|
SUMMARY
OF
EVENTS
IN
LESOTHO
Volume
10,
Number
3, (Third
Quarter 2003)
Summary
of
Events
is
a
quarterly
publication
compiled
and
published
by
Prof.
David
Ambrose
since
1993
at
the
National
University
of
Lesotho
in
Roma.
Death of Queen 'Mamohato, the Queen Mother
Khalaki
Sello
awarded
the
Honour
of
King's
Counsel
Limakatso
Mokhothu
becomes
First
Woman
Member
of
IEC
Lesotho
Missing
from
Amnesty
International
Report
for
First
Time
Since
1970
Indian
Army
Training
Team
Continues
for
2
More
Years;
LDF
Pipes
&
Drums
Make
Debut
VAT
Comes
into
Operation
with
New
Arrangements
at
Border
Posts
Lesotho
Hosts
SADC
Conference
on
HIV/AIDS
amidst
Sombre
Infection
Statistics
Centenary
of
Parliament
Passes
Unnoticed
despite
New
Book
which
Documents
its
Origins
SDU
becomes
SDC
Princess
Anne
Visits
Lesotho
King
Letsie
III
Turns
40
Death
of
Principal
Chief
of
the
Batlokoa
Roundabouts
to
Replace
Traffic
Lights
Two
More
Die
as
Villagers
Mete
out
Justice
to
Thieves
Chief
Magistrate
Makara
Reinstated;
Another
Magistrate
Found
Wrongfully
Dismissed
Chinese
Funded
Industrial
Park
at
Butha-Buthe
Handed
Over
Nun
Charged
with
Stealing
Passport
Office
Stamp
New
Office
Block
Replaces
Maseru
Building
Destroyed
in
1998
Riots
New
Chief
Executive
of
LHDA
Assumes
Post
Restoration
of
Masitise
Cave
House
Marked
by
Ceremony
National
University
of
Lesotho
Faculty
of
Agriculture
in
Severe
Difficulties
NUL
Faces
Problems
with
Minister
of
Finance
and
Manpower
Secretariat
Large
Numbers
of
Students
at
NUL
Create
Problems
University
Closed
after
Riot
Phakiso
Molise
Escapes
from
Gaol
Report
of
Ombudsman
Criticizes
LHDA
Thetsane
'Blue
River'
Dries
Up
Briefly
Prime
Minister
Advocates
Syllabuses
for
Initiation
Schools
Acres
International
Appeals
against
Corruption
Fine;
Lahmeyer
Fined
for
Corruption
By-Elections
Marred
by
Helicopter
Accident
Nedbank
Completes
New
Maseru
Complex
BSES
Expeditions
in
Lesotho
New
Sesotho
Newspaper
Launched
Two
Nations
Marathon
Links
Ladybrand
and
Maseru
1075
Receive
Awards
at
University
Graduation
Ceremony
Good
September
Rains
but
Winter
Rainfall
below
Average
Queen
'Mamohato
died
on
Saturday
6
September
2003
at
Auray
Mission,
Mantsonyane.
She
had
collapsed
with
breathing
problems
at
about
10
p.m.
while
attending
a
retreat
of
the
Ladies
of
St
Anne,
a
Catholic
women's
association.
Despite
the
efforts
of
a
doctor
who
was
summoned
from
St
James'
Hospital
nearby,
she
died
about
11.30
p.m.
She
was
known
to
have
had
heart
problems
which
could
lead
to
sudden
death.
By
a
strange
coincidence,
Queen
'Mamohato
died
less
than
8
kilometres
from
the
spot
where
her
late
husband,
King
Moshoeshoe
Il,
had
died
on
15
January
1996
in
a
motor
accident.
At
the
time
of
his
mother's
death,
King
Letsie
III
was
on
a
visit
to
Swaziland,
where
he
was
attending
King
Mswati's
35th
birthday
celebrations.
It
was
some
five
hours
before
he
could
be
woken
to
be
told
the
sad
news.
He
returned
early
the
next
day,
and
his
wife,
Queen
'Masenate,
returned
from
her
studies
at
Columbia
University,
New
York,
a
little
later.
Queen
'
Mamohato,
mother
of
King
Letsie
III,
was
born
on
28
April
1941
at
Tebang
in
Mafeteng
District,
daughter
to
Principal
Chief
Lerotholi
Mojela
(1891-1961),
who
was
a
great-grandson
of
King
Moshoeshoe
I
and
also
a
First
World
War
veteran.
Her
name
at
birth
was
Tabitha 'Masentle
Lerotholi
Mojela,
and
she
attended
the
then
Basutoland
High
School
(now
Lesotho
High
School)
and
Bath
Training
College
in
England
where
she
studied
Home
Economics.
On
23
August
1962,
she
married
King
Moshoeshoe
II
at
the
Cathedral
of
Our
Lady
of
Victories
in
Maseru.
They
had
three
children,
Mohato
David,
who
is
now
King
Letsie
III;
Seeiso
Simeone,
now
Principal
Chief
of
Matsieng;
and
the
late
Princess
'Maseeiso.
A
well-loved
figure,
Queen
'Mamohato,
played
an
active
role
in
many
charities
and
organizations,
including
Lesotho
Save
the
Children,
the
Girl
Guides
Association
and
the
Lesotho
National
Council
of
Women.
She
was
notable
for
not
distancing
herself
from
her
people
and
on
occasions
to
the
delight
of
those
present
would
personally
join
in
traditional
dances
such
as
the
mokhibo.
It
was
significant
that
she
often
took
the
initiative
when
others
were
apparently
indifferent
to
problems.
An
example
was
a
particularly
untidy
spot
on
the
road
between
Maseru
and
Masianokeng
near
Ha
'Nelese,
where
rubbish
had
been
dumped
by
inconsiderate
people
for
many
years.
She
personally
engaged
the
Girl
Guides
to
clean
the
spot,
and
together
with
them
worked
hard
to
render
the
place
spotless.
No-one
has
dared
to
dump
rubbish
at
that
point
since!
Queen
'Mamohato
took
a
delight
in
farming
at
the
Royal
Village
of
Matsieng,
where
she
had
cattle
and
poultry
and
cultivated
crops.
She
was
buried
there
in
a
State
Funeral
at
1.30
p.m.on
Friday
19
September
2003
at
the
cemetery
at
St
Louis
Catholic
Mission,
near
to
the
grave
of
her
daughter,
Princess
'Maseeiso.
A
final
salute
was
fired
by
the
Lesotho
Defence
Force
at
2.04
p.m.
immediately
after
the
interment.
▲back
to top
On
25
June
2003,
King
Letsie
III
conferred
on
the
veteran
Mosotho
lawyer,
Khalaki
Sello,
the
honour
and
dignity
of
King's
Counsel.
This
was
officially
announced
in
a
Lesotho
Government
Gazette
Extraordinary
of
16
July
2003.
Khalaki
Sello
has
been
a
tireless
worker
for
human
rights
since
his
student
days,
when
in
South
Africa
he
suffered
for
his
support
of
the
Freedom
Struggle.
Back
in
Lesotho
he
joined
with
a
former
Lesotho
Principal
Secretary
for
Justice,
Tsepo
Mohaleroe,
to
found
the
firm
of
Mohaleroe,
Sello
&
Company,
which
in
the
years
immediately
after
Independence
took
up
the
cases
of
victims
of
unjust
laws
and
laws
irregularly
applied.
It
played
a
particularly
important
role
in
securing
the
release
of
many
BCP
members
who
were
arrested
without
proper
procedures
being
followed
following
disturbances
at
Thaba-Bosiu
on
27
December
1966.
Sello
acted
on
behalf
of
many
disadvantaged
persons
in
Lesotho
including
in
later
years
ANC
refugees,
and
on
one
occasion
his
own
house
was
bombed
apparently
as
an
attempt
to
deter
him.
He
was
not
deterred.
Khalaki
Sello
was
always
close
to
King
Moshoeshoe
II.
When
the
undemocratic
regime
that
had
existed
in
Lesotho
from
1970
was
overthrown
by
a
military
coup
in
1986,
King
Moshoeshoe
II
was
granted
limited
executive
powers.
This
enabled
him
to
appoint
a
Council
of
Ministers,
which
included
many
people,
including
Sello
(as
Minister
for
Law,
Public
Service,
Constitutional
and
Parliamentary
Affairs),
who
thought
that
they
were
participating
in
a
process
leading
to
the
restoration
of
democratic
rule.
(He
was
Minister
for
Constitutional
Affairs
when
there
was
in
fact
no
Constitution!)
The
hopes
of
those
in
the
Council
of
Ministers
were
dashed,
however,
when
it
became
apparent
that
the
real
power
still
remained
with
the
military.
When
the
King
himself
clashed
with
the
military,
it
led
to
the
King's
own
dismissal.
Many
were
surprised
that
Khalaki
Sello
was
never
elevated
to
the
bench.
However,
it
was
apparently
Sello's
personal
decision
to
decline
that
honour,
believing
he
could
serve
human
rights
better
as
an
advocate.
Although
the
Legal
Practitioners
Act
1983
has
long
made
provision
for
the
King
to
award
the
honour
of
King's
Counsel
to
those
who
have
distinguished
themselves
as
advocates,
this
is
the
first
time
that
such
an
honour
has
been
awarded
to
anyone
except
the
Attorney-General,
who
in
terms
of
the
1983
Act
is
ex
officio
entitled
to
the
designation
King's
Counsel.
▲back
to top
Mrs
Limakatso
Mokhothu,
an
experienced
administrator
and
human
rights
activist
was
by
Legal
Notice
in
Lesotho
Government
Gazette
Extraordinary
no.
51
of
2003
(24
June
2003)
appointed
the
first
woman
member
of
the
Independent
Electoral
Commission.
She
replaces
Mafole
Sematlane
who
was
dismissed
in
April
2003
for
misbehaviour.
Limakatso
Mokhothu
has
had
a
variety
of
experience
including
with
the
Transformation
Resource
Centre
as
a
trainer
and
workshop
organizer;
as
Director
of
the
Community
Legal
Resource
and
Advice
Centre;
and
as
President
of
the
Lesotho
Council
of
NGOs.
Most
recently
she
has
worked
with
the
Irish
Consulate
General,
where
her
responsibilities
have
included
engaging
with
partners
in
projects
relating
to
good
governance,
including
gender,
human
rights
and
electoral
issues;
and
giving
technical
support
to
funded
agencies
as
well
as
monitoring
and
evaluating
their
programmes.
Her
concern
for
human
rights
and
good
governance
has
been
honed
by
a
personal
tragedy.
In
August
1990,
there
was
a
tense
atmosphere
in
Maseru
as
the
military
government
wrestled
with
strikes
and
protests.
When
a
stall
at
the
Maseru
Market
burned
down,
the
police
moved
in
and
people
fled.
Unfortunately,
Limakatso
Mokhothu's
son,
Bathobakae,
did
not
flee
with
the
others:
he
was
unaware
of
what
was
happening
and
was
on
his
way
to
a
football
practice.
He
was
killed
by
a
single
shot
from
a
policeman.
Limakatso
that
same
evening
had
the
courage
to
gives
an
interview
explaining
what
had
happened
on
the
BBC's
Focus
on
Africa
programme.
▲back
to top
The
Amnesty
International
Report
2003,
recently
published,
documents
human
rights
abuses
in
151
countries
and
territories
during
the
year
2002.
It
is
significant
that
Lesotho,
for
the
first
time
since
the
report
on
the
year
1970,
does
not
have
an
entry.
Countries
with
the
longest
entries
include
China
('1921
death
sentences,
mainly
imposed
after
unfair
trials
and
1060
executions');
the
United
States
('more
than
600
foreign
nationals
-
most
arrested
during
the
military
conflict
in
Afghanistan
-
detained
without
charge
or
trial
or
access
to
counsel
or
family
members
in
the
US
naval
base
in
Guantanamo
Bay,
Cuba');
and
Zimbabwe
('at
least
58
political
killings
and
widespread
torture
and
ill-treatment
throughout
the
country').
▲back
to top
The
Indian
Army
Training
Team
which
has
been
assisting
the
Lesotho
Defence
Force
for
the
past
two
years
is
continue
for
a
further
two
years
until
June
2005.
This
was
announced
by
a
press
statement
from
the
Lesotho
Defence
Force
Public
Affairs
Office.
The
team
has
been
involved
in
a
wide
variety
of
training
activities,
one
of
the
most
unexpected
of
which
has
been
to
train
a
Lesotho
Defence
Force
pipe
band.
According
to
Brigadier
Jasbir
Singh,
as
quoted
in
the
Lesotho
Defence
Force
magazine
Mara
for
June/July
2003,
`The
pipe
band
has
two
different
tasks:
to
play
music
during
peacetime
and
serve
as
medics
to
help
the
injured
during
wartime'.
The
Pipes
and
Drums
of
the
Lesotho
Defence
Force
have
had
the
advantage
of
training
from
Sergeant
Majors
Rana
and
Dogra
who
are
experts
in
bagpipes,
while
Sergeant
Major
Allauddin
has
provided
expertise
on
the
drums.
Members
of
the
public
had
the
opportunity
to
hear
the
Pipes
and
Drums
on
the
newly
created
Army
Day
on
30
June
2003.
(There
had
been
an
Army
Day
public
holiday
created
as
26
January,
the
anniversary
of
the
Military
Coup
in
1986;
this
fell
away
when
civilian
rule
was
restored.
The
new
Army
Day
is
not
a
public
holiday.)
The
Pipes
and
Drums
consist
of
one
band
major,
12
bagpipers,
one
bass
drummer,
four
side
drummers,
two
tenor
drummers,
one
cymbal
player,
and
five
buglers.
The
Lesotho
Defence
Force
already
has
its
own
military
brass
band.
This
began
in
the
1970s
within
what
was
then
the
Police
Mobile
Unit.
Some
members
were
trained
in
1972
in
Idi
Amin's
Uganda,
and
more
recently
in
1997
at
the
South
African
Music
College
in
Bloemfontein.
The
LDF
will
in
future
apparently
have
two
rather
different
bands.
▲back
to top
According
to
the
Commissioner-General
of
the
new
Lesotho
Revenue
Authority
(LRA),
Mr
Kevin
Donovan,
after
negotiations
with
the
South
African
Revenue
Service,
persons
from
Lesotho
buying
items
in
South
Africa
on
which
Value
Added
Tax
(VAT)
has
been
charged
will
no
longer
have
to
pay
duty
on
entering
Lesotho,
duty
which
in
the
past
could
be
offset
by
then
getting
a
refund
from
the
South
African
customs
on
the
other
side
of
the
border.
Under
new
arrangements,
a
form
is
collected
on
the
Lesotho
side
of
the
border
and
then
filled
in
together
with
original
tax
invoices.
The
LRA
will
then
obtain
the
necessary
refund
direct
from
the
SARS.
▲back
to top
Delegates
from
the
Southern
African
Development
Community
(SADC)
met
in
Maseru
from
Tuesday
1
July
to
Friday
4
July
for
a
Conference
on
HIV/AIDS.
The
first
three
days
were
a
preliminary
session
leading
up
to
a
summit
meeting
on
the
Friday
attended
by
four
Heads
of
State,
including
the
Chairman
of
SADC,
President
Jose
Eduardo
Dos
Santos
of
Angola;
President
Robert
Mugabe
of
Zimbabwe;
and
President
Festus
Mogae
of
Botswana.
Most
other
SADC
countries
were
represented
by
their
VicePresidents.
The
arrangements
for
the
conference
seem
not
to
have
been
well
planned.
One
newspaper,
Public
Eye
of
4
July
2003,
called
it
the
`Most
disorganised
summit
ever
held
in
Lesotho'.
Lesotho's
first
recorded
AIDS
case
was
as
recent
as
1986,
and
by
1997
there
were
8
000
recorded
cases.
Today
HIV/AIDS
has
become
a
crisis
of
unprecedented
dimensions
impacting
on
virtually
every
family
and
almost
every
facet
of
national
life.
The
United
Nations
Children's
Fund
(UNICEF)
issued
a
small
pamphlet
with
an
update
of
known
figures
for
distribution
at
the
Conference.
It
provided
an
estimate
of
2
233
251
for
Lesotho's
2002
population,
and
a
2001
estimate
of
adults
in
Lesotho
in
the
age
group
15
to
49
living
with
HIV/AIDS
as
330
000
of
whom
180
000
are
women.
For
young
women
in
the
age
group
15
to
24
it
estimated
the
HIV/AIDS
prevalence
rate
to
be
51
%,
while
for
young
men
in
the
same
15
to
24
age
group
the
rate
is
estimated
at
23%.
There
is
a
clear
implication
here
that
younger
women
are
being
infected
by
older
men.
The
UNICEF
pamphlet
also
indicated
that
life
expectancy
in
Lesotho
as
a
result
of
HIV/AIDS
has
dropped
from
65
to
45,
and
that
there
were
at
the
end
of
2001
already
73
000
HIV/AIDS
orphans.
Children
who
were
orphans
had
a
school
attendance
rate
89%
of
that
of
non-orphans.
Antiretroviral
drugs
which
can
extend
the
lives
of
those
infected
with
HIV/AIDS
are
only
available
in
Lesotho
to
members
of
a
small
and
wealthy
elite.
The
cost
for
a
year's
supply
of
antiretrovirals
according
to
the
South
African
Mail
&
Guardian
newspaper
of
18
July
2003
is
R12
232
(about
?_
1000;
$600),
a
cost
way
beyond
that
which
any
ordinary
person
can
afford,
indeed
exceeding
the
annual
wages
of
the
most
of
the
relatively
small
number
of
people
who
have
wage
employment.
Nationally,
the
campaign
against
HIV/AIDS
has
been
very
much
concentrated
on
promoting
condom
use.
Posters
such
as
NO
CONDOM -
NO
PARTY
could
be
criticized
as
having
promoted
sexual
activity,
condoned
provided
that
condoms
are
used.
On
the
other
hand
(Public
Eye,
4
July
2003),
a
recent
United
Nations
AIDS
study
has
found
that
condoms
fail
to
protect
against
HIV
transmission
approximately
one
in
ten
times.
One
would
hardly
drive
a
car
which
had
a
10%
chance
of
crashing,
and
it
really
seems
that
the
campaign
against
HIV/AIDS
now
needs
to
be
refocused.
Widespread
distribution
of
free
condoms
may
actually
be
helping
to
spread
the
disease.
At
the
end
of
the
SADC
Conference,
the
summit
issued
a
Maseru
Declaration
which
urges
SADC
states
as
a
priority
to
buy
retrovirals
in
bulk
and
to
manufacture
generic
drugs.
It
urges
neighbouring
countries
to
share
experiences
and
to
allocate
at
least
15%
of
national
budgets
to
health
ministries.
International
cooperating
partners
are
urged
to
assist
SADC
countries
by
substantially
increasing
the
provision
of
financial
and
technical
support
through
various
initiatives
and
commitments
such
as
the
Global
Fund
to
Fight
HIV/AIDS,
Tuberculosis
and
Malaria
(GFATM);
Official
Development
Assistance;
the
Enhanced
Heavily
Indebted
Poor
Countries
(HIPC)
Initiative;
and
the
Multi-country
AIDS
Programme.
Meanwhile
it
was
announced
that
the
Global
Fund
to
Fight
HIV/AIDS,
Tuberculosis
and
Malaria
(GFATM)
has
provided
$12.5
million
to
help
Lesotho
fight
AIDS
and
TB
over
the
next
two
years.
(Lesotho
fortunately
is
not
afflicted
with
malaria.)
A
local
initiative
came
from
the
company
Nthane
Matekane
Civils
which
on
11
July
2003
handed
over
five
22-seater
Mercedes-Benz
Sprinter
minibuses
worth
M2
million
to
the
four
churches
in
Lesotho
which
have
mission
hospitals
together
with
the
CHAL,
the
Christian
Health
Association
of
Lesotho.
The
buses,
which
can
also
be
used
as
ambulances,
are
emblazoned
on
the
side
with
the
message
`Live
positively
with
HIV/AIDS'.
As
reported
in
Lesotho
Today
of
7
August
2003,
a
second
donation
of
vehicles
as
a
contribution
towards
fighting
HIV/AIDS
came
from
the
Irish
Government
which
on
1
August
handed
over
10
Isuzu
four-wheel
drive
vehicles,
one
to
be
allocated
to
each
district
for
use
by
the
Lesotho
AIDS
Programme
Coordinating
Authority
(LAPCA).
▲back
to top
On
6
July
1903,
the
first
session
of
the
Basutoland
National
Council
was
opened
by
the
Resident
Commissioner,
Sir
Herbert
Sloley.
It
met
in
the
premises
of
what
was
then
the
school
and
church
of
the
Paris
Evangelical
Missionary
Society,
a
site
which
was
later
chosen
for
the
erection
of
the
first
permanent
Basutoland
National
Council
building,
the
octagonal
sandstone
building
completed
in
1909
which
still
serves
as
the
present
chamber
for
the
National
Assembly.
(The
PEMIS,
now
the
Lesotho
Evangelical
Church,
was
given
as
compensation
at
the
time
a
large
new
site
where
the
Sefika
Church,
Sefika
High
School
and
a
new
shopping
centre
and
bus
station
are
now
located.)
Despite
the
Government
having
a
person
employed
full
time
as
Government
Historian,
and
despite
there
being
paid
staff
(but
no
building)
for
the
Lesotho
National
Archives,
the
centenary
of
Parliament
on
6
July
2003
was
apparently
overlooked.
The
oversight
is
all
the
more
surprising
because
a
new
book
has
recently
been
published
by
the
Morija
Museum
&
Archives,
Professor
J.
M.
Mohapeloa's,
Tentative
British
imperialism
in
Lesotho
1884
-
1910
,
xx
+
437pp.,
which
covers
in
some
detail
the
events
leading
up
to
Lesotho's
first
parliament.
It
also
presents
a
meticulous
account
of
many
aspects
of
the
period
from
Lesotho's
disannexation
from
the
Cape
Colony
in
1884
to
an
event
which
was
a
watershed
in
southern
African
history,
the
creation
of
the
Union
of
South
Africa
in
1910
from
four
separate
British
colonies,
three
of
which
surrounded
Lesotho.
The
material
in
the
book
originally
constituted
a
thesis
submitted
to
a
British
university,
and
although
in
its
scope,
detail,
analysis
and
the
amount
of
work
involved,
it
is
superior
to
many
PhD
theses,
for
some
reason
the
thesis
only
received
lesser
recognition,
something
which
discredits
the
institution
rather
than
the
writer,
whose
work
is
now
available
for
all
to
judge.
▲back
to top
The
Sefate
Democratic
Union
is
a
political
party
founded
by
the
somewhat
flamboyant
Bofihla
Nkuebe,
originally
a
BCP
supporter,
well
known
in
the
Qeme
Constituency,
where
in
the
early
1990s
he
operated
a
car
hire
franchise
linked
to
the
Moshoeshoe
I
International
Airport.
When
a
by-election
in
the
constituency
was
announced
on
the
death
of
the
incumbent
BCP
Member
of
Parliament,
Tsotang
Mokotso
in
a
car
crash
in
1993,
Nkuebe
expected
to
be
the
BCP
candidate.
However,
the
BCP
nominated
someone
else
little
known
in
the
constituency,
and
Nkucbe
stood
successfully
as
an
Independent
on
election
day,
26
March
1994,
using
a
tree
(sefate)
as
his
emblem.
Subsequently
he
founded
the
Sefate
Democratic
Union,
but
at
the
1998
and
2002
General
Elections,
his
position
in
the
Qeme
Constituency
slipped
to
third
place
in
the
poll
(after
Stephen
Molebatsi
Khaile
of
the
LCD
and
the
BNP's
T'haabe
Letsie).
Moreover
in
2002,
the
party
as
a
whole,
despite
producing
the
largest
manifesto
(mainly
devoted
to
its
policy
of
the
return
of
the
Conquered
Territory),
only
acquired
0.29%
of
the
party
votes,
insufficient
for
a
proportional
representation
seat.
In
an
announcement
in
the
Lesotho
Government
Gazette
of
11
July
2003,
the
SDU
indicated
it
proposed
change
of
name
to
the
Sefate
Democratic
Congress,
thus
bringing
to
five,
the
number
of
parties
with
`congress'
in
their
name,
claiming
thereby
presumably
evidence
that
they
are
descendants
of
the
original
Basutoland
African
Congress
founded
in
1952.
▲back
to top
The
British
Princess
Royal,
Princess
Anne,
who
is
also
patron
of
the
Save
the
Children
Fund,
paid
a
two
day
visit
to
Lesotho
on
15-16
July.
In
a
crowded
schedule,
she
attended
a
State
Banquet
on
Tuesday
15
July
and
a
party
at
the
British
High
Commissioner's
Residence
at
noon
on
Wednesday
16
July.
In
between,
she
found
time
to
visit
the
Royal
Village
of
Matsieng,
where
she
was
accompanied
by
a
mounted
guard
of
honour,
and
she
also
visited
a
number
of
projects
in
Lesotho
designed
to
help
children
and
the
disabled
and
to
share
expertise.
These
included
Save
the
Children
UK;
the
Office
of
Psycho-Social
Support
for
traumatised
children;
Skillshare
International
in
Maseru;
and
St
Angela
Cheshire
Home
for
disabled
children
at
Lithoteng
on
the
outskirts
of
Maseru.
She
also
found
time
to
visit
the
wool
and
mohair
craft
centre,
Setsoto
Design,
at
Teyateyaneng.
At
the
State
Banquet,
King
Letsie
III
reminded
those
present
that
British
Royal
Visits
to
Lesotho
are
rather
rare,
but
he
referred
to
the
visit
of
the
Prince
of
Wales
(Princess
Anne's
great-uncle,
later
to
become
King
Edward
VIII)
in
1925,
and
the
visit
of
her
King
George
VI
and
Queen
Elizabeth
in
1947,
when
her
mother
was
also
part
of
the
party
as
Princess
Elizabeth.
More
recently,
her
brother,
Prince
Charles
had
attended
his
own
Coronation.
In
replying,
Princess
Anne,
said
her
main
regret
was
that,
she
had
spent
such
a
short
time
in
Lesotho.
In
particular,
after
seeing
so
many
horses
at
Matsieng,
she
had
not
had
sufficient
time
to
be
able
to
spend
some
time
in
the
saddle.
However,
the
Princess
Royal
has
an
extremely
busy
schedule.
She
is
President
of
Patron
of
some
220
organizations
ranging
from
being
Commandant-in-Chief
of
the
St
John's
Ambulance
Brigade
to
being
Colonel-in-Chief
of
King's
Royal
Hussars
and
of
the
Royal
Corps
of
Signals.
She
is
also
Chancellor
of
London
University,
a
post
in
which
she
succeeded
her
grandmother,
Queen
Elizabeth,
the
Queen
Mother.
▲back
to top
Although
Princess
Anne's
tour
of
southern
Africa
did
not
allow
her
to
be
present,
she
left
good
wishes
for
the
pending
Royal
Birthday
of
King
Letsie
III,
for
which
a
party
was
held
at
Matsieng
on
Thursday
17
July.
At
his
party,
the
King
was
blanketed
and
bald-headed,
following
a
fashion
now
common
amongst
Basotho
men.
Accompanied
by
Queen
'Masenate,
and
before
a
crowd
of
dignitaries,
he
cut
a
large
cake
intricately
iced
to
represent
the
Lesotho
national
flag.
King
Letsie
III
was
born
in
Scott
Hospital,
Morija,
on
7
July
1963.
▲back
to top
As
announced
in
Lentsoe
la
Basotho
of
7
August
2003,
the
Principal
Chief
of
the
Batlokoa,
Chief
Halialoha
Sekonyela
died
at
his
home
at
Malingoaneng,
Mokhotlong
District
on
16
July
2003.
Chief
Halialoha
had
been
ill
for
some
time
and
his
seat
in
the
Senate
had
been
occupied
at
times
by
his
wife
Chieftainess
'Maqheqheba
Sekonyela.
Chief
Ilalialoha
had
been
Principal
Chief
of
Tlokoeng
since
the
death
of
his
father
in
1995.
He
is
the
great-grandson
of
Chief
Lelingoana
who
settled
with
his
people
in
the
early
1880s,
thus
forming
the
first
permament
settlement
in
Mokhotlong
District.
Chief
Halialoha
was
buried
at
Malingoaneng
on
9
August.
He
leaves
a
daughter
and
a
grandson.
▲back
to top
As
announced
in
Lentsoe
la
Basotho
of
17
July
2003,
Maseru
is
to
get
two
additional
roundabouts.
One
will
be
where
Kingsway
meets
the
Bypass
and
Railway
Station
roads
at
Ha
Hoohlo;
and
the
other
outsider
the
University's
Institute
of
Extra-Mural
Studies
Campus
(still
marked
thus
by
a
sign,
although
as
part
of
the
transformation
process
at
the
University
its
name
has
been
changed
to
Institute
of
Distance
and
Continuing
Studies.
In
each
case
the
new
roundabouts
will
replace
traffic
lights,
and
the
new
roundabouts
will
bring
the
total
number
in
Maseru
to
four,
of
which
the
best
known
and
most
congested
is
the
five
road
roundabout
adjoining
the
Catholic
Cathedral.
▲back
to top
The
villagers
of
Ha
Motanyane
near
Roma
meted
out
justice
to
an
alleged
thief
by
killing
him
and
burning
his
body
in
December
2002.
No
apparent
action
was
taken
by
the
police
in
response.
It
was
reported
in
Lesotho
Today
of
31
July
2003
that
a
similar
incident
occurred
on
17
July
2003.
Two
young
men,
who
were
suspected
of
having
stolen
three
goats
`were
killed
vigilante
style
by
villagers'.
The
newspaper
also
reported
that
two
men
facing
charges
of
murder,
stock
theft
and
housebreaking
at
Makhaleng
had
been
killed
in
a
shootout
with
police
on
Wednesday
23
July.
The
newspaper
Leseli
ka
Sepolesa
reported
similar
incidents.
In
its
issue
of
17
July
2003,
it
reported
the
case
of
a
man
at
Ha
Khanyetsi
in
the
Makhaleng
valley
who
had
been
beaten
and
burned
to
death
on
suspicion
of
having
stolen
a
donkey.
In
this
case
the
police
arrested
and
charged
two
men
believed
to
have
been
responsible
for
the
death.
In
the
1
August
issue
of
Leseli
ka
Sepolesa
it
was
reported
that
at
Matukeng
in
Leribe
District,
two
men
were
beaten
and
burned
and
their
bodies
left
in
the
graveyard
on
24
July
2003.
Five
suspects
were
arrested.
In
the
same
issue
of
the
newspaper,
it
was
reported
that
a
woman
aged
68
of
Thaba-Tsoeu
Lithabaneng
in
Mohale's
flock
District
had
died
after
being
beaten
by
villagers
on
suspicion
that
she
was
a
witch.
No
arrests
were
reported.
▲back
to top
The
Judicial
Service
Commission
(JSC)
had
in
May
2003
given
the
Chief
Magistrate
of
Maseru,
Mr
Molefi
Makara,
six
weeks
ending
on
1
July
2003
to
wind
up
his
business
for
transfer
to
another
post,
which
was
eventually
revealed
to
be
Director
of
the
Probation
Unit.
The
matter
was
taken
up
by
the
Law
Society
which
in
a
strongly
worded
statement
pointed
out
that
the
JSC's
powers
were
to
appoint
and
dismiss,
not
to
transfer
to
positions
outside
the
judiciary.
The
matter
seemed
to
be
one
that
would
be
contested
in
the
courts
of
law.
However,
as
reported
in
Moafrika
of
25
July
2003,
the
matter
was
resolved
when
Mr
Makara
received
a
letter
dated
21
July
2003
stating,
without
giving
reasons,
that
he
should
resume
his
position
of
Chief
Magistrate.
In
a
quite
separate
matter,
as
reported
in
Moaf'rika
of
22
August
2003,
Mr
Justice
Ntsabeng
Mofolo
ruled
in
the
High
Court
that
another
magistrate,
Mokorosi
Chobokoane,
should
have
been
retired
and
not
summarily
dismissed.
The
matter
related
to
Chobokoane
having
been
convicted
in
1999
of
having
beaten
his
wife,
an
offence
for
which
he
was
given
a
gaol
sentence
of
12
months
with
an
alternative
of
a
fine
of
M2000.
The
High
Court
ruled
that
although
Chobokoane
should
not
be
reinstated,
he
should
have
received
the
correct
retirement
package
including
the
right
to
a
pension.
▲back
to top
A
new
Basotho
Enterprises
Development
Corporation
(BEDCO)
industrial
centre
at
Butha-Buthe
was
officially
opened
by
the
Prime
Minister,
Mr
Pakalitha
Mosisili
on
Thursday
24
July
2003.
Funded
by
the
People's
Republic
of
China
and
costing
M8
million,
the
centre
is
on
a
4768
mZ
site
(of
which
2020
mz
is
occupied
by
the
new
buildings).
It
provides
facilities
for
business
offices,
woodworking
and
metal
processing
workshops
and
garment
making.
A
factory
estate
for
Butha-Buthe
is
also
planned
on
a
site
to
the
east
of
the
main
road
to
the
Caledonspoort
Border
Post.
This
site
is
outside
the
urban
area,
and
is
currently
delayed
because
sufficient
compensation
funds
are
still
being
sought
for
the
farmers
who
will
lose
land
as
a
result
of
the
development.▲back
to top
According
to
a
report
in
Moeletsi
oa
Basotho
of
27
July
2003,
Sister
Sophia
Thaha,
Manager
of
St
Rodrigue
Primary
School,
appeared
briefly
at
a
court
in
Maseru
charged
with
stealing
a
passport
office
stamp.
She
said
she
had
taken
the
stamp
on
14
July
to
try
to
give
the
workers
in
the
passport
office
a
hard
time
so
that
they
would
in
turn
realise
what
a
hard
time
they
were
giving
others.
Sister
Thaha
had
applied
for
a
passport
as
long
back
as
the
previous
November,
and
without
a
new
passport
for
identification
had
been
unable
to
do
her
work
such
as
withdrawing
money
from
the
bank
to
pay
for
books
from
the
School
Supply
Unit,
to
build
school
toilets
and
to
buy
food
for
schoolchildren
before
term
began.
St
Rodrigue
is
a
remote
mission
from
where
it
is
a
major
undertaking
to
travel
by
road
to
Maseru.
Sister
Thaha
was
in
fact
in
the
same
situation
as
many
other
passport
applicants
who
find
they
have
to
come
to
Maseru
many
times
before
they
can
get
their
passports
renewed.
Sister
Thaha's
troubles
are
not
yet
over,
and
she
will
have
to
travel
to
Maseru
yet
again
both
to
get
her
passport
and
for
the
resumed
court
case.
The
newspaper
report
quoted
Police
Superintendent
Mpota
Nthako
as
saying
that
the
court
case
would
be
resumed
as
soon
as
the
police
had
acquired
further
evidence.
▲back
to top
A
new
office
and
commercial
block
on
Kingsway,
Maseru,
was
opened
at
the
end
of
July
2003.
Situated
opposite
Development
House,
headquarters
of
the
Lesotho
National
Development
Corporation,
its
two
upper
floors
accommodate
the
headquarters
of
the
LNDC's
parent
Ministry
of
Trade
and
Industry.
On
the
first
floor
are
offices
for
two
parastatals,
the
Lesotho
Electricity
Commission
(LEC)
and
the
Water
and
Sewerage
Authority
(WASA).
The
ground
floor
accommodates
shops,
while
in
the
basement
there
is
a
car
park
which
is
an
extension
of
the
car
park
beneath
the
Shoprite/Checkers
Supermarket.
The
new
building
has
been
designed
by
a
local
firm
of
architects,
Khatleli,
Tomane
&
Moteane.
It
replaces
a
building
burnt
down
in
the
September
1998
riots.
This
two-storey
building
had
accommodated
the
Maseru
Cafe,
a
Chinese
restaurant
and
a
number
of
shops.
The
new
building
does
not
yet
seem
to
have
acquired
a
name,
other
than
the
LNDC
Phase
II
Building,
Phase
I
presumably
being
the
nine-storey
Development
House
on
the
opposite
side
of
Kingsway.
▲back
to top
After
a
period
in
which
others
acted
as
the
Lesotho
Highlands
Development
Authority
Chief
Executive,
the
position
left
vacant
by
the
death
of
Makase
Marumo
was
filled
with
effect
from
1
August
2003
by
Mr
Liphapang
Potloane.
He
was
the
first
Chief
Executive
to
be
appointed
under
new
arrangements
which
ensure
greater
transparency,
and
was
appointed
by
the
LHDA
Board
of
Directors
as
required
by
Protocol
Six
to
the
Lesotho
Highlands
Water
Project
Treaty,
signed
on
4
June
1999.
The
two
previous
Chief
Executives
had
been
appointed
by
the
Minister
of
Natural
Resources.
Liphapan.g
Potloane
(54),
from
Hleoheng
in
Leribe
District,
is
a
1972
Economics
graduate
of
the
University
of
Botswana,
Lesotho
and
Swaziland.
In
1978,
he
obtained
an
MSc
in
Agricultural
Economics
at
the
University
of
Oklahoma.
His
work
experience,
mainly
in
South
Africa,
has
been
diverse,
including
senior
positions
with
the
Development
Bank
of
Southern
Africa,
Nedcor
Bank
and
South
African
Breweries.
He
later
worked
with
the
Maseru
Tyre
Company
and
Lesotho
Agricultural
Development
Bank
in
Lesotho.
His
most
recent
post,
and
presumably
the
most
relevant
to
his
new
position
was
as
Assistant
Director
General
in
the
South
African
Department
of
Water
Affairs
and
Forestry.
▲back
to top
The
Masitise
Cave
House
is
one
of
Lesotho's
best
known
national
monuments.
It
owes
its
origin
to
the
Seqiti
War
and
the
expulsion
in
1866
of
the
protestant
missionaries
from
the
part
of
Lesotho
north
of
the
Senqu
(Gariep)
river.
In
1866,
D.
Frederic
Ellenberge.r
and
his
family
were
living
at
Maphutseng,
at
the
Bethesda
Mission
of
the
Paris
Evangelical
Missionary
Society
(in
present
day
Mohale's
Hock
District).
He
packed
his
family
(and
the
mission's
printing
press)
into
waggons,
and
trekked
south
across
the
Senqu
to
the
area
where
Chief
Moorosi
was
living.
Chief
Moorosi
had
invited
him
to
become
moruti
to
his
Baphuthi
people
and
to
found
the
first
mission
south
of
the
Senqu.
The
waggons
came
to
rest
below
a
north-facing
escarpment
where
there
was
a
rock
overhang
which
had
once
been
occupied
by
San
and
more
recently
used
as
a
cattle-post
by
a
Mophuthi
called
Mazitizi.
It
seemed
a
possible
temporary
home,
and
with
Moorosi's
support,
Ellenberger
built
a
brick
wall
across
the
front
of
the
overhang
and
created
a
three
roomed
house
inside.
The
family
moved
from
their
waggons
into
the
house
on
13
May
1867.
This
`temporary'
house
was
to
be
the
family's
home
for
the
next
13
years
during
which
five
of
his
large
family
of
12
children
were
born
there.
Meanwhile,
other
buildings
took
precedence
over
aa
more
suitable
mission
house,
the
first
of
which
was
a
building
for
the
printing
works
completed
in
1867.
This
was
followed
by
school
buildings,
and
a
church
in
1879.
It
was
only
in
1880
that
the
present
mission
house
was
built,
about
eighty
metres
lower
down
the
slope
from
the
cave
house
by
a
twisting
path.
Although
five
of
the
twelve
Ellenberger
children
were
daughters
who
died
young,
several
of
the
other
descendants
distinguished
themselves
in
public,
missionary
and
scientific
fields.
Edmund
Masitisi
Ellenberger,
born
in
the
cave
in
1867,
became
a
lawyer
and
was
later
Mayor
of
Bethlehem.
Amongst
his
descendants
was
the
co-founder
of
the
well-known
estate
agent
firm
of
Ellenberger
&
Kahts
in
Bloemfontein.
Colonel
Jules
Ellenberger,
born
in
the
cave
in
1871,
became
in
the
1930s
Resident
Commissioner
of
the
Bechuanaland
Protectorate,
modern
Botswana.
Rene
Ellenberger,
born
in
the
cave
in
1873,
assisted
his
father
with
his
publications
until
his
father's
death
in
1920
and
later
became
Professor
of
Bantu
Languages
at
the
University
of
the
Witwatersrand;
and
Victor
Ellenberger,
born
in
the
cave
in1879
to
the
sound
of
guns
during
the
Moorosi
War
became
the
author
of
a
number
of
books
in
French
about
Lesotho.
He
was
missionary
both
at
the
Leribe
(Maoana-Masooana)
Mission
for
many
years,
and
also
followed
another
Leribe
missionary,
Franyois
Coillard
to
work
in
the
Barotseland
Mission
in
what
is
today
western
Zambia.
Victor
Ellenberger
married
a
daughter
of
Frederic
Christol,
the
Parisian
artist
who
had
responded
to
the
call
to
become
a
PEMS
missionary
in
Lesotho.
Amongst
their
children
was
Fran~ois
who
became
a
distinguished
geologist
at
the
Sorbonne
in
Paris
and
Paul
Ellenberger,
who
became
a
missionary
like
his
grandfather,
and
was
the
minister
in
charge
of
the
Masitise
Parish
when
it
celebrated
its
centenary
in
1966.
Amongst
Paul
Ellenberger's
many
and
varied
activities,
the
recording
of
fossil
footprints
became
a
major
preoccupation,
and
in
his
later
life
at
the
University
of
Montpellier
in
France
he
was
able
to
organize
his
data
into
a
number
of
major
publications,
so
that
Lesotho
fossil
footprints
are
arguably
more
systematically
documented
than
those
of
any
other
country
in
the
world.
Some
150
different
Lesotho
species
were
described
in
a
special
1972
issue
of
Palceovertebrata,
almost
all
from
Lesotho
where
the
ichnotypes
(type
specimens
for
fossil
footprints)
are
located.
Ellenberger
allowed
his
imagination
to
wander
in
finding
Latin
binomials
for
these
fossil
reptiles.
They
include
Bosiutrisauropus
phzathiatsani
for
a
dinosaur
with
prints
found
in
the
Phuthiatsana
valley
near
ThabaBosiu;
ParatNisurvpus
lifofanensis
('of
the
aeroplanes')
for
dinosaur
tracks
on
the
Maseru
airfield;
Djaquesopus
obliquus
for
a
mysterious
sloping
track
(discovered
by
and
named
after
its
discoverers,
Dr
&
Mrs
A.
C.
Jaques,
and
today
on
the
edge
of
the
Bambatha
Tsita
Stadium)
suggesting
an
ancient
crocodile
or
possibly
a
predecessor
of
the
tortoise
family;
Grallator
damanei
for
tracks
discovered
at
Matsieng
by
the
Mosotho
historian,
Mosebi
Damane;
and
Trisauropodiscus
popompoi,
a
proto-avian
of
rather
corpulent
build,
whose
specific
epithet
apparently
derives
from
a
nickname
of
the
late
Prime
Minister,
Leabua
Jonathan!
(Paul
Ellenberger
and
Lcabua
Jonathan
were
near
contemporaries
and
went
to
school
together
at
Leribe.)
When
D.
F.
Ellenberger
occupied
the
cave
house
in
1867,
he
no
doubt
had
the
same
view
of
World
history
as
his
contemporaries,
namely
that
creation
took
place
over
six
days
in
or
about
4004
BC.
A
century
later,
his
grandson,
Paul
Ellenberger,
noticed
that
the
cave
house
ceiling
itself
bore
the
marks
of
events
some
200
million
years
ago.
Reptiles
had
left
their
tracks,
which
were
preserved
as
casts
when
the
rock
layer
below
fell
away.
Protestantism
had
moved
with
the
times
to
embrace
Darwinism,
and
a
different
geological
time
scale.
The
prints
on
the
roof
of
the
cave
acquired
names
such
as
Lehahichnus
coquinaris
('Mischievous
cave
footprint').
D.
F.
Ellenberger
became
Lesotho's
most
significant
early
historian,
producing
with
help
from
his
son
Rene
and
son-in-law
J.
C.
Macgregor
(later
Sir
James
Macgregor)
and
innumerable
Basotho
informants
a
major
book,
History
qf'the
Basuto,
largely
compiled
from
oral
tradition,
and
planned
as
part
of
a
longer
work,
largely
written
but
still
unpublished.
He
also
in
a
sense,
became
the
founder
of
the
Morija
Archives
in
1907,
because,
needing
money
in
his
old
age,
he
sold
his
own
extensive
collection
of
Lesotho
books
and
manuscripts
for
the
sum
of
£45
to
the
Lesotho
Missionary
Conference.
It
was
this
collection
which
became
the
nucleus
of
the
present
Archives.
It
was
fitting
therefore
that
the
Morija
Museum
&
Archives
(which
in
1992
produced
anew
edition
of
the
History
of
the
Basulo),
with
assistance
from
the
United
States
Ambassador's
Fund
for
Cultural
Preservation,
undertook
the
renovation
of
the
Masitise
Cave
House,
which
was
formally
reopened
on
Friday
1
August
2003.
The
restoration
work
includes
landscaping
and
the
upgrading
of
road
access
and
a
member
of
the
United
States
Peace
Corps
is
now
stationed
at
Masitise,
exploring
the
possibilities
of
ecotourism
development
in
the
area.
▲back
to top
The
National
University
of
Lesotho
began
its
academic
year
in
August
with
more
than
its
usual
crop
of
problems.
Even
before
the
semester
began,
a
serious
question
was
hanging
over
the
future
of
the
University's
Faculty
of
Agriculture.
The
Faculty
of
Agriculture
had
been
founded
in
1990
with
the
appointment
to
the
University
as
Dean
of
Agriculture
of
a
Nigerian
mycologist
and
plant
pathologist,
Professor
A.
C.
Ebenebe
(called
by
some
`the
palindromic
professor').
This
resulted
in
creating
a
parallel
institution
to
the
Lesotho
Agricultural
College
in
Maseru,
which
had
been
established
as
long
ago
as
March
1955
in
the
grounds
of
the
Agricultural
Experimental
Station,
and
had
had
a
long
experience
of
developing
appropriate
certificate
and
diploma
courses
suited
to
Lesotho
conditions.
A
wiser
move
might
have
been
(there
was
a
precedent
in
Swaziland
for
such
a
move)
the
joint
appointment
of
university
staff
to
the
existing
College
to
enable
it
to
be
eventually
upgraded,
when
appropriate,
to
university
faculty
status.
In
fact,
it
was
expected
that
the
new
Dean
would
negotiate
a
rapid
merger
with
the
LAC,
with
a
similar
result.
However,
this
did
not
happen
for
several
years,
possibly
because
the
Faculty
was
largely
staffed
with
West
Africans
in
senior
positions
with
little
knowledge
of
local
agricultural
conditions,
and
thus
thought
by
the
LAC
staff
to
be
unwelcome
colleagues
because
they
would
be
unsuitable
for
local
teaching.
As
a
result
the
Faculty
of
Agriculture
admitted
degree
students
and
taught
its
courses
not
in
Maseru,
but
in
Roma,
where
there
were
minimal
opportunities
for
practical
work.
There
was
for
example
aNigerian
Professor
of
Agricultural
Engineering
heading
the
Department
of
Crop
Science,
but
there
was
in
fact
no
agricultural
machinery
on
which
students
could
practice
their
theory,
other
than
part
use
of
a
tractor.
In
fact
it
was
said
by
others
that
the
National
University
had
the
only
Faculty
of
Theoretical
Agriculture
in
the
World.
To
be
fair
to
the
Faculty,
it
did
appoint
a
farm
manager
for
the
Roma
Campus,
who
commuted
from
Maseru.
Five
years
after
the
Faculty
had
been
founded,
a
small
dairy
herd,
which
still
exists,
was
established,
beginning
with
three
Friesian
cows
purchased
in
1995.
For
a
short
time
also
this
herd
was
milked
by
machine,
and
for
a
few
weeks
the
milk
was
pasteurized,
until
both
were
abandoned
when
the
machinery
broke
down.
At
about
the
same
time,
as
the
dairy
herd
was
established,
6
merino
sheep
were
bought
and
10
angora
goats.
The
sheep
were
stolen
in
1998,
and
the
goats
transferred
to
Maseru
in
1999.
Two
chicken
houses
were
also
constructed
in
1999.
After
10
years
of
negotiations,
on
18
May
2000,
an
agreement
was
signed
by
the
then
Acting
Vice-Chancellor,
Dr
L.
T.
Jonathan;
the
Principal
Secretary
for
Agriculture,
Mr
M.
J.
Masilo;
and
the
Principal
Secretary
for
Education,
Mr
T.
Sekhamane.
This
provided
for
the
Lesotho
Government
to
merge
the
Faculty
of
Agriculture
with
the
Lesotho
Agricultural
College
on
the
Maseru
site,
save
that
the
Agricultural
Research
Division
was
to
remain
as
an
autonomous
unit
within
the
new
Agricultural
Campus,
remaining
a
department
within
the
Ministry
of
Agriculture.
The
new
Faculty
of
Agriculture
was
to
continue
running
its
undergraduate
and
post-graduate
programmes
and
to
take
over
all
diploma
and
certificate
programmes
run
by
the
former
LAC.
Provision
was
also
made
for
possible
future
merger
of
the
Agricultural
Research
Division
with
the
Faculty
of
the
Agriculture.
The
marriage
of
the
institutions
was
consummated
when
Faculty
of
Agriculture
teaching
began
in
Maseru
in
August
2000,
but
the
honeymoon
did
not
last
long,
with
a
series
of
problems
(as
reported
in
Information
Flash
of
13
October
2000)
leading
to
aa
strike
because
sub-degree
students
were
registered
under
different
conditions
from
those
of
degree
students.
Other
problems
arose
from
different
conditions
of
service
being
applied
to
the
staff
of
the
two
formerly
different
institutions.
Marriages
can
survive
many
difficulties,
but
in
the
case
of
the
FOA/LAC
marriage,
one
of
the
parents
of
the
couple
insisted
on
a
divorce.
As
reported
in
the
university
weekly,
Information
Flash,
of
25
July
2003,
a
letter
dated
15
July
2003
to
the
University
conveyed
the
decision
of
the
Lesotho
Cabinet
to
rescind
the
FOA/LAC
merger,
directing
the
two
relevant
Principal
Secretaries
(Education
and
Agriculture
&
Food
Security)
to
ensure
that
the
demerger
was
completed
by
August
2003.
The
letter
did
not
give
reasons
for
the
demerger,
but
the
Vice-Chancellor,
Dr
T.
H.
Mothibe,
in
addressing
the
School
of
Agriculture
staff
(Agriculture
is
now
a`School'
in
a
larger
Science
Faculty)
reported
that
he
was
reliably
informed
that
four
reasons
had
probably
influenced
the
Cabinet
decision.
These
were
that
the
standard
and
quality
of
training
in
agriculture
was
not
meeting
Government
expectations
in
terms
of
academic
and
practical
aptitude;
the
cost
of
training
was
too
high;
the
farm
facilities
of
the
former
LAC
had
fallen
into
a
state
of
neglect
since
the
merger
and
the
farmland
had
remained
fallow;
and
NUL
was
said
to
have
allowed
the
Faculty
of
Agriculture
to
be
run
by
expatriates
to
the
detriment
of
the
college
programmes.
The
Vice-Chancellor
indicated
that
the
matter
had
been
reported
to
the
University
Council,
which
was
intervening
on
behalf
of
the
University.
In
the
meantime,
he
had
directed
that
all
major
works
and
developmental
projects
on
the
former
LAC
campuses
(there
is
a
campus
in
I-Ilotse
as
well
as
the
main
campus
in
Maseru)
be
suspended.
▲back
to top
A
second
major
problem
for
the
National
University
of
Lesotho
arose
at
the
beginning
of
the
new
Academic
Year
in
August
2003.
It
concerned
different
perceptions
by
the
University
and
Government
of
the
University's
role
in
meeting
national
needs.
For
many
years
in
the
mid-1990s,
enrolments
at
NUL
had
increased
by
relatively
small
amounts,
indeed
only
from
1981
students
to
2208
students
in
the
period
from
1995
to
1998,
an
average
annual
increase
of
only
3.7%.
The
generally
cited
constraints
were
lack
of
sufficient
additional
hostel
and
teaching
facilities.
A
new
multipurpose
teaching
block
was
planned
in
1998
and
actually
came
into
use
in
2000,
which
provided
the
impetus
to
admit
more
students,
so
that
student
numbers
increased
by
11.9%
to
2471
in
1999
and
13.8%
to
2812
in
2000
(figures
from
NUL
Annual
Statistical
Bulletin
2002).
However,
with
the
assumption
to
office
of
the
present
Vice-Chancellor
and
Pro-Vice-Chancellor
in
2000,
much
higher
targets
were
sought,
and
in
the
university's
2002-7
strategic
plan
a
target
enrolment
of
10
000
students
by
2007
is
mentioned,
matching
a
figure
already
passed
by
the
University's
daughter
institution,
the
University
of
Botswana.
By
2002,
as
a
result
of
bridging
courses
for
students
not
otherwise
admissible
to
NUL,
the
university
was
admitting
close
to
2000
new
students
per
year,
a
number
which
put
an
unanticipated
strain
on
the
National
Manpower
Development
Secretariat
which
provides
loan
bursaries.
As
a
result
in
the
2002/3
Financial
Year
it
spent
M40
million
more
than
its
M
115
million
budget
allocation
(figures
from
the
March
2003
Budget
Speech).
Although
loan
bursaries
are
repayable,
theoretically
creating
a
revolving
fund,
the
reality
is
that
only
a
small
proportion
is
actually
recovered,
and
even
this
is
dwindling
given
the
large
numbers
of
unemployed
graduates,
a
significant
number
of
graduates
who
migrate
to
South
Africa
and
do
not
repay,
and
more
recently
a
significant
number
of
graduates
who
are
dying
of
AIDS
before
they
can
complete
their
repayment.
Other
losses
are
from
students
who
fail
their
University
courses.
277
students
registered
for
the
first
year
of
legal
studies
in
2002
(a
number
comparable
to
the
total
number
of
lawyers
in
Lesotho!),
but
of
these
98
failed,
with
little
hope
that
their
loans
would
be
repaid.
In
2003,
342
students
initially
registered
for
first
year
law,
the
popularity
of
the
subject
perhaps
being
spurred
on
by
an
agreement
by
which
Lesotho
and
South
African
trained
lawyers
can
each
practice
in
the
other
country,
and
tales
of
the
vast
fees
which
some
South
African
lawyers
can
successfully
charge
and
get.
For
the
2003/4
Financial
Year,
the
allocation
to
the
NMDS
(which
also
funds
many
students
studying
outside
Lesotho)
has
been
increased
to
M
195
million,
but
it
is
not
enough
to
meet
the
increase
in
students
at
NUL,
and
the
Minister
of
Finance
and
Development
Planning,
Mr
Tim
Thahane,
on
1
August
2003
issued
a
policy
statement
saying
that
as
a
guideline
for
the
present
financial
year,
there
would
be
only
limited
financing
of
loan
bursaries,
and
priority
would
be
given
to
`disciplines
identified
by
Government
as
critical
for
achieving
Lesotho's
national
vision,
reducing
poverty,
creating
jobs,
and
improving
life
of
the
people'.
The
identified
disciplines
listed
were
`Information
and
communication
technologies
and
computer
sciences;
Economics
and
business
sciences;
Education
particularly
the
teaching
of
math
and
science
[English
teaching
was
not
mentioned];
Agriculture
and
environmental
sciences;
Health
sciences;
Engineering;
Legal
Studies;
and
Sciences'.
In
a
statement
to
students
at
NUL
at
the
beginning
of
August,
the
Minister
said
that
the
950
direct
entry
2003
Basotho
students
as
well
as
the
900
Basotho
students
who
did
not
meet
the
normal
entrance
requirements
but
had
been
admitted
through
the
bridging
programme,
would
all
be
re-evaluated
against
the
new
criteria
for
loan
bursaries.
The
Minister's
announcement
introduced
an
element
of
realism
into
the
University's
transformation
process,
which
had
aimed
at
10
000
students
without
a
clear
indication
of
how
they
would
be
financed
or
whether
they
would
find
jobs.
As
reported
in
the
University's
Information
Flash
of
18
July
2003,
the
Director
of
Transformation
at
the
University,
Dr
M.
V.
Marake,
had
earlier,
when
interviewed
on
Lesotho
Television,
`pointed
out
that
the
criticism
[the]
University
produce[s]
mass
[sic]
graduates
without
consideration
of
where
they
will
work,
[is]
unfounded,
given
that
these
students
if
not
admitted
at
NUL,
will
seek
admission
somewhere
else.
He
said
that
the
University
prepares
students
for
the
world
of
work
and
the
responsibility
of
jab
creation
is
outside
the
scope
of
NUL.'
Meanwhile
there
was
little
indication
in
the
Minister's
interventions
that
any
action
is
being
taken
to
address
other
areas
of
manpower
shortage,
one
of
the
most
acute
of
which
is
nursing.
The
numbers
of
nurses
trained
in
recent
years
has
not
increased
significantly,
and
new
developments
are
leading
to
acute
shortages.
One
problem
is
the
recruitment
of
nurses
to
more
lucrative
positions
outside
Lesotho.
At
one
time
the
main
country
attracting
Basotho
nurses
was
South
Africa,
but
in
the
past
two
years
significant
numbers
have
gone
to
work
in
the
United
Kingdom
and
also,
it
is
believed,
to
Australia
and
Saudi
Arabia.
Moeletsi
oa
Basotho
of
31
August
2003
includes
an
advertisement
from
Medinnel,
Inc,
a
firm
offering
to
arrange
for
Registered
Nurses
to
spend
`3
years
+
in
the
USA,
gaining
international
experience
and
providing
an
exceptional
lifestyle
for
your
family'.
There
is
therefore
every
indication
that
Nursing
is
becoming
the
new
form
of
migrant
labour.
However,
to
cater
for
this
Lesotho
probably
needs
to
double
the
number
of
nurses
being
trained.
There
is,
however,
another
more
sombre
element.
With
51
%
HIV/AIDS
prevalence
amongst
women
in
the
15
to
24
age
group,
even
if
the
rate
is
lower
amongst
trainee
nurses,
it
is
probably
still
wise
to
double
the
number
of
trainees
both
to
compensate
for
those
whose
lives
will
tragically
be
cut
short,
and
to
allow
for
the
many
additional
nursing
staff
to
cope
with
the
national
emergency
which
HIV/AIDS
has
created.
In
short,
for
two
quite
unrelated
reasons,
the
numbers
of
nursing
trainees
need
to
be
doubled,
so
that
overall
Lesotho
should
be
producing
at
least
FOUR
TIMES
as
many
trained
nurses
as
at
present.
Many
of
those
admitted
to
NUL
(women
are
55%
of
the
student
body)
as
aspirant
lawyers
or
urban
and
regional
planners
(to
mention
two
oversubscribed
fields)
might
have
been
more
appropriately
admitted
to
Colleges
of
Nursing.
▲back
to top
The
large
additional
enrolments
at
the
National
University
of
Lesotho
Roma
Campus
in
August
2003
exacerbated
a
number
of
problems
which
were
impacting
on
the
quality
of
life
of
students
and
staff.
Student
accommodation
was
for
long
regarded
as
a
constraint
to
expansion,
but
money
for
additional
hostels
was
not
forthcoming
from
government
sources.
Although
the
University
had
considerable
financial
resources,
in
its
wisdom
it
did
not
invest
these
in
further
hostels
which
might
have
had
a
controllable
guaranteed
return,
but
rather
embarked
on
investing
funds
in
the
Sefika
Mall,
a
shopping
complex
in
Maseru,
the
rents
from
which
were
hoped,
as
is
now
apparent
rather
too
optimistically,
to
bring
in
a
return
producing
a
handsome
profit
over
the
mortgage
repayments.
As
a
result
of
the
shortage
of
student
accommodation,
what
was
once
an
almost
wholly
residential
campus
changed
in
character.
The
Academic
Year
1999/2000
was
the
last
year
when
there
were
more
undergraduates
on
campus
(1313)
compared
with
off
campus
(1158).
The
following
year
there
were
again
1313
on
campus
and
1499
off
campus.
53%
on
campus
thus
changed
the
following
year
to
53%
off
campus.
The
large
numbers
of
students
off
campus
created
a
temporary
building
boom
in
Roma,
with
local
residents
with
sufficient
space
and
capital
building
large
numbers
of
single
room
malaene,
single
room
tenements,
rented
out
to
students.
There
are
no
de
facto
town
planning
restrictions
on
such
developments,
because
Roma
was
downgraded
from
an
urban
area
in
1986
by
the
then
Military
Government
to
village
status
falling
under
the
local
chief,
and
no-one
has
rectified
the
situation,
even
though
the
Prime
Minister
has
a
house
in
Roma,
and
must
be
suffering
because
access
to
his
own
house
is
along
a
narrow
unplanned
(and
untarred)
road.
Theoretically
all
new
building
is
subject
to
the
Building
Control
Act
1995
which
requires
permission
for
constructing
any
new
building,
wherever
constructed,
but
in
reality
the
enormous
bureaucracy
required
to
enforce
the
legislation
does
not
exist,
and
consequently
it
is
overlooked
both
by
builders
and
those
enforcing
the
law,
except
in
certain
main
urban
areas.
In
the
meantime,
as
a
palliative
measure,
in
relation
to
student
accommodation,
the
University
announced
that
it
was
seeking
agreement
with
a
private
sector
institution
and
hoped
that
500
units
of
accommodation
might
be
completed
in
time
for
the
2004/5
academic
year.
Another
constraint
to
University
expansion
was
a
shortage
of
classroom
space.
In
particular,
there
were
insufficient
large
rooms
to
accommodate
all
the
classes
which
were
timetabled
simultaneously.
However,
some
relief
to
this
problem
could
be
seen
to
be
in
sight,
because
a
large
new
teaching
block
occupying
the
site
of
the
former
graduation
podium
and
the
adjacent
lawn,
was
under
construction.
Despite
the
efforts
of
the
Chinese
construction
firm,
which
has
had
its
builders
working
right
through
holidays
and
weekends,
the
building
had
not
been
ready
at
the
beginning
of
the
academic
year,
but
was
promised
to
be
ready
by
31
October
2003.
There
was
no
obvious
donor
or
sponsor
for
the
building,
and
it
was
believed
that
its
construction
was
placing
a
serious
strain
on
the
University's
precarious
financial
position.
A
third
constraint
to
university
expansion
was
a
shortage
of
lecturers,
leading
to
large
classes
in
popular
subjects,
which
means
that
students
admitted
through
the
bridging
programme,
who
might
be
expected
to
need
extra
care
and
attention,
could
not
always
be
catered
for.
Lecturers
facing
classes
of
hundreds
of
students
could
not
reasonably
be
expected
to
mark
the
same
numbers
of
assignments
as
occurred
in
the
past.
Moreover,
new
methods
of
teaching
using
electronic
media
were
so
far
not
very
far
developed
at
the
university.
A
recent
30%
increase
in
staff
salaries
was,
however,
expected
to
aid
academic
staff
recruitment.
However,
a
subsequent
and
perhaps
consequent
financial
crisis
is
believed
to
have
resulted
in
actual
recruitment
being
frozen.
There
were
other
shortages
too,
some
of
which
were
easier
to
correct.
For
example,
water
was
scarce
in
the
Roma
valley
due
to
a
dry
winter,
but
rain
in
mid-August
and
September
helped
to
relieve
this.
Electricity
also
became
scarce
for
three
days
from
20
August,
because
an
overloaded
cable
burned
out
and
the
electricians
who
could
repair
it
were
all
away
at
a
workshop
in
Malealea.
It
took
three
days
before
the
supply
was
restored
and
in
the
meantime,
none
of
the
main
administrative
offices
functioned,
resulting
in
no
internal
telephone,
computer
or
library
book
issuing
facilities,
while
the
Bursary
was
unable
to
process
staff
salaries
for
August
on
time.
The
weather
was
cold,
and
without
heating,
virtually
the
whole
secretarial
staff
were
to
be
seen
sitting
outside
in
the
sun.
Should
it
be
thought
that
all
was
doom
and
gloom
at
the
University,
one
of
the
University
chaplains
who
is
also
a
member
of
Council,
Rev.
Dr
Tlali
G.
Lerotholi
OMI,
(in
Information
Flash
of
1
August
2003)
offered
this
comment:
`There
are
two
main
perceptions
about
the
current
situation
at
NUL.
On
one
hand,
for
the
pessimists,
it
is
the
worst
of
times.
It
is
utter
confusion
and
chaos.
One
wonders
where
the
institution
is
heading.
On
the
other
hand,
for
the
optimists,
this
is
the
best
of
times.
It
is
the
time
of
new
challenges
hence
new
opportunities
for
creativity
and
innovation....
NUL
is
neither
heaven
nor
hell.
It
is
an
academic
institution
of
higher
learning
faced
with
challenges
of
modernity
and
change....'
▲back
to top
If
it
was
indeed
for
pessimists
the
worst
of
times,
they
were
soon
to
be
outdone,
because
matters
became
steadily
worse.
The
National
Manpower
Development
Secretariat
had
not
come
through
with
the
loan
bursary
money,
even
a
month
after
the
university
semester
had
begun.
The
students
wanted
to
demonstrate
against
NMDS,
but
were
told
by
the
police
that
no
demonstrations
could
take
place
until
after
the
end
of
the
period
of
mourning
for
Queen
'Mamohato.
On
11
September
2003,
students
presented
a
petition
to
the
Vice-Chancellor
which
contained
several
points,
including
the
problem
with
NMDS,
but
also
problems
of
inadequate
classrooms
and
facilities,
insufficient
staff,
and
the
problems
faced
by
the
many
students
having
to
live
in
the
villages
around
the
University
where
they
were
subjected
to
frequent
robberies.
The
students
barricaded
the
main
gate
of
the
University
around
midday,
and
refused
to
allow
any
vehicles
to
enter
or
leave.
An
emergency
Senate
was
held
and
students
were
told
to
open
the
gate
by
4
p.m..
When
they
had
not
done
so
by
5
p.m.
police
firing
tear
gas
and
baton
rounds
attempted
to
disperse
the
students,
whereupon
the
students
attacked
the
police
and
the
University
security
guards
with
stones,
breaking
many
windows
in
the
Security
Office
and
Gatehouse.
The
Vice-Chancellor,
Dr
Tefetso
Mothibe,
had
returned
that
same
day
from
the
University
of
the
Witwatersrand,
where
he
had
attended
the
installation
of
Professor
Loyiso
Nongxa
(once
a
mathematics
lecturer
at
Roma)
as
Vice-Chancellor.
He
was
in
touch
with
the
President
of
the
NUL
Students
Representative
Council
by
cellphone,
and
tried
to
arrange
a
meeting
in
Netherlands
Hall
with
the
students.
They
declined
on
the
grounds
that
it
was
a
trap
and
that
they
would
all
be
arrested.
However,
they
agreed
to
the
Vice-Chancellor
addressing
them
from
the
balcony
outside
the
Senate
Room
facing
the
Main
Gate
of
the
University.
The
Vice-Chancellor,
together
with
senior
colleagues,
addressed
the
crowd
and
tried
to
assure
the
students
he
would
be
going
to
Maseru
first
thing
in
the
morning
to
meet
the
Minister
of
Education
about
their
grievances,
particularly
in
regard
to
the
delayed
payments
from
NMDS.
However,
by
this
time
a
group
of
students,
many
of
them
drunk,
and
others
infuriated
by
the
attacks
on
them
by
the
police,
chanted
offensive
slogans
and
threw
stones
at
the
balcony.
Much
glass
was
broken,
and
the
Vice-Chancellor
and
Acting
Bursar
both
sustained
slight
head
wounds
from
flying
glass.
The
orgy
of
glass
breaking
extended
to
other
buildings
with
the
offices
of
the
Dean
of
Student
Affairs
being
particularly
badly
hit.
The
police
and
security
guards
by
this
time
were
combing
the
campus
for
troublemakers,
firing
more
baton
rounds
until
about
7.30
p.m.
Some
seven
students
as
well
as
two
staff
of
the
Robertos
Restaurant
near
the
University
gate
were
taken
to
hospital
with
wounds
from
rubber
bullets
or
suffering
from
tear
gas
inhalation.
A
tenth
hospitalised
victim
was
a
Masianokeng
High
School
pupil
who
apparently
just
happened
to
be
in
the
wrong
place
at
the
wrong
time.
The
University
Senate
met
in
emergency
session
the
following
morning
and
predictably
decided
that
the
University
should
be
closed.
By
4
p.m.
on
12
September
all
students
had
to
vacate
the
campus,
although
as
a
concession
it
was
agreed
that
foreign
students
could
remain
and
be
accommodated
in
Moshoeshoe
Hall.
After
careful
deliberations
within
the
University
and
also
with
Government,
it
was
decided
by
the
Senate
that
the
University
would
be
reopened
on
Monday
22
September.
By
this
time,
the
NMDS
had
decided
to
fund
all
first
year
students
who
had
entered
the
University
with
normal
entrance
qualifications.
However,
it
had
also
decided
not
to
fund
866
students
who
had
entered
the
First
Year
through
the
bridging
course.
The
University
therefore
announced
that
bridging
course
students
could
only
return
if
they
brought
with
them
financial
guarantees
that
they
had
independent
sources
of
income.
This
development
had
a
serious
ripple
effect
for
the
local
economy.
Many
local
people
in
neighbouring
villages
had
invested
(sometimes
with
borrowed
money)
significant
amounts
in
building
single
room
tenements,
malaene,
to
rent
to
students.
Some
of
these
suddenly
found
there
would
be
no-one
to
rent
the
rooms
to
after
all.
On
the
Saturday
before
the
students
returned,
the
Vice-Chancellor
held
a
meeting
with
parents.
He
stated
that
damage
to
University
property
was
estimated
at
M86
000
and
that
the
Students
Representative
Council
would
be
held
responsible
for
the
damage.
He
also
announced
that
a
Commission
of
Inquiry
was
being
instituted
to
identify
the
ringleaders
of
the
violence.
▲back
to top
One
of
Lesotho's
most
celebrated
criminals,
former
policeman
Phakiso
Molise,
escaped
from
gaol
on
7August
2003.
His
escape
occurred
at
Queen
Elizabeth
II
Hospital,
Maseru,
where
Molise
had
been
taken
for
an
eye
checkup.
Armed
men
attacked
the
prison
warder
guarding
him,
and
spirited
him
away
in
a
car.
Former
2nd
Lieutenant
Molise
was
serving
18
years
imprisonment
for
high
treason,
murder,
attempted
murder
and
mutiny.
He
had
been
involved
in
an
attack
which
led
to
the
death
of
three
senior
police
officers
at
the
Maseru
Charge
Office.
When,
after
a
Commission
of
Inquiry,
he
found
that
he
was
to
be
arrested
for
this
attack,
Molise
had
then
led
a
police
mutiny
which
took
over
the
police
headquarters
in
Maseru,
purporting
to
dismiss
the
most
senior
police
officers
in
the
country.
The
police
rebellion
was
finally
quelled
when
the
Lesotho
Defence
Force
attacked
the
police
headquarters
building
on
16
February
1997.
By
this
time
Molise
had
escaped.
It
was
only
some
time
later
that
he
was
captured
in
South
Africa
and
returned
to
Lesotho
to
stand
trial.
Following
Molise's
most
recent
escape,
it
was
announced
that
a
special
unit
with
members
from
the
Lesotho
Mounted
Police
Service,
the
National
Security
Services
and
the
Lesotho
Defence
Force
had
been
formed
to
look
into
how
Molise
had
escaped,
who
might
have
assisted
him,
and
where
he
now
was,
so
that
he
could
be
returned
to
prison.
Molise
was
clearly
at
large
in
South
Africa.
As
reported
by
Public
Eye
of
26
September
2003,
he
had
given
a
long
telephonic
interview
with
the
newspaper,
giving
his
own
version
of
events
at
Queen
Elizabeth
II
Hospital
on
the
day
he
escaped.
He
claimed
that
on
that
occasion
he
had
had
a
narrow
escape
from
government
agents
who
had
intended
to
kill
him.
▲back
to top
As
reported
in
Lesotho
Today
of
7
August
2003,
the
Ombudsman,
Mr
Sekara
Mafisa,
after
receiving
a
number
of
complaints
from
individuals
from
resettled
communities,
found
that
the
Lesotho
Highlands
Development
Authority
had
failed
in
many
instances
to
pay
compensation
in
accordance
with
agreements
with
the
affected
parties.
In
other
cases
the
compensation
had
been
delayed.
The
results
of
his
inquiry
were
delivered
in
a
report
presented
at
Molengoane
Lodge,
not
far
from
where
some
resettled
people
are
now
living.
The
report
makes
a
long
list
of
recommendations
and
also
notes
that
if
the
LHDA
had
used
its
legal
department
effectively,
it
would
have
avoided
some
of
the
infractions
of
the
law
relating
to
compensation.
▲back
to top
The
much
criticized
`blue
river'
of
effluent
from
factories
making
stone
washed
jeans
at
the
Thetsane
Industrial
Estate
in
Maseru
was
reported,
after
a
number
of
years,
to
have
finally
dried
up.
According
to
a
report
in
Lesotho
Today
of
7
August
2003,
the
Minister
of
Tourism,
Environment
&
Culture,
Ms
Lebohang
Ntsinyi,
recently
toured
the
area
to
see
whether
the
factory
owners
had
taken
action
after
earlier
talks
with
the
Ministry.
She
found
that
the
factory
owners
had
installed
water
purification
to
remove
the
blue
colouring,
after
which
the
water
went
to
the
sewage
pond
of
the
Water
&
Sewerage
Authority
(WASA).
However,
despite
the
report,
the
many
people
who
daily
passed
the
`blue
river'
at
Thetsane,
said
that,
if
the
river
had
dried
up
at
all,
it
had
been
only
temporary.
It
was
still
flowing
as
strongly
as
ever!
▲back
to top
A`National
Cultural
Policy'
has
been
under
discussion
for
some
time,
and
finalisation
has
apparently
been
held
up,
because
of
debate
about
what
the
policy
should
say
in
relation
to
traditional
initition
schools.
On
13
August,
as
reported
by
Public
Eye
of
22
August
2003,
the
Prime
Minister,
Mr
Pakalitha
Mosisili,
spoke
at
the
opening
of
a
two
day
seminar
on
initiation
schools.
He
said
that
poverty
reduction,
curbing
of
HIV/AIDS
infection
and
preserving
of
the
environment
should
be
included
in
the
syllabus
to
be
taught
at
initiation
schools.
▲back
to top
In
October
2002,
the
Canadian
engineering
firm,
Acres
International,
has
been
fined
$2.2
million
(M22
million)
for
its
part
in
bribing
the
Chief
Executive
of
the
Lesotho
Ilighlands
Development
Authority,
Masupha
Sole.
It
appealed
against
the
judgment.
On
15
August
2003,
the
President
of
the
Lesotho
Court
of
Appeal
upheld
the
main
judgment,
but
found
one
of
the
charges
not
proved
beyond
reasonable
doubt.
As
a
result
the
fine
was
reduced
to
M15
million.
The
impact
on
Acres
International
is
likely
to
be
much
greater
than
the
size
of
the
fine.
Its
sullied
reputation
is
likely
to
result
in
it
being
blacklisted
for
future
contracts
by
the
World
Bank
and
other
similar
bodies.
Shortly
after
the
Acres
appeal,
a
second
company,
Lahmeyer
International,
was
found
guilty
by
Mr
Justice
Gabriel
Mofolo,
sitting
with
two
assessors,
on
seven
counts
of
having
bribed
Masupha
Sole
in
foreign
currency
equivalent
to
some
R6
million
over
the
years
1992
to
1997.
The
money
was
paid
to
Sole
through
the
late
Zalisiwonga
Mini
Bam
and
his
wife
Margaret
as
intermediaries
through
Swiss
bank
accounts.
Lahmeyer
International
was
fined
Rl
0
650
000.
In
a
third
related
case,
Jacobus
Michiel
du
Plooy
was
found
guilty
of
bribery
on
17
September
2003,
having
been
an
agent
in
the
transfer
of
funds
from
the
Italian
firm
Impregilo
to
Sole.
IIe
was
sentenced
to
five
years
imprisonment
with
the
option
of
a
fine
of
M500
000.
▲back
to top
By-elections
were
held
in
the
Khafung
and
Qhoali
constituencies
on
Saturday
23
August
2003,
following
the
deaths
of
both
the
incumbent
MPs
in
separate
road
accidents.
Unfortunately
there
was
an
accident
involving
an
army
helicopter
which
was
being
used
in
the
remote
Qhoali
constituency
to
collect
votes
from
polling
stations.
A
policeman
died
from
head
injuries
when
he
walked
into
the
tail
rotor
of
the
helicopter.
In
the
by-elections,
the
largest
opposition
party,
the
Basotho
National
Party
declined
to
nominate
candidates,
saying
it
was
still
contesting
the
results
of
the
2002
election,
wanting
the
ballot
boxes
to
be
opened
to
verify
the
results.
The
ruling
Lesotho
Congress
for
Democracy
won
both
by-elections
comfortably.
At
Khafung,
Thabo
Petrose
Shao
of
the
LCD
received
2585
votes,
followed
by
1084
votes
received
by
Thebe
Motebang
of
the
Lesotho
People's
Congress,
who
had
in
fact
once
been
the
LCD
MP
for
the
constituency.
Other
parties
contesting
the
by-election
were
the
Basotho
Congress
Party
whose
candidate
received
248
votes;
National
Independent
Party
240
votes;
Patriotic
Front
for
Democracy
52
votes,
Marematlou
Freedom
Party
41
votes
and
Lesotho
Workers'
Party
21
votes.
The
LCD
increased
its
share
of
the
vote
from
41.4%
to
60.5%
compared
with
the
2002
General
Election,
while
the
LPC's
share
dropped
from
29.5%
to
25.4%.
In
the
Qhoali
election,
Belebesi
Tlokotsi
of
the
LCD
received
3028
votes,
far
ahead
of
the
runner-up,
Mothibeli
Mothibisi
of
the
LPC
who
received
only
124
votes.
Other
parties
contesting
the
by-election
were
the
BCP
who
received
98
votes,
MFP
61
votes
and
PFD
59
votes.
The
LCD
increased
its
share
of
the
votes
from
69.0%
in
the
General
Election
to
89.9%,
apparently
mainly
benefiting
by
the
absence
of
a
BNP
candidate,
the
BNP
having
polled
19.8%
of
the
votes
in
the
General
Election.
▲back
to top
At
the
end
of
August,
Nedbank
took
possession
of
a
new
three
storey
block
on
Griffith
Hill
in
Maseru,
behind
its
newly
renovated
Kingsway
banking
facilities.
The
new
Head
Office
block
is
a
squat
cuboid,
devoid
of
golden
rectangles,
with
a
two
storey
entrance
porch
adding
a
faintly
classical
touch
to
a
building
otherwise
in
bankers'
neo-Georgian
style,
brightened
by
local
sandstone
facing.
It
comes
at
a
time
of
a
general
upgrading
of
Nedbank's
services
with
a
new
computer
processing
centre
in
Maseru
and
expansion
of
services
including
the
introduction
of
Automatic
Teller
Machines
(ATMs)
at
Mafeteng,
joining
Nedbank
ATMs
already
in
service
at
Mohale's
Hoek
and
Maputsoe.
There
are
now
essentially
four
banks
in
Lesotho:
Nedbank;
Standard
Bank
of
South
Africa
(not
connected
to
Standard
Chartered);
Standard
Bank's
closely
linked
subsidiary,
Lesotho
Bank
(1999);
and
the
newly
revived
but
not
yet
operational
Post
Office
Savings
Bank.
Banking
facilities
were
first
introduced
to
Lesotho
in
September
1891,
when
branches
of
the
Post
Office
Savings
Bank
were
opened
at
the
then
seven
district
headquarters
towns.
The
first
commercial
bank
in
Lesotho
was
Standard
Bank
(later
becoming
Standard
Chartered)
which
began
services
in
July
1901,
when
a
bank
clerk,
Alfred
Ellenberger,
rode
to
Maseru
regularly
on
horseback
from
Ladybrand.
By
1902,
the
bank
had
rented
premises
in
Maseru,
andd
it
appears
that
by
1904
it
had
a
fixed
site
in
a
new
building
on
the
south
side
of
Kingsway
about
half
way
between
the
present
Basotho
Hat
and
Pioneer
Road.
This
building
stood
until
1980
and
was
used
for
a
variety
of
purposes
in
its
later
years.
However,
Standard
Bank
had
long
since
acquired
a
more
central
site
at
the
foot
of
Griffith
Hill,
a
site
conveniently
almost
opposite
the
Secretariat
Building,
built
in
1911
as
government
headquarters.
The
single
storey
white
Standard
Bank
building
acquired
triple
sandstone
entrance
arches
after
its
reconstruction
in
1937,
and
despite
several
subsequent
additions
to
the
building,
these
have
remained
a
landmark
on
Kingsway
to
the
present
day,
the
fa~ade
being
largely
preserved
inside
the
main
entrance
of
the
renovated
building.
Standard
Chartered
Bank
sold
its
Lesotho
interests
to
the
South
African
based
Nedbank
in
1997.
▲back
to top
The
organization,
BSES
Expeditions,
originated
as
the
British
Schools
Exploring
Society,
but
today
arranges
unusual
experiences
for
Young
Explorers
(YEs)
in
the
whole
of
the
16
to
21
age
group,
who
may
be
sixth
formers,
gap
yearers,
or
first
or
second
year
university
students.
In
1998,
BSES
Expeditions
came
to
Lesotho
for
the
first
time,
and
some
90
members,
YEs
and
their
Mountain
and
Scientific
Leaders
were
divided
into
six
different
`fires'
(short
for
campfires)
each
of
which
undertook
a
different
task.
The
six
tasks
were
a
spiral
aloe
census,
a
vulture
census,
a
water
quality
survey,
the
discovery
of
unrecorded
rock
art
sites,
the
recording
of
fossil
footprints,
and
measuring
the
heights
of
Lesotho's
waterfalls.
In
2003,
BSES
Expeditions
returned
to
Lesotho
for
the
period
20
July
to
30
August
with
a
rather
smaller
group,
the
diminished
numbers
reflecting
international
unease
about
overseas
travel
in
the
light
of
world
events.
The
2003
Expedition
established
its
base
camp
in
the
grounds
of
The
Trading
Post
at
Roma
and
was
divided
into
four
different
fires,
each
of
which
benefited
by
having
two
Basotho
school
or
university
students
as
full
participants.
The
same
volunteer
scientific
adviser
from
the
National
University
of
Lesotho
as
had
been
used
in
1998,
was
again
kept
busy
advising
on
the
various
projects
undertaken.
A
Mosotho
student,
Lesoetsa
Makafane,
who
had
been
with
the
1998
expedition
helped
with
liaison
work
and
had
given
the
eight
Basotho
participants
an
introductory
short
and
rigorous
camping
experience
to
prepare
them
for
what
was
to
come.
The
YEs
took
pride
in
remaining
under
canvas
for
the
whole
of
their
six
weeks
in
Lesotho.
Equipment
was
mainly
carried
in
backpacks,
although
at
times
donkeys
were
also
hired.
The
Rock
Art
fire
walked
from
Sehonghong
to
Tebellong
along
the
right
bank
of
the
Senqu,
revisiting
some
of
the
sites
discovered
by
the
1998
expedition,
and
then
from
the
halfway
point
onwards
at
Lebakeng
exploring
for
unrecorded
sites.
A
number
of
new
and
mainly
very
remote
sites
were
located,
including
some
with
a
range
of
interesting
paintings.
The
Ornithological
Fire
was
based
in
Quthing
District
where
vulture
roosts
and
nesting
sites
are
concentrated
in
sandstone
gorges
in
the
Quthing
and
Sebapala
valleys.
Vultures
were
still
to
be
found,
but
numbers
were
down.
The
birdwatchers
also
camped
beside
Letgeng-la-Letsie,
Lesotho's
highest
lake,
which
was
still
rich
in
bird
life
even
though
it
was
midwinter.
They
then
went
east
and
spent
a
few
days
at
the
top
of
the
Drakensberg
escarpment
south
of
Ongeluksnek,
where
it
was
so
cold
that
icicles
formed
inside
their
tents,
and
the
wind
was
so
strong
that
it
picked
up
one
tent
and
blew
it
over
the
edge
of
the
cliffs
never
to
be
seen
again.
The
Surveys
Fire
took
on
one
of
the
most
difficult
tasks,
and
one
in
which
the
Basotho
members
of
the
party
played
a
crucial
role.
It
undertook
a
survey
of
the
place
names
on
sheet
53
of
the
Lesotho
1:
50
000
topographical
map
series,
the
sheet
which
covers
the
rugged
area
of
the
Ketane
and
Qhohobeng
Gorges,
an
area
with
about
100
villages
and
some
15
primary
schools,
almost
none
of
which
can
even
be
reached
by
a
four-wheel
drive
vehicle.
The
members
of
this
fire
walked
further
than
any
of
the
others,
and
there
were
a
few
injured
Achilles
tendons
and
cases
of
fatigue,
although
nearly
all
members
completed
the
tortuous
route
through
the
map
designed
either
to
visit
or
at
least
get
a
sight
of
every
village.
The
existing
names
on
the
map
were
found,
as
had
been
suspected,
to
be
nearly
all
wrong
or
wrongly
placed,
showing
that
the
original
field
completion
of
the
map
had
been
done
from
a
distance
and
not
by
actually
visiting
the
individual
villages
in
the
area.
Engraved
on
the
hearts
of
the
members
of
this
fire
was
the
village
of
Poriki.
It
was
not
where
it
was
shown
on
the
map,
and
everywhere
the
fire
went
it
was
indicated
as
being
over
the
next
mountain
range!
Poriki
was
never
actually
found,
so
there
is
still
some
work
to
be
done
to
complete
sheet
53.
Finally
the
Environmental
Impact
Fire
worked
on
exploring
the
ecotouri
sm
opportunities
and
possible
environmental
constraints
in
the
Makhaleng
valley,
an
area
being
opened
up
to
visitors
as
a
result
of
a
new
tourist
lodge
at
Ramabanta,
which
is
becoming
increasingly
popular
as
a
base
for
practising
motorcycle
and
quad
bike
racing
on
difficult
mountain
tracks.
▲back
to top
A
new
weekly
Sesotho
newspaper,
Mosotho,
printed
in
full
colour,
appeared
for
the
first
time
on
Friday
5
September.
It
is
a
Sesotho
stablemate
of
Public
Eye,
published
by
Voice
Multimedia.
The
new
newspaper's
editor
is
Peter
Khohlokoane,
who
gained
journalistic
experience
as
senior
reporter
for
the
Catholic
newspaper,
Moeletsi
oa
Basotho.
The
first
issue
of
Mosotho
appeared
in
A4
format,
but
it
soon
graduated
to
the
tabloid
size
favoured
by
Public
Eye.
The
8-page
Mosotho
and
40-page
Public
Eye
are
both
printed
by
Noordwes
Drukkery
in
South
Africa.
▲back
to top
A
Two
Nations
Marathon
race
was
held
on
6
September
2003.
Beginning
at
the
Sports
Ground
in
Ladybrand
at
6
a.m.
and
finishing
at
the
Lesotho
Sun,
the
men's
race
was
won
by
Frans
Motsarnai
of
the
South
African
Defence
Force
in
a
time
of
2:33:09.
and
the
women's
race
by
Erina
du
Toit
of
Ladybrand
in
a
time
of
3:21:39.
Lesotho
managed
to
score
a
winner
in
the
Men's
HaIf
Marathon,
Sechaba
Bohosi
of
Mohale's
Hoek
in
a
time
of
1:10:06.
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The
28th
Convocation
of
the
National
University
of
Lesotho
was
held
at
the
Rovers
Football
Ground
on
the
campus
at
the
Roma
campus
on
Saturday
27
September
2003.
The
new
venue
was
necessitated
by
a
new
academic
building
having
been
constructed
on
the
site
of
the
old
graduation
podium.
The
University
was
able
to
forget
for
a
while
its
recent
troubles
and
the
graduation
ceremony
went
smoothly,
with
a
huge
marquee
erected
to
cover
much
of
the
football
field
to
accommodate
guests,
while
a
new
podium
with
smaller
tent
accommodated
the
Chancellor,
King
Letsie
III,
and
University
Council
and
academic
staff
on
the
east
side
of
the
field.
Overall
1075
awards
were
conferred,
nearly
half
of
them
Certificates
and
Diplomas.
The
imbalance
between
science
and
humanities
was
as
marked
as
ever.
For
example,
only
24
students
obtained
the
Bachelor
of
Science
with
Education,
compared
with
136
who
qualified
as
teachers
in
humanities
subjects,
and
28
who
obtained
the
degree
of
Bachelor
of
Adult
Education.
The
most
popular
qualification
was
the
Diploma
in
Management
successfully
completed
by
139
students,
many
of
them
aspirant
managers
straight
from
school.
83
students
successfully
completed
a
Certificate
in
Adult
Education
and
76
completed
a
Diploma
in
Adult
Education.
It
is
not
quite
clear
what
institutions
will
provide
employment
to
so
many
experts
in
educating
mature
students.
Meanwhile
in
its
second
awards
ceremony
since
it
was
granted
autonomy,,231
students
at
the
Lerotholi
Polytechnic
received
certificates
and
diplomas
on
Saturday
6
September.
This
was
an
increase
of
35
on
the
number
who
had
received
awards
the
previous
year.
▲back
to top
The
six
months
of
winter
began
very
dry,
with
less
than
the
mean
in
April
and
May
and
no
rainfall
at
all
in
June
and
July
in
most
of
Lesotho.
However,
both
August
and
September
had
rainfall
above
average,
with
good
steady
rains
both
in
the
middle
and
at
the
end
of
September.
At
Roma,
rainfall
for
the
six
winter
months
totalled
144
mm
in
2003,
rather
less
than
the
mean
winter
rainfall
which
is
187
mm.
In
70
years
of
records
at
Roma,
the
wettest
winter
was
in
1950
with
477
mm
(bottom
line
of
the
chart),
while
the
driest
winter
was
in
1994
with
only
66
mm.
Summary
of
events
in
Lesotho
is
a
quarterly
publication
compiled
by
David
Ambrose
at
the
National
University
of
Lesotho,
P.
O:
Roma
180,
Lesotho
▲back
to top
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