Opinion

Deprivation can render citizenship meaningless

This year’s Menkhoaneng to Thaba-Bosiu walk not only put Lesotho’s unparalleled natural beauty into sharp focus but it also brought the niggling issues of social deprivation right into the domain of what it actually means to have a true sense of belonging. For some of our people, citizenship is meaningful only in as far as [...]

15 May 2013 | 4 comments

How to define your freedom

UNFORTUNATELY for this fetching Soweto shebeen queen, I had gone on the wagon in 1982. On this day, in 1994, I was in a group of Zimbabwean journalists invited to visit this newly-legalised shebeen in this famous Jo’burg township. Incidentally, shebeens are still in townships in South Africa — not suburbs. I would have loved [...]

15 May 2013 | 1 comment

Tourism in Lesotho remains promising

By Phallang Mokhesi   Tlelima Ralechele has two German friends who are brothers, Dieter and Hans Kuhl both from Ulm in Bavaria where he had lived as a student sometime back. In 2010 the brothers came for the World Cup in South Africa but also toured Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia and visited their friend Tlelima in [...]

8 May 2013 | 2 comments

African workers’ chains . . .

TWO African presidents, with trade union backgrounds, come immediately to mind — Sierra Leone’s Siaka Stevens (1905-1988) and Zambia’s Frederick Chiluba (1943-2011). Both men distinguished themselves, somewhat, in some fields, but were not generally regarded to have been “as good as they ought to have been”. Chiluba, soon after leaving office, faced a string of [...]

8 May 2013 | 0 comments

Players that made their teams tick

The Vodacom premier league season is slowly drifting to a close. It is that time of the year when we look back and review the performance of the players who made their teams tick. For the first time after so many years both premier league and league sponsors, Vodacom Lesotho have introduced awards for outstanding [...]

1 May 2013 | 2 comments

New malls a threat to rights of the poor

IN his budget speech, Finance Minister Leketekete Ketso correctly noted agriculture, the textile and construction sectors as key drivers of economic growth. The construction of Thetsane Mall will certainly enhance Lesotho’s economic growth. However we need to consider some of the social impacts of the proposed mall. Maseru City Council (MCC) explains that a filling [...]

1 May 2013 | 1 comment

Getting a passport: What a nightmare

Apart from those in high offices and those with inside connections, everyone in this country must dread the day they realise their passport is nearing its expiry date. Applying for a new one is a hassle that citizens of Lesotho must never be subjected to. I mean never! I never anticipated that applying for a [...]

1 May 2013 | 4 comments

An obsession with royalty?

IN an Arab country where royalty sits awkwardly with politics, a Member of Parliament was jailed for “defaming” the Emir. He had apparently said something nasty — the Emir should perform to expectations or quit. He was sentenced to a few months in jail.  He was let out before he had served the whole sentence. [...]

1 May 2013 | 0 comments

Is it a three horse race?

Early league pacesetters Bantu and Lioli are struggling to maintain form at the top of the table and have continued to drop points at this crucial stage of the season. The loss of form by these two giants is a blessing in disguise for the army side, LDF, who at the weekend beat Bantu 1-0 [...]

24 Apr 2013 | 6 comments

Juche and other ideas

STRANGELY enough, the word “Juche” has not been used by the North Koreans in their set-to with the US, Japan and South Korea. Juche was forged by Kim Il Sung (1912-94), the founding leader of North Korea. I missed an opportunity to meet The Great Leader in 1980, shortly after our independence. Prime Minister Robert [...]

24 Apr 2013 | 0 comments
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