 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
SUMMARY OF EVENTS IN LESOTHO
Volume 12, Number 3 (Third Quarter 2005) |
|
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. |
|
G8
Summit
Leaves
Lesotho
Out
in
the
Cold
Please note: The online version of the Summary of Events is not necessarily identical with the printed version! |
G8 Summit Leaves Lesotho Out in the ColdThe G8 is a grouping of the seven wealthiest countries in the world, together with Russia. Prior to their summit meeting at Gleneagles in Scotland early in July 2005, the G8 countries had been under great pressure from a wide variety of concerned people who joined marches and attended `Live 8' concerts in 10 cities around the world. The message of the protesters was that the G8 leaders should `cancel Third World debt' and `make poverty history'. In the event, the decision was taken to cancel the debts of 18 countries, 15 of which are in Africa. However, Lesotho was not amongst these countries, which led to indignation that Lesotho with its careful debt management policy had been overlooked: it was other countries whose leaders had spent aid money irresponsibly who had been rewarded.
As
quoted
in
Public
Eye
of
8
July
2005,
the
Lesotho
Minister
of
Finance,
Timothy
Thahane,
indicated
that
debt
cancellation
would
have
saved
Lesotho
M312
million
a
year,
money
which
could
have
been
used
to
work
towards
attaining
the
development
goals
to
which
all
countries
are
pledged.
These
goals
are
that
by
the
year
2015
poverty
is
eradicated,
primary
education
is
free,
and
all
citizens
have
access
to
potable
water.
China to Assist Lesotho with Expansion of Radio and Television NetworkAs reported in Lesotho Today of 30 June 2005, China is to assist Lesotho so that radio and television can become available in all parts of the country. As announced in Parliament by the Minister of Communications, Science and Technology, Tom Thabane, a M30 million project is envisaged to be executed by Chinese and local engineers and technicians. Planned under the project are the installation of an Uplink Satellite Station on the Thuathe Plateau linked to radio and television transmitters to be installed at Mokhele near Mohale's Hoek, Koeneng in Berea District and Popa in Mokhotlong District. Five other transmitters are being installed by the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority in the Phase II Project area in June next year, and work would be created in these remote areas as access roads would have to be constructed and electricity installed. One of the envisaged LHDA sites is at Monyetleng a 2806 metre mountain some 12 km northeast of Sehonghong. It is to be hoped that when the Environmental Impact Assessment for this proposed development is undertaken, an alternative summit can be found. The south face of Monyetleng has one of the largest surviving colonies of Cape Vultures in Lesotho. Birds of this endangered species have in recent years entirely disappeared from the Free State, leaving the Maloti of Lesotho as one of their last remaining strongholds, although even there the numbers are rapidly dropping.
The
Monyetleng
site
has
featured
in
articles
in
Vulture
News
and
is
included
as
one
of
the
six
`Important
Bird
Areas'
sites
in
Lesotho
in
a
number
of
publications
by
BirdLife
South
Africa
and
BirdLife
International.
The
last
accurate
count
of
the
colony
seems
to
have
been
in
1998
when
36
breeding
pairs
were
counted,
lower
than
previous
counts.
Justice Sector Reform becomes National IssueThe Justice Sector has recently been under the spotlight because of the launching on 20 June 2005 of a 48-page document entitled The National Vision and Strategy for the Justice Sector. The vision document was launched at about the same time as the release of a book containing the Proceedings and Recommendations arising from the Lesotho Justice Sector Conference. This conference had been held at the Maseru Sun from 26 to 30 July 2004, and had been attended by over 100 delegates, mainly local lawyers, administrators and other relevant people, but also with invited lecturers from the Botswana Police Service and the University of the Witwatersrand AIDS Law Project. The 332-page book, while well-printed and stitch-bound in signatures, is unfortunately unprofessionally published with no proper title, no clearly identifiable publisher, no publisher's address, no date of publication and no ISBN. It is also completely inadequately copy-edited and proof read and is without an index. Nevertheless the book, because of the quality and diversity of a significant number of its papers, is an important source for documenting the present state of the justice sector in Lesotho. The book and the document arise from the work of the Lesotho Justice Sector Development Programme, funded by the British Department for International Development (DFID). This project ended its inception phase in January 2005 and has now entered its implementation phase which is due to run until August 2008. The Justice Sector, as defined by the project, covers three different Lesotho government ministries, namely the Ministry of Justice, Human Rights and Rehabilitation (which includes the law courts and prisons); the Ministry of Home Affairs and Public Safety (which includes the Lesotho Mounted Police Service); and the Ministry of Law and Constitutional Affairs (which includes the Law Office responsible for the publication of laws and the Lesotho Government Gazette). The book is divided into seven main sections of which the first is a report (This report was in fact released to the press in 2004, and a fuller earlier summary can be found in Summary of Events in Lesotho, vol. 11, no. 3 (3rd quarter 2004), pp. 11-13. ) by the Senior Programme Manager, Mr Peter Viner, on contract to DFID from Thames Valley Police, on the findings of the detailed study of the Justice Sector. This hard-hitting report covers inadequacies in the Lesotho Mounted Police Service; the enormous backlog (6308 cases in March 2004) in the Magistrates' Courts; the lack of resources such as law books in the Local and Central Courts; the complete absence of typists to type court records (they had been hijacked to serve the expanded judiciary) in the Judicial Commissioners' Courts; the serious backlog of cases in the High Court (large numbers of cases of murder dating back in some cases to the 1980s had simply been filed with no activity on them for some years); the absolutely horrendous state of Lesotho prisons (80% overcrowding, and prisoners lying on cracked concrete floors, many of them so ill that they cannot walk and have to be washed, cared for and fed by other prisoners); and the extraordinary use of bail (bail on a charge of murder is often just M100, and the accused frequently abscond and their case is never tried; an example is even given of a person who committed a murder at the beginning of one month, was granted bail, committed a second murder at the end of the same month and was then again given bail!) While the summary report in the first section of the book had been released earlier, other portions of the book contain significant new material. In the second section on Access and Delivery of Justice, the main paper is by Mr Justice W. C. M. Maqutu. It particularly criticizes the office of the Attorney-General, and looks at the roles of principal secretaries and of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Delays in hearing murder cases are made worse because there are insufficient funds for magistrates to employ typists to type preparatory examination records. These are needed for the DPP to take a decision based on evidence whether to indict for murder or culpable homicide. The DPP consequently sets down for High Court hearing summary trials for murder cases, but on the day of a trial, cases cannot proceed because of a lack of witnesses, with consequent requests for adjournment. Sometimes more than seven days can be wasted when cases do not proceed. In relation to defence counsels, the writer notes that Lesotho has not resolved the areas of practice of attorneys and advocates. `Advocates do the work of Attorneys, without the obligation to keep Trust Accounts. This is illegal and funds of clients are not safe and in fact two Advocates were struck off from the roll for embezzling client's [sic] moneys'. The writer reacts, however, to the criticism of legal practitioners in the summary report. It had there been said that `adjournments are obtained on the flimsiest of pretexts; lawyers are lawyers and they are trained, amongst others, to identify a weakness and exploit it to the advantage of their clients. Some lawyers indulge in `forum shopping', in other words they can usually arrange whichever judicial officer they want to hear their case; for example, (a) if a particular judicial officer is lenient when it comes to bail or sentence they will arrange for that person to hear their application or trial; or (b) where a judicial officer is especially known as one who is industrious.' Justice Maqutu found the statement about the training of lawyers `an unfair and defamatory statement about the entire legal profession' with the implication that `the judicial system is staffed by evil and dishonourable people'. Amongst issues which arose in both Justice Maqutu's and other papers in this section was the use of interpreters in courts. Translating everything backwards and forwards into English was very timeconsuming, and because many interpretations were poor, the presiding judge or magistrate often found himself or herself wasting further time correcting the translations. Regulations should where appropriate allow the use of Sesotho in courts without interpretation, as is the case in the Local and Central Courts. In the third section of the book on Human Rights, the main paper is by Karabo Mohau, a defence lawyer and Law Lecturer at the National University of Lesotho. He quotes crime statistics (from the Lesotho Mounted Police Service Crime Statistics Bureau) for the three years 2000/1 to 2002/3, showing that in that time crimes of car theft rose from 550 to 628, murder from 667 to 791, rape from 1048 to 1117, robbery from 997 to 1237, stock theft from 3769 to 5322 and ordinary theft from 5064 to 6502. The only crime with reduced numbers was assault with intent to commit grievous bodily harm, which dropped from 2606 to 2343 cases. The figures are provided to explain the reason for the enaction of harsh legal provisions, although with little apparent effect on the incidence of crime. The writer particularly argues that current legislation does not provide for the rights of victims of crime, and that the Director of Public Prosecutions has in prosecuting a case no legal obligation to consult with or even inform the victim. The Criminal Procedure & Evidence Act 1981 also makes no provision for submission of a victim impact statement before sentencing. The Act's provision for compensation to the victim is also inadequate. It is noted however that in the Sexual Offences Act 2003 the victim is required to be given full information and may be heard in connection with the suspect's bail application. The Act has mandatory HIV testing of a suspect, which can help to ensure that a victim gets appropriate medical help in time. In the section on Prison Reform, there are two contrasting papers. One paper by the Acting Director of the Lesotho Prison Service, Mojalefa P. Thulo, summarizes ten United Nations Crime Congresses on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders (First Congress, Geneva, 1955; Eleventh Congress, Bangkok, forthcoming, 2005). Fundamental Principles of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners are given, and procedures are given for prisoners awaiting trial; female prisoners; foreign prisoners; juveniles; mentally disordered persons; civil prisoners (debtors); prisoners facing the death penalty; aged or disabled prisoners; and prisoners with HIV/AIDS (although in this last case reference is made without elaboration to 1993 WHO Guidelines). Only brief mention is made to the White Commission Report and to actual prison conditions in Lesotho, and no indication is given of what subsequent action has been taken. A second paper on Lesotho's prisons is by the Ombudsman, Sekara S. Mafisa, who is also a lawyer. It is a very hard-hitting account of Lesotho prison conditions and considers that only two prisons out of ten in Lesotho `are near what is acceptable for human habitation'. After recommendations from the Ombudsman, mattresses were being supplied to prisoners. However, there was severe overcrowding, and no access to newspapers, radio or television. It is recommended that the Government consider a clear policy on distribution of condoms, voluntary counselling and HIV testing in prisons. Although not widespread, a few cases of torture of inmates by prison warders had been discovered and investigated. The main problem was that prisons are not sufficiently funded, although with appropriate management and tools, prisoners could be engaged in profitable enterprises such as vegetable and poultry production, quarrying sandstone (tombstones are much in demand) and manufacturing concrete blocks. There was `bitter dissatisfaction' amongst prisoners and prison staff that the Minister and Principal Secretary did not pay visits to the prisons themselves to see the conditions prevailing there. [The Minister, Hon. Moses Refiloe Masemene, is a lawyer but unfortunately is also a blind person.] A fifth section is on Police Reform. A brief paper, by the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs and Public Safety, contains a brief history of the police force in Lesotho with emphasis on events after the return to democratic rule in 1993. Christopher Payne, former Chief Constable of Cleveland Constabulary, came to Lesotho under UK aid auspices in 1995 to advise on structures and systems required to discharge ministerial responsibilities necessary to ensure an effective, efficient, open and accountable police force. Payne's report led to the publishing of a White Paper by the Lesotho Government in June 1997, and eventually to the Police Service Act 1998. This Act provides for a Police Authority, a Police Directorate, a Police Complaints Authority and a Police Inspectorate, all of which were subsequently established, although the last of these not until 2005. `Despite the best intentions of Government the process of changing from a military style of organization to a fully accountable civilian organization is not progressing as speedily as was intended. The police culture remains firmly rooted in military tradition which is not appropriate for policing today's society.... It is sad to report that the Police Service Act 1998 was not well received within the police service.' This matter is taken up by P. Mosoabi, Chief Legal Officer of the Lesotho Police Complaints Authority, who notes that during the period of `autocratic rule, the Police Force ... was used to suppress basic human rights ... The police force was used more as an instrument to perpetrate violence than as an agent to promote peace. Not only were the police not punished for abusing their powers, they were often congratulated and promoted for work `well done'. Over the years police accountability has been lacking.' Mosoabi's paper does not describe the actual workings of the Police Complaints Authority. Indeed, although he does not state it, other sources suggest that even though the Authority was established in 2003, the actual police force has been refusing to cooperate with it. Mosoabi mentions a bill to amend the Police Act 1998 to give PCA investigators more powers to investigate the police. It also mentions the drafting of PCA regulations to deal with complaints made by members of the public about the conduct of a member of the Police Service. In the sixth section on Restorative Justice, the longest paper is by M. Makara, a Chief Magistrate. He defines restorative justice as `a communally founded and driven system of justice where the offender, the victim and the community holistically search for the cause of the offence and for a justifiable practical way in which the victim could be compensated for the physical and the spiritual damage inflicted upon him/her by the offence. The ultimate primary goal herein being to lay a foundation for the restoration of normal relations between the offender and the victim. The end result will be a harmonious reintegration of the offender into the community.' The writer traces the historical origins of restorative justice over 4000 years, noting that it gave way to the conventional justice system in which crime against an individual was instead regarded as against the King from about the 12th century onwards. The victim was relegated to be a complainant and compensatory orders disappeared. The King collected the fines! Indeed everything was done in the name of the monarch, Rex or Regina, who nominally, rather than the victim, brought the case against the offender. It is noted that restorative justice was common to many societies and is close to the system that prevailed in Lesotho prior to the imposition of the conventional western judicial system. With the end of restorative justice, it was necessary to introduce formal courts and prisons, which had been unknown in Lesotho. However, restorative justice of a kind still does exist in Lesotho and aspects of it are enshrined in the Laws of Lerotholi. As a paper by Seeiso Seeiso, Principal Chief of Matsieng states eloquently, the traditional court system is greatly superior to that of the magistrate's courts or the local courts. In the traditional court, a person is judged by the people of his area who are closer to the facts about the enviroiunent. The hearing is in real open court, justice is accessible to the individual on his doorstep and is inexpensive. Where a case has both criminal and civil implications, judgment tends to include criminal punishment while at the same time compensating the offended party within the same action. In Makara's paper, four different models are suggested if restorative justice were to be adopted into the conventional legal system. The most radical model would revolutionize the justice system, and substitute restorative justice in place of the conventional mode. `It would ... mean the end of the present adversarial system, end of the domination of courts by lawyers, end of legal technicalities, end of the system of instituting criminal proceedings in the name of the King, end of collection of fines by the State, end of the distinction between civil and criminal matters etc. In that scenario, there would be compellability for participation by all concerned and witnesses.' It would effectively restore justice to a system comparable to that applied in the time of King Moshoeshoe, before western influence imposed an alien system. However, the writer is not quite so radical (or reactionary). He considers the best model to be the 'dual-track model' in which the restorative system acts side by side and on an equal footing with the conventional system. He discusses the necessary Chief Justice's rules which would be needed for implementing such a system. The applicability of restorative justice in Lesotho seems at present particularly of interest to those dealing with juvenile crime. N. Qhubu, Deputy Director of the Probation Unit, considers in her paper, that `Lesotho has a highly conducive environment for the introduction of Restorative Justice with relative ease. Those of us whose services are communally oriented know that the non-state justice through the chief s court is still widely practised in Lesotho. These courts handle cases ranging from abusive language; theft of chicken or small household items; killing of a neighbour's pig; injuries incurred in fights by men, to very serious conflicts such as abduction and in some instances even rape cases. More often than not the concerned parties are usually satisfied with the outcome.' She notes that two villages within the Maseru urban area, Khubetsoana and Ha Hoohlo are already experimenting with restorative justice. Local and Central Courts might also become vehicles for restorative justice. She notes that the formulation of a Lesotho restorative justice model will need to be a joint venture between the justice system professionals and communities. It is too important to be left in the hands of the lawyers. In a paper on `Child justice in Lesotho', Itumeleng Kimane, Head of the Sociology Department at the National University of Lesotho describes concerns that children are not getting meaningful access to justice in Lesotho. She notes that while the Children's Protection Act 1980 took a bold step towards introducing a juvenile justice system, `this country has failed to implement even the mildest reforms that this piece of legislation sought to bring into force'. The new emphasis on restorative justice is discussed and the use of a process called `diversion' by which a child can be diverted from entering deep into the criminal justice system and dealt with by police, prosecution, families and communities without recourse to formal court hearings. This kind of provision is being included in the forthcoming Child Welfare and Protection Bill, which attempts also to de-emphasize custodial sentencing options for child offenders. In the proposed new child justice system, probation officers remain pivotal for implementation, but legal professionals also have a lot of responsibility to act in the best interests of children. A newly introduced feature is `intermediaries' with specialized training in providing children in contact with the law to manage the traumatizing experiences of the justice system. The writer also discusses the forthcoming law's provisions in relation to maintenance; employment of children (minimum age of employment is 15); rights of children to family property (particularly important for AIDS orphans); foster care and adoption; and child trafficking, prostitution or use of children for immoral purposes. [The Child Welfare and Protection Bill will presumably be presented to Parliament at the end of its present winter recess which began on 29 June. The normal parliamentary session was interrupted so that parliamentarians could attend an all-day `Sensitization Workshop' on the Bill on Thursday 16 June 2005 at the Lesotho Sun Hotel.] The seventh main section of the book is on HIV/AIDS and Gender mainstreaming. The main paper is by M. G. Mokhoro who is Judicial Training Officer at the Ministry of Justice, Human Rights and Rehabilitation. `Mainstreaming' a gender and HIV perspective is explained as the process of assessing the implications for women, men and HIV positive persons of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in any area and at all levels. The writer is severely critical of the law which criminalizes sodomy and also of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Amongst her recommendations are that the Sexual Offences Act should include the common law offence of sodomy under its repeal section; and that `The Sexual Offences Act should undergo a complete overhauling; especially as a strategy for addressing the spread of HIV and AIDS because it has failed to mainstream issues of HIV and AIDS and some aspects of gender mainstreaming'.
In
summary,
the
book
of
the
2004
Conference
contains
much
useful
information
and
proposals,
which
ought
to
be
required
reading
for
administrators,
lawyers,
law
students
and
legislators.
However,
it
should
also
be
noted
that
the
Justice
Sector
study
has
for
some
reason
completely
overlooked
vital
subsectors
which
are
also
underperforming
and
have
major
implications
for
the
efficiency
of,
for
example,
the
courts.
The
Law
Office
itself
is
not
only
responsible
for
drafting
legislation
(often
with
defects
which
are
not
detected
by
parliamentarians),
but
is
also
responsible
for
publishing
the
laws
which
are
enacted.
In
this
respect,
its
performance
is
woefully
inadequate,
although
this
is
exacerbated
because
its
staff
are
insufficient
and
mainly
unfamiliar
with
the
modern
technology
which
facilitates
publication.
The
Lesotho
Government
Gazette
(including
its
excessive
number
of
Extraordinary
issues,
which
exceed
the
number
of
ordinary
issues!)
is
apparently
drafted
in
the
Law
Office,
typeset
by
the
Government
Printer
(whose
establishment
falls
under
the
same
ministry),
sent
back
for
proofreading,
and
only
after
corrections
have
been
made
(although
many
mistakes
still
get
through)
is
it
printed,
in
some
cases
days,
weeks
or
months
after
the
date
on
the
cover.
(What
this
means
for
a
law
which
comes
into
force
on
the
date
of
publication
in
the
Lesotho
Government
Gazette
is
a
legal
conundrum.)
As
for
the
laws
themselves,
they
were
last
consolidated
in
1960
(and
before
that
in
1949),
which
means
that
since
Independence,
no-one
has
produced
a
set
of
the
laws
currently
in
force
unencumbered
by
repealed
colonial
legislation
and
repealed
orders
from
the
1970
to
1993
period
of
non-democratic
rule
(although
some
of
these
orders
which
ought
to
have
been
repealed
have,
through
oversight,
not
been
repealed,
as
a
result
of
which
washing
your
car
or
filling
a
swimming
pool
in
Maseru
could
put
you
in
gaol
for
three
months
without
the
option
of
a
fine!)
Lawyers
have
to
contend
with
3
8
volumes
of
bound
laws,
and
the
lack
of
a
comprehensive
index
is
a
terrible
handicap.
38
volumes
...
but,
wait!
...
if
there
have
been
annual
volumes,
given
that
the
1960
consolidation
was
4
volumes,
there
ought
in
fact
to
be
49
such
volumes
to
bring
the
picture
up
to
the
year
2004.
The
sad
truth
is
that
the
most
recent
volume
to
be
published,
in
2005,
is
The
Laws
ofLesotho
1993.
Eleven
volumes
remain
to
be
published,
and
the
rate
of
production
currently
seems
to
be
less
than
a
volume
a
year.
The
volumes
which
have
come
out
recently
exhibit
far
from
the
flawless
typography
that
you
would
expect
for
the
laws
of
the
land.
They
are
badly
compiled
in
other
ways.
For
example,
the
latest
volume
for
1993,
states
for
certain
statutes,
such
as
the
Lesotho
Defence
Force
Order
1993,
that
it
comes
into
force
on
the
date
of
publication
in
the
Gazette.
This
was
fine
for
the
original
appearance
in
the
dated
Lesotho
Government
Gazette,
but
when
it
reaches
the
bound
volume
of
the
Laws,
the
Gazette
is
far
from
easily
accessible,
and
it
would
have
been
no
trouble
for
the
editor
to
have
inserted
28
March
1993
for
its
date
of
coming
into
force.
The
date
on
this
particular
statute
is
important
because
it
was
a
last
minute
Order
that
the
departing
military
wanted
to
impose
on
the
incoming
government
before
the
new
Constitution
came
into
force.
But
what
about
The
Constitution
of
Lesotho
1993,
the
fundamental
law
of
the
country
with
effect
from
2
April
1993?
That
it
does
not
appear
at
all
in
The
Laws
ofLesotho
1993,
is
surely
the
biggest
oversight
in
the
history
of
Lesotho
legal
publishing,
a
matter
so
serious
that
it
warrants
reissuing
The
Laws
of
Lesotho
1993.
The Justice Sector in 2005 and the Challenges it FacesFollowing the July 2004 Conference, which also made a large number of recommendations, The National Vision and Strategy for the Justice Sector was launched nearly a year later (although it is also undated) on 20 June 2005. It is of interest and importance not only to the legal profession, but also to the public at large to know what is happening. For example, the situations relating to the backlog of court cases and murder cases, and the appalling conditions in prisons ought to have been identified as national emergencies requiring immediate appropriate response. What has the response been? The Vision and Strategy document sees itself as part of parallel processes enshrined in other documents, the National Vision for Lesotho (Vision 2020) and the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. Its own vision is `To have a Justice Sector committed to providing a professional service in safety and security, accessible and efficient delivery of justice, improved rehabilitation of offenders, effective human rights protection system for all, and promotion of zero tolerance to corruption'. But what about the achievement of that vision? The document repeats many of the problems identified and previously published, together with some additional detail. For example it notes that although the Police Complaints Authority was set up in 2003, it is not yet operational, and is suffering problems because the Police Service has refused to cooperate with it until its Chairperson and Members are appointed. [This information has however now been overtaken by events and the Chairperson of the Police Complaints Authority has been appointed and is a lawyer, Mrs T. M. Chimombe.] Chapter 5 of the document lists Strategic Goals and Objectives under 10 headings over 5 pages in relatively general terms. Chapter 6`Implementing the Strategy' is only 2 pages long, suggesting that the Vision has yet to be translated into real action. In fact it is mentioned elsewhere that the process of implementation will begin with the adoption of the first annual plan (for 2005/06). Appendix B (pp. 29-44) lists recommendations from the Justice Sector Conference stating for each the responsible institution and the priority level in terms of impact and cost (high or low in each case.
On
page
45
there
is
a
list
of
8
key
indicators
with
targets
for
the
year
2010.
For
example,
key
indicator
2
is
reduction
of
the
backlog
of
cases
and
the
target
by
2010
is
to
have
all
court
cases
completed
within
2
years.
There
seems
to
be
no
direct
target
relating
to
the
improvement
of
prison
conditions,
except
that
there
is
a
target
to
reduce
the
level
of
crime
by
30%
and
to
make
50%
of
all
sentences
non-custodial.
However,
if
the
backlog
of
cases
is
reduced,
particularly
the
many
hundreds
of
murder
cases,
presumably
there
will
in
fact
be
overall
more
custodial
sentences.
There
are
no
targets
for
the
consolidation
and
publication
of
Lesotho's
laws,
except
that
there
is
a
target
to
have
30%
of
Lesotho's
laws
translated
into
Sesotho
by
the
year
2010.
Judicial Delays: the Views of an Experienced Practising LawyerG. M. Kolisang, an experienced advocate based in Butha-Buthe, has kindly provided views on the reasons for judicial delay in Lesotho in a 9-page paper. He accepts that while so-called `Kangaroo courts' drag a person in for adjudication immediately after the act of transgression, the coordinated judicial process has ground rules which space out the processes and trial dates within which the various officers of the court system have to synchronize their activities. `The cause of inordinate delay does not lie in the system itself, but in the human factor that operates within the parameters of the system'. Amongst human factors are the legal practitioners, who are unevenly distributed in the country and mainly concentrated in Maseru, and in his view overall insufficient in total numbers. Delays are caused when a lawyer's engagements with a magistrate's court clash with a High Court appearance. Other delays occur when clients are unable to brief practitioners or are tardy in payment of fees. Bereavements, ill-health and road accidents are also factors which contribute to delays. Considered next are the public prosecutors. Many of these fall under the Director of Public Prosecutions but are inadequate in numbers. As a result, in most magisterial areas, the public prosecutors are drawn from the police. This presents serious problems because police are often transferred by their commanding officer at short notice, insufficient for handing over uncompleted cases. The result is that many cases are delayed, lapse or never come to trial. However, quite apart from this, there are `classical instances of murder dockets that have been lying in the Director of Public Prosecutions' Office for years, some dating back to 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, not to mention the 1990s. In this regard it is the DPP's office which is the one that can properly account for this inordinate delay, citing other factors beside inadequate professional expertise'. The writer considers that the problems are not insoluble, and can be met by training suitably qualified persons to replace police prosecutors as well as to ensure that, when a transfer is made, officers are given six months to complete their assigmnents before the actual transfer date. In relation to the Judicial Commissioners' Courts which are the courts of appeal from the Central Courts which administer customary law, it is noted that the largest delay occurs at two levels between the Central Court and the Judicial Commissioner's Court and between the latter and the High Court. There are at most four Judicial Commissioners, which is too few, and the Judicial Commissioners lack equipment and secretarial staff. At the Central Court level, all records are kept by hand and it is considered that these ten courts should at least be equipped with manual typewriters, which should also in due course when funds are available be also supplied to the more numerous Local Courts. [Central and Local Courts are situated in rural areas without electricity supplies.] The appeal system passes from Local Courts to Central Courts and then to the Judicial Commissioners' Courts and ultimately to the High Court, at which point the record has to be translated into English. `This often takes years to perform.' A further problem is that the lower courts are lay courts, with Court Presidents expected to know the Sesotho Law they are supposed to apply. However, that they do know this law is a`grave misconception'. Training is therefore advocated. In the magistrate's courts amongst factors which create inordinate delays are the shortage of magistrates, and the frequent absence of magistrates to attend part heard cases. Sudden and arbitrary transfers of magistrates are made without providing opportunity for handing over. Other factors are persistent remands covering months and even years because of tardy investigations, uncooperative witnesses, transfers of public prosecutors, and legal practitioners who are engaged in cases in the High Court and a magistrate's court simultaneously. In relation to the High Court, the system has improved since the construction of the Palace of Justice with its additional judges, but this has to some extent been offset by the removal of judges from the ordinary roll to Commissions of Inquiry and special criminal trials. The preparatory examination system (by which cases are first heard in the magistrate's courts and then submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions for High Court action) is considered, but the delays attributed to this are not to be found in the system, but with quality of the original investigation followed by inordinate delays in the office of the DPP. The writer considers the scrapping of the whole system and the introduction of summary trials, but finds this does not tackle the problem at the roots.
Interestingly,
Kolisang
makes
no
comment
on
the
adversarial
system
which
is
at
the
heart
of
Lesotho's
formal
court
system,
and
is
considered
by
many
observers
to
be
a
serious
contributor
to
the
protracted
nature
of
legal
process.
The Justice Sector in Lesotho in Practice: a Few Recent ExamplesThe Justice Sector is widely known to suffer from serious problems, not the least of which is serious delays in bringing cases to completion. Every villager can cite cases of persons charged with murder or theft whose cases have `disappeared' in the system so that those charged are still at large on bail. An estimate by a lawyer is that less than a third of such cases ever come back to court after bail is granted. Occasionally members of the public use the media to complain about delays. In Public Eye of 8 July 2005, Mokitimi Senekane complained that, even though his brother, a policeman like himself, had been murdered following disturbances in 1997, the Director of Public Prosecutions had still not laid charges and indeed one of the suspects had been allowed to leave Lesotho as part of a group of five military officers on peacekeeping duties in Darfur. The failure of the courts to try people arrested has had another undesirable effect, the growth of mob justice inspired by the futility of allowing the police and courts to administer justice. Public Eye of 8 July 2005, for example, reported the killing of a 37-year old alleged stock thief at Ha Mpiti near Nazareth Mission in the Foothills. Mopheme of 26 July 2005 reported an incident at Sehlabathebe where one Monamatha was attacked by villagers, rescued by Trooper Lekhanya Lekhanya of the Lesotho Mounted Police Service, but as the policeman escorted Monamatha to the police station, he was viciously attacked by villagers who ended up killing Lekhanya, Monamatha, Monamatha's brother and a fourth person. The newspaper reported that following this affray, ten men had been arrested but did not say whether they had been granted bail. It appears, however, from the report of the incident in Leseli ka Sepolesa of 29 July 2005 that they have been initially remanded in custody. A sequel to this incident was a visit to Sehlabathebe by the Minister of Home Affairs, Lesao Lehohla, and the Commissioner of Police, ' Malejaka Letooane. According to Mopheme of 16 August 2005, the local community called for the police station to be removed and for the army to be stationed in the area to combat stock theft. The newspaper commented: `People have resorted to village justice as opposed to handing over suspects to the police, saying the system is not effective as the suspects are always released by the police after being handed over by the villagers'. It is of course not the police who release suspects who are charged, but rather the magistrates who release them on bail. At the funeral of Trooper Lekhanya at Thaba-Tseka on 6 August 2005, as reported by Leseli ka Sepolesa of 12 August 2005 and Moeletsi oa Basotho of 14 August 2005, the lenient bail system was seen as contributing to his death, and speakers, including even the Chief of Police for Qacha's Nek District, called for the rules for granting bail to be looked into.
Lentsoe
la
Basotho
of
25
August
2005
reported
the
case
of
Motau
Phohleli
of
Khubelu
Ha
Lesia
near
the
Maseru
southern
by-pass.
Although
the
nearby
Lithoteng
Police
Station
had
received
a
report
of
a
person
having
been
caught
at
night
by
the
villagers
on
suspicion
of
theft,
by
the
time
a
policeman
arrived,
there
was
only
the
corpse
of
Motau
Phohleli,
together
with
a
sheep,
already
skinned,
which
he
was
alleged
to
have
stolen.
National Referral Hospital again a PossibilityThe project for a National Referral Hospital in the large grounds of the Botsabelo Leper Hospital is at least 30 years old. The present National Health Training College was indeed eventually established there over 15 years ago on the assumption that the National Referral Hospital would be built on an adjoining site. However, nothing has happened and Maseru's main hospital, known for the past 50 years as Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, is still on the increasingly congested and confined site where it was first built in 1904. It was then already the third Maseru hospital, the first having been built as early as 1875 at the cost of £500, near the present Anglican Cathedral. The long sad story of the National Referral Hospital is attributed by many to decisions during the period of non-democratic government, when available funds were used to create the army, and indeed to locate its Makoanyane Barracks on part of the same Botsabelo site. The available funds could have been far better used to serve the nation if they had been used to build the hospital instead.
News
from
Washington
on
7
July
is
that
Lesotho's
Finance
and
Development
Planning
Minister,
Tim
Thahane,
has
managed
to
sign
an
agreement
for
the
International
Finance
Corporation
to
advise
the
Lesotho
Government
on
the
design
of
a
public-private
partnership
to
develop
a
new
hospital
in
Maseru.
Although
it
is
a
very
preliminary
step,
the
National
Referral
Hospital
project
does
seem
to
have
been
reactivated.
British High Commission Library DispersedWith the closing of the British High Commission in Maseru, its library became available for dispersal. The task of distributing the books was entrusted to a British resident who is also on the staff of the National University of Lesotho. Five different libraries benefited from the redistribution of the books, which took place on Monday 11 July at an informal garden gathering in winter sunshine at House 9 at NUL. The beneficiary libraries were the Thomas Mofolo Library of the National University of Lesotho, the Morija Museum & Archives, the National Library, the Sechaba Consultants Library (which allows public access to its collection), and the Transformation Resource Centre Library. , Amongst books distributed, there were some with an interesting pedigree. Quite a number had belonged to the old Basutoland Public Library which had flourished more than a century ago and ultimately acquired its own building as Maseru Library in 1945, a gift of the Stephens' family. The neat sandstone building of Maseru Library was situated on Kingsway, Maseru, adjoining both St John's Church and what in 1945 was Stephens' Hotel (Stephens, known to the Basotho as 'Mafafa' had named it after himself), but is today Lancers' Inn. The Library continued to function, although sharing its premises with the Alliance Frangaise, until quite recently. A sequel to its closure was the transfer of some of its more valuable old books to the British High Commission in May 1998.
An
example
was
Memoirs
of
Paul
Kruger
(1902),
a
curious
work
translated
first
from
Dutch
to
German
and
then
to
English.
It
appears
as
item
2143
in
the
Catalogue
of
the
Basutoland
Public
Library
(1907),
where
the
librarian,
with
an
apparently
biased
sense
of
humour,
had
catalogued
it
under
`Fiction'.
In
time
this
book
reached
the
British
High
Commission
and
on
11
July
it
was
duly
transferred
to
the
Thomas
Mofolo
Library.
Its
many
readers
had
reduced
it
to
a
fragile
state,
so
it
will
need
rebinding
before
further
use.
Ministry of TEC Donates CD4 Counter to Queen Elizabeth II HospitalA vital item of equipment in the fight against HIV/AIDS, a CD4 counter, was donated to Queen Elizabeth II Hospital on Tuesday 12 July 2005 by the Ministry of Tourism, Environment & Culture. It is apparently the third such machine to be installed in Lesotho, and can undertake 250 tests a day. While a healthy person scores in the range 400 to 1400 on the CD4 counter, a person with AIDS typically registers 200 or less and needs instant antiretroviral treatment.
In
recent
years
Lesotho
Government
Ministries
have
been
allocated
2%
of
their
annual
recurrent
budgets
for
combatting
HIV/AIDS,
and
the
Ministry
of
Tourism,
Environment
&
Culture
decided
to
use
its
allocation
for
the
2005/6
financial
year
by
making
this
donation.
Libya Steps Up Aid to LesothoThe withdrawal of the British High Commission from Maseru has not meant an immediate termination of British aid to Lesotho, because there still remains an office and projects funded by the British Department for International Development (DFID). However, these projects have finite time scales, after which it is not clear whether there will be further aid. Lesotho has consequently looked around for new aid partnerships and amongst the most promising of these seems to be one with Libya, which already has a diplomatic mission in Maseru. Lesotho Today of 14 July 2005 provided details of what had been agreed in Sirte in Libya, when the Prime Minister, Pakalitha Mosisili, the Foreign Minister, Monyane Moleleki, and other cabinet ministers had attended the Africa Union Summit in the first week of July.
Libya
is
awarding
10
scholarships
to
Basotho
at
Libyan
universities,
five
in
arts
and
culture
and
five
in
science
and
medicine.
It
is
giving
the
Lesotho
Defence
Force
two
helicopters
and
training
for
pilots
and
technicians.
However,
the
largest
and
most
radical
proposal
is
to
redevelop
a
large
part
of
central
Maseru
from
the
former
Race
Course
where
the
Papal
Podium
is
situated
to
the
Square
One
Building,
increasing
the
area
available
for
redevelopment
by
taking
over
the
present
Maseru
Central
Gaol,
which
would
have
to
be
relocated.
In
this
area,
Mr
Moleleki
said,
would
be
`water
features,
a
mall,
an
entertainment
centre,
restaurants
as
well
as
an
Islamic
centre
with
schools
and
clinics'.
It
seems
possible
that
Maseru
may
soon
acquire
a
large
mosque
and
madrasah
school.
Phasing-Out of the Multi-Fibre Agreement Analyzed by Central Bank of LesothoThe monthly CBL Economic Review, prepared by the Central Bank of Lesotho, normally appears some three months after the date on its cover. In the April 2005 issue, there is an analysis of the effect of the phasing out of the Multi-Fibre Agreement on the economy of Lesotho. The Multi-Fibre Agreement (MFA) was a protectionist measure introduced in 1974 by the USA, Canada and Europe that set quotas for the amount of textiles and apparel that other countries could export to these countries. The MFA finally came to an end at the end of 2004, allowing all World Trade Organization members to have unrestricted access to US, Canadian and EU markets. The expiration has had both positive and detrimental impacts on all economies, but for small developing countries like Lesotho, the cost of abolition far outweighs the benefits. Lesotho has been impacted by the resulting fierce competition from lower cost producers.
The
article
provides
a
chart
showing
the
impact
of
the
ending
of
the
MFA
on
employment
in
the
textile
and
clothing
industry.
Employment
peaked
at
just
over
50
000
in
August
2004,
but
by
March
2005
had
dropped
to
slightly
below
40
000.
A
more
dramatic
drop
appears
in
the
value
of
Clothing
&
Textile
Exports.
These
peaked
at
just
over
M350
million
in
August
2004
and
by
March
2005
had
dropped
to
just
under
M200
million.
Bill Clinton Visits Lesotho and Provides Support to Paediatric ARV ProgrammeThe fonner US President, Bill Clinton, flew into Lesotho for a one-day visit on Monday 18 July 2005. His visit was part of a six-nation African trip on behalf of the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI) which is funding through the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in Lesotho a paediatric antiretroviral (ARV) programme at Queen Elizabeth II Hospital. During his short visit, Clinton was invested by King Letsie III with the honour of Knight Commander of the Most Courteous Order of Lesotho. He is now Sir William Clinton, although US law prevents formal recognition of foreign decorations. There are currently an estimated 22 000 children living with HIV/AIDS in Lesotho. At present less than 100 are receiving antiretrovirals, and it is hoped to increase the present number to at least 750 (only about 3.4% of the total) by the end of the year.
Adults
are
even
worse
served.
Out
of
some
350
000
who
are
infected
only
some
5
500
or
1.6%
(Mopheme,
27
September
2005)
were
getting
antiretroviral
treatment
by
the
end
of
September
2005.
A
recent
development
has
been
the
National
Aids
Commission
Act
2005.
It
establishes
a
National
Aids
Commission
and
certain
other
related
bodies,
but
names
of
members
have
yet
to
be
gazetted.
Lehakoe Recreation and Cultural Centre Reverts to Central Bank ManagementAlthough the M52.3 million Lehakoe Recreation and Cultural Centre belonging to the Central Bank of Lesotho was officially opened on Friday 28 November 2003 by the Prime Minister, Pakalitha Mosisili, it took until October 2004 before a company could be found to undertake its management. However, disputes soon developed and after High Court arguments, it has now been settled out of court that the Facilities Management Company which had taken over Lehakoe will withdraw with effect from 12 August 2005. As a result, the management of the Lehakoe reverts back to the Central Bank.
The
complex,
which
is
situated
between
the
Central
Bank
and
Parliament
Buildings,
incorporates
two
thatched
buildings
shaped
like
Basotho
hats,
outdoor
and
indoor
swimming
pools,
a
multipurpose
hall
for
basketball
and
netball,
tennis
and
squash
courts,
and
elaborate
catering
facilities.
British Honorary Consul Appointed to Lesotho
Following
the
closing
of
the
British
High
Commission
in
Maseru,
it
was
announced
that
a
British
Honorary
Consul
to
Lesotho
had
been
appointed,
taking
office
from
the
end
of
August
2005.
He
is
Mr
Peter
Barrett,
partner
and
director
of
Moores
Rowland
and
PMB
Consulting.
According
to
advertisements
placed
in
local
newspapers,
Peter
Barrett's
role
`will
be
to
provide
emergency
assistance
to
British
citizens,
in
conjunction
with
the
British
High
Commission
in
Pretoria'.
He
does
not
deal
with
visa,
passport
and
routine
consular
matters,
which
now
have
to
be
referred
to
the
British
High
Commission
in
Pretoria.
Largest Intact Meteorite Stone Recovered from ThuatheThe Thuathe Meteorite which fell on 21 July 2002 gained Lesotho a place in the annals of meteoritics, with a number of popular and scientific articles being subsequently published relating to what became an extremely well-documented fall. Such detail became available because of the many people from some nine villages who searched the countryside, retrieving stones for sale and cataloguing. Three years later, the meteorite catalogue had risen to 1089 stones with a total mass of about 55 kg and it was thought unlikely that any new large stones would emerge. However, on 29 July 2005, Mofoka Mofoka, aged 15, herding cattle near the village of Baruting on the Thuathe Plateau, used his magnet to test an otherwise unpromising and rather rusty stone half buried in the soil. It turned out indeed to be a meteoritic stone and with a mass of 3023 g. He was later told that it was the largest intact meteorite to have been recovered from the fall. Only one other stone of comparable size is believed to have survived the fall intact. This one had been broken into at least five parts by the village headman at Ha Ralimo two days after the fall, in a vain search for diamonds. The five known parts together total 3147 g, which counts as the largest original stone from the fall. The new stone, at 3023 g is the second largest stone, and the largest intact stone. Known as `The Owl' from features which resemble an owl's head, it easily beats the third largest stone, `The Pyramid', which has a mass of 2612 g. Mofoka Mofoka's stone was marketed by his mother, Matsepang Mofoka. When asked what she would do with the large sum of money coming to the family, she indicated that it would be used to hold a large feast for the village. The ancestors had appeared to her in dreams indicating that they would be sending a gift, and this had indeed happened. They had to be thanked, but not only the balimo. At the feast or mokete, Christian priests would also be invited to bless the occasion, which would be marked by slaughtering a cow and the brewing of much beer.
Thus
the
Thuathe
Meteorite,
initially
a
strange
and
terrifying
event
to
those
who
experienced
it,
has
now
been
assimilated
within
local
cosmology
and
tradition.
Well-Known Journalist, Moeti Thelejane, Laid to RestA well-known local journalist, Moeti Thelejane, was buried at Kokobela Cemetery, Maseru, on Saturday 6 August 2005. He was 36 and died of AIDS.
Born
at
Ha
Mohatlane
in
Berea
District
in
1969,
Thelejane
attended
primary
and
secondary
school
in
Swaziland
where
his
mother
was
a
teacher.
He
completed
high
school
at
Masitise
in
1991.
After
a
period
studying
in
South
Africa,
he
returned
to
Lesotho
and
worked
for
a
number
of
English
publications
in
Lesotho
including
The
Mirror,
Lesotho
Monitor
and
most
recently
Public
Eye.
At
his
funeral,
and
in
the
columns
of
the
newspaper
Public
Eye,
his
colleagues
broke
silence
asking
why
he
had
been
in
denial
of
what
had
become
obvious
to
them:
he
had
left
seeking
assistance
for
his
condition
until
it
had
been
too
late.
Moeti
was
the
son
of
Nonqaba
Phyllis
Thelejane,
who
survives
him.
He
was
unmarried.
Head of Revenue Authority Dies Suddenly
The
Head
of
the
Lesotho
Revenue
Authority,
Kevin
Michael
Donovan,
died
suddenly
from
a
massive
heart
attack
on
Monday
1
August
2005.
After
he
had
fallen
ill
on
the
same
day,
he
was
taken
to
the
Maseru
Private
Hospital,
and
died
while
being
transferred
to
Bloemfontein.
Kevin
Donovan
was
62,
and
had
been
head
of
the
Lesotho
Revenue
Authority
since
its
establislunent
in
2003.
His
contract
had
recently
been
renewed,
and
he
was
only
three
days
into
the
new
contract
period
when
he
died.
Textile Workers to Get 5.5% Rise on 1 October 2005As reported in Mopheme of 2 August 2005, the long negotiations between the 10 000 member Factory Workers Union (FAWU) and the Lesotho Textile Exporters Association (LTEA) have resulted in a 5.5% increase to be implemented on 1 October 2005. The result of the negotiations was announced by the Secretary-General of FAWU, Macaefa Billy.
Textile
workers
received
no
rise
in
2004,
reflecting
the
difficulties
resulting
from
the
then
impending
ending
of
the
Multi-Fibre
Agreement.
The
5.5%
increase,
while
no
doubt
welcome,
will
still
leave
textile
workers'
wages
less
in
real
terms
(i.e.
allowing
for
inflation)
than
they
were
two
years
ago.
SA Airlink Planes Refuse to Land in Lesotho Following Reports of Inadequate Fire ServicesThe newspaper, Public Eye, of 15 July 2005, reported that firefighters at Moshoeshoe I International Airport, were concerned that the fire brigade and the equipment it was operating were in a shambles. They had warned management that the equipment installed when the airport had originally been built 20 years earlier was now unserviceable. However, management had turned a blind eye to their problems. The matter came to a head on Sunday 7 August, when, as reported by Public Eye of 12 August 2005, SA Airlink, the only international carrier using the airport, on safety grounds cancelled its afternoon flight. There were also no flights the following day, leaving many travellers stranded. Most of these were passengers flying to Johannesburg for connections to Ghana, the United States, China and other countries. They were eventually bussed to Bloemfontein, although without much chance of making their connections in time. According to the Public Eye report, the 20-year old Moshoeshoe I Airport fire engine, registration number X 0866, pictured in the report, had had a long history of brake failure, so much so that the firefighters were frightened to use it. When it had been called to Roma to put out a fire, it had gone out of control and ploughed into a field; and when recently called to a fire at a Thetsane textile factory, Lesotho Fancy Knitting, it had had to be driven so slowly because of brake failure that it arrived an hour late, by which time the factory could not be saved and 700 people lost their jobs. On 22 July 2005, the brakes had failed again and it had plunged through a gate at the airport. After this last incident, the fire crew had refused to use it. A reserve vehicle, which might have replaced it, was also out of service, having been under repair at Imperial Fleet Services in Maseru for the past four months.
It
seems
that
the
servicing
of
the
airport
fire
engines
was
suddenly
made
a
national
priority.
As
a
result
SA
Airlink
was
able
to
resume
its
flights
on
the
afternoon
of
Tuesday
9
August.
Travel
agents,
however,
as
quoted
in
Mopheme
of
9
August
2005,
were
concerned
that
the
incident
might
have
caused
loss
of
business
for
Lesotho.
Passengers
wanting
a
reliable
service
would
very
likely
in
future
book
flights
from
Bloemfontein
instead
of
Maseru.
Fifty-four Unclaimed Corpses Buried in Mass GraveAs reported in Lesotho Today of 12 August 2005, 54 unclaimed corpses were buried in Maseru's Thibella cemetery on Wednesday 3 August 2005. 33 of the corpses were from the mortuary of Lesotho Funeral Services in Maseru, 19 from Queen Elizabeth II mortuary, and 2 from the mortuary at Mahlabatheng beside the road to Roma. The corpses, although unclaimed, were for the most part not without names. A partial list of the names was published in Moafrika of 5 August 2005. The corpses were buried in coffins in a mass grave with financial and material assistance from MKM funeral parlour, whose workers also sang hymns. The funeral service was conducted by Rev. Mavis Mochochoko of the orphanage known as the Ministry of Insured Salvation.
The
mass
burial,
organized
by
the
District
Administrator,
is
apparently
the
largest
so
far,
and
reflects
the
fact
that
the
numbers
of
unclaimed
corpses
has
increased
in
recent
months.
Telephones reach SemonkongOn Friday 12 August 2005, the Minister of Communications, Science & Technology, Mr Tom Thabane, inaugurated new telecommunications equipment at Semonkong, which now enables residents for the first time to access not only Maseru but also the rest of the world by telephone. As described in Mopheme of 16 August 2005, the new system at Semonkong, called Lekomo Flexi, is a partnership between Telecom Lesotho and Econet Ezi-Cel, and is `an innovative way of providing customers with an instant, reliable fixed landline service using a handset which is similar to a cellular phone'.
It
is
reported
that
Telecom
Lesotho
has
spent
over
M1
million
on
the
Semonkong
installation
and
is
planning
a
similar
one
at
Mapholaneng
in
Mokhotlong
District.
Some
440
handsets
were
sold
on
the
day
of
the
launch.
Lesotho to Phase Out Leaded PetrolFollowing an identical initiative in South Africa, as announced by the Department of Energy in Maseru, normal leaded petrol will become unavailable in Lesotho from 1 January 2006. Petrol stations from that date will all stock unleaded petrol, together with lead replacement petrol (LRP) for vehicles with older models of engines.
Although
all
new
vehicles
have
for
some
years
used
only
unleaded
petrol,
motorists
in
Lesotho
have
had
a
hard
time
finding
petrol
stations
to
serve
them.
Until
recently,
there
was
apparently
no
unleaded
petrol
available
south
of
Maseru,
and
there
were
only
two
stations
north
of
Maseru,
at
Maputsoe
and
Butha-Buthe,
which
supplied
unleaded.
The
matter
of
non-availability
was
having
a
serious
impact
on
the
tourist
industry,
with
visitors
reluctant
to
drive
to
Katse,
Mokhotlong,
Moyeni
or
Qacha's
Nek,
where
refilling
their
vehicles
with
unleaded
petrol
was
not
possible.
It
appears
that
this
problem
will
now
shortly
be
solved.
Although
the
dangers
of
leaded
petrol
are
relatively
unknown
in
Lesotho,
those
who
live
near
busy
roads
are
particularly
at
risk.
Lead
is
poisonous
and
inhalation
of
even
small
quantities
of
exhaust
fumes
over
a
long
period
can
lead
to
brain
damage
in
children
and
an
increased
chance
of
heart
disease
and
high
blood
pressure
in
adults.
Mohale Village and Thaba-Chitja Island Facilities Available for OutsourcingNewspaper advertisements placed by the Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Culture in August 2005 invite expressions of interest for management of the Mohale Village. This consists of 81 houses and 79 single quarters, all fully equipped and furnished and accessed by tarred roads. The accommodation was built to house construction staff during the building of the recently completed Mohale Dam and Tunnel. Not part of the management contract but already situated in Mohale Village are a clinic, supermarket, hotel and police station as well as a number of other facilities. A closely related management contract is for the unique Thaba-Chitja Island Lodge situated in the middle of the Mohale Reservoir. This can now be accessed only by helicopter or boat, and was built before inundation cut the island off from the mainland. The island has 9 self-catering chalets, a conference room with catering facilities, staff-houses and a laundromat.
Also
offered
for
outsourcing
are
management
contracts
for
Ha
Kome
Visitor
and
Craft
Centre
and
Lejone
Camp.
Mohalalitoe Orphanage in Battle between Owner and Department of Social WelfareThe latest rounds in a long-running battle between Rev. Mavis Mochochoko of the so-called Ministry of Insured Salvation were described in an article by Angela Makamure in Mopheme of 16 August 2005. The Ministry of Insured Salvation is an orphanage located at Mohalalitoe, close to the centre of Maseru, and was opened by Ms Mochochoko in 1984 to assist orphaned and street children. Although her initiative was welcomed by many, and she received some donor support, it has been known for some time that conditions at the orphanage have seriously deteriorated. It currently has some 94 children and `offers life skills such as sewing, coffin making and gardening'. However Mochochoko gets no help from the Department of Social Welfare which she accuses of being insincere and ineffective. She said that for the past 21 years she had been entirely fending for the children from her own pocket and a few well-wishers who donate food, clothing and bedding. The Director of Social Welfare, Limakatso Chisepo gave a very different perspective. She said that the Ministry required that anyone running a children's care centre in Lesotho should provide a constitution, have adequate caregivers and maintain a register of children. These conditions had not been fulfilled. She went on to list reports of horrifying occurrences at Mohalalitoe including abuse, lack of proper food, lack of adequate shelter, teenage pregnancies, deaths and promiscuity. She alleged that she had had reports that girls from the centre were sent out to work as prostitutes, and boys were sent out to rob innocent civilians. `If they did not bring in money, it was alleged Mochochoko would beat the children.' When Chisepo was asked why the government had not closed down the centre, it was pointed out that under the present legislation, the Children's Protection Act 1980, her Department had no mandate, although this would change when the Child Welfare and Protection Bill was enacted. Confirmation that all is not well with the Ministry of Insured Salvation is provided by independent research by Palesa Lilly Montsi in her August 2002 Master of Social Work thesis for the National University of Lesotho. She investigated two programmes for street children, one of them a non-residential institution in central Maseru run by the Lesotho Girl Guides Association (LGGA) with some 52 children; and the residential Ministry of Insured Salvation (MIS), at the time said to have some 72 children including 22 infants. The researcher was denied access to the latter institution and had to undertake her research on a day when she knew Rev. Mochochoko would be away. Conditions at MIS, were found to be poor in many respects, and some children were clearly in poor health. The only social worker was apparently the daughter of Rev. Mochochoko, whose time was largely taken up with the infants. It was reported that deaths of children at MIS were common. Some older boys had been trained as priests and one of their functions was to carry out burial services. Recommendations in the thesis included the need for the Ministry of Social Welfare to fulfill its mandate of closely and constantly monitoring institutions that provide care and support for marginalized children.
As
it
happens,
and
perhaps
because
of
the
Mophenie
report,
the
Minister
of
Health
and
Social
Welfare,
Dr
Motloheloa
Phooko,
paid
an
unexpected
personal
visit
to
MIS
shortly
afterwards.
It
was
reported
in
The
Mirror
of
31
August
2005
whose
reporter
Mothusi
Thabane
interviewed
Mavis
Mochochoko
after
the
visit.
She
gave
the
impression
that
the
Minister
had
listened
sympathetically
to
her
requests
for
government
services,
such
as
free
medical
care
for
the
children
at
Queen
Elizabeth
II
Hospital
and
a
quarterly
visit
to
the
orphanage
by
a
doctor.
New Irish Consul-General Arrives
As
reported
in
Lesotho
Today
of
18
August,
a
new
Irish
Consul-General,
Mr
Patrick
Fay,
has
arrived
in
Lesotho.
He
replaces
Mr
Bill
Nolan,
who
left
in
the
same
month
to
become
Irish
Ambassador
to
Zambia.
Ireland
now
funds
the
largest
bilateral
support
programme
to
Lesotho,
having
provided
more
than
M70
million
in
support
to
Lesotho
for
each
of
the
past
three
years.
Former Attorney-General Commissioned as Envoy to the United NationsAs reported in Lesotho Today of 18 August 2004, Mr Fine Maema, who has been Attorney-General since 1993, was on Thursday 11 August officially commissioned by King Letsie III to serve in his new post as Lesotho's Ambassador to the United Nations in New York. He succeeds Dr Lebohang Moleko, who has held the post since 2000. At the same time Mr Motlatsi Ramafole, former Principal Secretary of Foreign Affairs, was commissioned as Ambassador to the African Union. Even though, the appointment of Fine Maema to the UN was known at least as early as June 2005, no person had been appointed as replacement Attorney-General at the time of his departure for New York. Lack of continuity through inadequate handing-over is one of the factors known to reduce the efficiency of the Justice Sector. In this case it can be seen that this problem applies even at the highest level. There has also been no announcement as to who will take the place of Motlatsi Ramafole as Principal Secretary of Foreign Affairs.
A
further
person
to
be
commissioned
by
King
Letsie
III
on
22
August
2005
was
his
own
brother,
Prince
Seeiso
Bereng
Seeiso,
who
becomes
High
Commissioner
to
the
United
Kingdom.
In
this
case
the
successor
is
known.
His
uncle,
Chief
Masupha
Seeiso
will
take
his
place
as
Principal
Chief
of
Matsieng.
Under
the
present
rules
of
succession,
Prince
Seeiso
is
also
the
Heir
Apparent
to
the
Lesotho
throne,
because
both
the
children
of
the
King
are
daughters.
MKM Burial Society ProfiledFuneral parlours and Burial Societies are amongst the fastest expanding businesses in Lesotho. They are a response to the public's demand for ever more elaborate funerals, and their growth also reflects a very rapidly increasing death rate. The MKM Burial Society was profiled in an article by Mothusi Thabane in The Mirror of 24 August 2005. It was started by a former coal miner Lebuajoang Thebeeakhale together with Mothofeela Ramakatsa in 1988 in a small office at Thebeeakhale's home in the Maseru suburb of Tsenola. The business was registered in 1991 as MKM which stands for Mosebetsi, Katleho,'Moho (Work, Success, Together), and as it developed ever more elaborate funeral policies, the business expanded. The present headquarters at the Industrial Area in Maseru was purchased in 1996, and by this time MKM had expanded outside Maseru, until it soon had branches in every district in Lesotho. More recently it has spread to South Africa where MKM owns two mortuaries and a farm. Currently MKM has over 100 vehicles and employs more than 600 people, whom Thebeeakhale describes as being from all walks of life from university graduates to initiation school graduates and illiterates.
MKM
is
expanding
its
activities
still
further
at
the
present
time.
According
to
Thebeeakhale
an
MKM
Memorial
Park
is
being
developed
at
Khubetsoana,
north-east
of
Maseru.
The
park
will
include
cemeteries,
a
crematorium
and
a
chapel.
NUL Acquires New Buildings, New Council, New Challenges and New ProblemsConstruction began in July 2005 on a large number of new buildings at the National University of Lesotho Roma Campus. A M15.6 million three-storey building on the south and west sides of the Thomas Mofolo Library when completed will double the library's capacity. To the north of the Old and New Science Blocks, a M26.1 million new science complex is being erected for the Faculties of Health Sciences and Agriculture. While each of the two storeys will mainly be occupied by one of the faculties, certain facilities will be shared, including some laboratory space. In the north-east of the campus, four new student hostel buildings designed to accommodate some 300 students are being built at a cost of M14.2 million. None of these buildings are likely to be ready until the beginning of the 2006-7 academic year. There has been no announcement about the source of the funds. The university's financial reserves are small and there has been no apparent supplementary appropriation by government to meet the additional capital expenditure. Pius XII College House, owned by the Catholic Church, has land situated within the campus, and started its own building activities a year earlier. The priests at Pius XII College House are members of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, through which development funds were sourced. When the academic year began in August 2005, the Catholic Church had ready for occupation on the Roma campus eight new green-roofed three-storey hostels, each with 21 double rooms. Although they did not yet have names, the hostels were blessed by His Grace Archbishop Bernard Mohlalisi on 25 August 2005. At present the hostels are simply Blocks A to H, and appropriate names are still being sought. Students however have already chosen their own name for the complex. It is Cheeseville, reflecting the fact that its residents have to pay rather more rent than the inhabitants of malaene, the single-room poorly serviced tenements in the surrounding villages which faute de mieux many students have had to occupy. Eating cheese is a luxury, confined to the relatively wealthy, and the inhabitants of Cheeseville by paying the enhanced rent are by implication in the same category. The Roma Campus has a recent history of failing to find names for new buildings. Its main central teaching blocks are coded A, B, C and D, with only the blocks A and B having been officially named as Oppenheimer Hall and the Thaba-Bosiu Building respectively. The third multi-purpose building completed in 2000 and coded CMP is known to the students as Titanic, from the resemblance for students to buy books and other study materials, but the privatized campus bookshop has long been in decline. Its book stocks for a campus of 5 000 students in 2005 are far less than those which were held by the bookstore when it served just 500 students. For a number of subjects taught at NUL, it does not seem to stock even a single title. One result of this is that there is an enormous and unfair demand for multiple copies of books from the under-resourced library. Another result is that an illegal photocopying business in Roma flourishes. How do the students spend their sudden windfall at the beginning of the academic year? Many conserve it wisely (and the local bank has a scheme to help them), but if the report in Lesotho Today of 15 September 2005 is anything to go by, much of it is also spent on trips to Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban and on parties and shopping sprees. A lecturer is quoted as saying that after the money had been received, there had been a drop in attendance at lectures. Trips to far places are however defended by students, because they can buy items unavailable in Roma such as cheap computers and textbooks. Students attending the Roma campus have this year acquired the National University Calendar 2005/2006, published for the first time since its immediate predecessor appeared in 2002. The new calendar makes up for the time lapse by its size, but with a mass of 1.2 kg and 450 pages in A4 format it is hardly conveniently portable. Examination of the contents reveals not only careless proofreading but very large amounts of overlapping content, which could have been controlled by an efficient Academic Registrar supported by the Academic Planning Committee. There is for example a proliferation of regulations for Master's and PhD degrees, taking up many pages and separately listed for individual departments when university-wide or at least faculty-wide regulations should have been possible. In any case, the number of graduate students is still small, and indeed its first PhD is only due to be awarded at the graduation ceremony later in 2005. Those seeking clarification about the period of transformation and the reversion in May 2004 to the status quo ante will search the calendar in vain, because it is not there. Indeed the history of the university provided ends in 1975. Lack of academic uniformity is further evidenced by individual departments adopting non-standard innovations. For example the course system, which in universities ten times the size of NUL, is well accommodated by a three digit numbering system, while retained by most departments, has been replaced by the Department of Mathematics & Computing Science by a four-digit system. Also gone is the well-know course M001 or 'Mooi' (Afrikaans for `nice') as it had become affectionately known to a generation of students. It has reappeared as M1330 and been promoted to a university first-year level course. Its content however is still high school mathematics, the course being rated as zero-level in the first place because, although not of university level, it provided basic numeracy skills for those who had had the misfortune of passing through high school without acquiring them.
The
calendar
fails
to
provide
a
number
of
other
features
which
would
have
made
it
more
useful.
Very
few
departments
mention
prescribed
or
recommended
books.
There
are
also
no
illustrations
except
on
the
cover,
and
there
is
also
no
map.
The
University
Statutes
as
published
are
also
problematic.
The
date
for
each
when
it
became
legal
would
have
been
useful,
quoting
the
relevant
issue
of
the
Lesotho
Government
Gazette.
The
procedure
to
make
a
legal
statute
is
in
fact
printed
on
page
417
of
the
Calendar.
However,
it
appears
to
have
been
more
than
20
years
since
the
procedure
was
followed,
and
the
legality
of
recent
statutes
and
a
number
of
university
structures
and
even
of
new
faculties
must
be
in
some
doubt.
Immigration Officers Suspended but the Police Fail to Make ArrestsIt has been long suspected that the acquisition of residence permits in Lesotho has been subject to corrupt practices, but until recently no action seems to have been taken. However, on 9 August 2005, as reported in Public Eye of 26 August 2005, letters were written by the Acting Principal Secretary, Limakatso Ntlhoki, to two of the five staff working in the Aliens Section of the Immigration Department of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The letters indicated that they were suspended from office pending investigations into alleged fraudulent issuance of residence permits and embezzlement of Government revenue. The letters were a follow-up to earlier letters of 21 July 2005 ordering the two staff to go on paid indefinite leave. According to the newspaper report, the two officers of the department considered themselves victimized and that if there was anything to investigate in the unit, the rest of the staff should also be suspended. On Monday 22 August, when the immigration officers refused to leave their office, police were called to remove them. However, the male police failed to persuade the two women to leave. The following day, two women police were brought to arrest the immigration officers, and according to the newspaper, one of the suspended officers, Thakane Kotelo, cried out that she could not take the pressure any more: `For Christ's sake, I'm HIV-positive. After arresting me, please go and get my medication and bring it to me in custody'. Whether because the policewomen were unwilling to handle an HIV-positive person, or some other reason, no arrests were made on the second day either. Meanwhile, the Aliens Office, always a busy place, was dislocated and long lines of mainly Chinese expatriates were left unserved.
As
happens
with
many
newspaper
stories,
no
follow-up
or
details
of
the
final
outcome
of
the
incident
were
provided
in
the
following
issue
of
Public
Eye.
Lesotho Football Coach's Future Uncertain
The
German
coach
of
Lesotho's
national
football
team,
Likuena,
is
under
a
cloud.
Not
only
have
Likuena
not
won
a
match
since
Tony
Hey
took
over
the
team
on
12
October
2004,
but
Hey
has
been
missing
from
the
country
for
some
time.
As
reported
in
most
Lesotho
newspapers,
the
Lesotho
Football
Association
(LEFA)
decided
in
August
2005
to
suspend
his
salary
of
€10
000
per
month.
Hey
did
reemerge,
but
responded
by
refusing
to
attend
any
further
meetings
unless
his
suspended
salary
was
paid.
Lesotho Again Issues Postage Stamps on Topics Irrelevant to National PrideLesotho's postage stamps in recent years have suffered from the Inter-Governmental Philatelic Corporation of New York making offers which the Director of Postal Services seems unable to refuse. The latest stamps, all issued on the same date, 22 August 2005, cover a variety of anniversaries and events, most of which were not marked in any way in Lesotho itself. These includes the Bicentenary of the Birth of Hans Christian Andersen, the 100th Anniversary of the Death of Jules Verne, the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, the 75th Anniversary of the First World Soccer Championship, the 100th Anniversary of Rotary International, the 60th Anniversary of VE and VJ-Days, the 50th Anniversary of the Death of Albert Einstein, and the Death of Pope John Paul II in 2005. While a few of these events might have had some Lesotho relevance, there was no attempt to describe this. That the Pope had visited Lesotho in 1998 was not mentioned in the accompanying literature, nor that Basotho soldiers had participated in the Victory Parade in London in 1945. Indeed, judging by the stamps, the Second World War had been an almost exclusively American affair. As usual, the IGPC stamps are gaudy, and with often nearly illegible captions. The usual sprinkling of errors occurs as well as American spelling. Of the four Einstein stamps, one plays safe by simply reproducing the Time magazine cover, where he is depicted as Person of the Century. However on another stamp he is depicted in the company of Nikola Testa. Testa? The person depicted is surely the Croatian born, later US naturalized physicist and inventor Nikola Tesla, immortalized by having the unit of magnetic induction, the tesla, named after him. Very few Basotho will see the stamps. The denominations are M4, M8, M10, M15 and M25, very remote from the most commonly used stamps, which are 70s for an internal letter and M1 for a letter to South Africa. When stamps were issued in 2000 for the Royal Wedding, they proved exceptionally popular. Now that the Royal Family of King Letsie III and Queen 'Masenate has expanded through the arrival of Princesses Senate and 'Maseeiso, recent royal family portraits could remind people that Lesotho is a Kingdom. Other kingdoms like the United Kingdom and Swaziland consistently include the royal portrait on their stamps. Lesotho neglects to do so.
One
aspect
of
the
new
stamps
is
a
sign
of
the
times.
For
the
first
time
they
have
been
printed
in
China,
by
the
'BSP
Beijing
Postage
Stamp
Printing
House'.
NEPAD e-Schools Inaugurated and Computer Training for MPs Initiated
|