manager, Samuel Rahlao. Kimane’s murder occurred at a time when members of the Lesotho Union of Bank Employees had been dismissed after taking strike action.
The earlier marathon trial had been completed in 1996, but because Mothobi
had escaped from gaol in 1992 (although recaptured in 1993), the case against
him had been made the subject of a separate trial. The Judge took into
consideration Mothobi’s plea of guilty and the fact that he had already been in
gaol for six years. He was sentenced to 13 years further imprisonment. Mothobi’s
original co-conspirators had been sentenced to death, but this had later been
commuted to 16 years imprisonment.
Severe Dust Storm Causes DamageIn the late afternoon on Sunday 26 September a fierce dust storm hit several areas of Lesotho. In Maseru, it resulted in trees being blown onto houses and power lines. 53 houses in the Qoaling and Lithabaneng areas of Maseru lost their roofs and several business premises were damaged. Damage was particularly severe in Thaba-Tseka, where 98 houses lost their roofs, 47 of the houses being in the urban area. There was also damage at Paray Mission and Paray High School, where the Girls’ Dormitory lost its roof. In northern Lesotho, 62 houses lost their roofs at Teyateyaneng and the same fate befell 48 houses at Butha-Buther, while 5 classrooms at Butha-Buthe Community High School also lost their roofs. One person died and four persons were reported injured as a result of the storm. After the storm, many parts of Lesotho were without electricity for 24 hours or more. Although dusty conditions are normal in September, the amount of dust which accompanied the storm had been increased by an unusually dry winter. The previous summer had begun with good rains, but the months following January had been generally dry. During the calendar year up to September, five out of seven months had been drier than average, the two exceptions being January and May. Lesotho has a Disaster Management Authority (DMA), which rather than being out in the field after the storm, seemed to be engaged in a pre-arranged week long workshop at the Mountain View Hotel in Hlotse. The DMA did however issue a statement praising the Lesotho Red Cross for providing tents for those made homeless by the storm. [updated to 30 September 1999] |