News

Dealing with haemophilia

Published

2 years ago

April 18, 2023

The Post

MASERU – “YOUR son has a bleeding disorder and is likely to bleed to death if not attended to urgently.”

Very few parents have received such a scary statement from their family doctors.

But for Retšelisitsoe Mahlaha’s parents in Lithabaneng, in the southern outskirts of Maseru, confirmation that he had haemophilia – a rare hereditary blood disorder disease – was no surprise.

They had always suspected that their son had haemophilia although several doctors they visited had not confirmed their suspicions.

In 2021, almost 234 000 people were confirmed to have haemophilia worldwide according to the 2021 Statista report.

Last year Lesotho had at least 38 haemophilia patients according to Novo Nordic Haemophilia Foundation.

Haemophilia is a disorder in which blood doesn’t clot normally, leading to excessive bleeding occurring after any injury.

A patient excessively bleeds externally or internally, depending on the kind of injury or organ damage.

Symptoms include large or deep bruises, joint pain and swelling, unexplained bleeding and blood stains in urine or stool.

The biggest risk factor of haemophilia is to have family members who also have the disorder.

Males are much more likely to have haemophilia than females according to experts.

Haemophilia A is a hereditary blood disorder primarily affecting males, caused by a deficiency of the blood clotting protein known as Factor VIII.

Factor VIII is the protein that is deficient or defective in patients with classical haemophilia.

Lack of this protein results in abnormal bleeding.

Haemophilia B is a hereditary bleeding disorder caused by a lack of blood clotting factor IX, a zymogen enzyme of the blood coagulation cascade.

Without enough factor IX, blood cannot clot properly to control bleeding according to Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

These disorders affect males more often than females because females have an additional X chromosome that acts as a “back-up,”. Because males only have one X chromosome, any mutation in the factor VIII or IX gene will result in haemophilia.

Females with a mutation on one X chromosome are called “carriers”.

Haemophilia always occur in boys and is passed on from mother to son through one of the mother’s genes.

Mahlaha, who says his brother died at only nine months, does not remember when exactly the haemophilic symptoms showed in him because he was still very young.

At first, he says, his parents would take him from one doctor to the next but none of them believed when the parents said they suspected he had haemophilia.

But he recalls that when he was still very young he was constantly warned about playing competitive rough games such as football out of fear that he might injure himself.

His parents knew that his bleeding would only be stopped by a medica practitioner should someone hit him on the nose by accident or, as it often happens in football games, he scratched when falling on the ground.

Mahlaha, now 31, recalls that when he was below 10-years he was hyperactive and would sometimes engage in activities that caused minor injuries but that ended in him being admitted in hospital.

His hyperactivity as a child, he recalls, reached its peak when he fell from a tree at Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) Primary School in Maseru.

“I fell from the tree and bit my tongue, which led to bleeding profusely,” Mahlaha says.

“Teachers had already been made aware of my condition and they immediately called my parents,” he says.

Mahlaha says he was admitted at the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital but the bleeding did not stop until he was transferred to Bloemfontein.

“At the time I was weak and tired after losing too much blood.”

He was transfused with blood.

Before that he would always be transferred to Ladybrand after one doctor who listened to his parents tested and officially diagnosed him with haemophilia.

At the time, local doctors were unfamiliar with the disease and there was no haemophilia treatment in the country.

As a child living with haemophilia he got admitted several times because his hyperactivitiness.

Mahlaha’s experience mirrors the extent to which Lesotho needs specialist doctors who should treat haemophilia.

There is no cure for haemophilia but it can be treated by helping blood to form clots to stop the bleeding.

Mahlaha says the journey of growing up with this rare disease was quite tough.

“Back then doctors wouldn’t take my parents seriously when they said they suspected I had haemophilia,” he says.

“It was so fortunate that one of the doctors took an initiative to run the tests, I was then diagnosed and referred elsewhere because there was no treatment here.”

“It was a challenge for me to speak out about this condition because everyone who knew would be so extra careful around me,” he says, adding: “That would restrict me as they would remind me of what not to do.”

Another young man living with haemophilia, Ramolibeli Mohlaoli, says he started showing symptoms when he was only three months old.

Mohlaoli says his journey with haemophilia was marked by excessive nose bleeds, bleeding of gums, swollen joints and joint stiffness.

“I would swell when I crawled and whenever they tried to pick me up or when I fell,” Mohlauli says.

He says sometimes he would miss classes when he had such incidents back in primary school as he would be in hospital for up to three months being closely monitored.

During an awareness training in Thaba-Bosiu recently, Head of Haemophilia Treatment Centre, Dr Benjamin Nwako, said haemophilia treatment is still a long way away.

“Some people develop inhibitors against Factor VIII replacement after getting the treatment for a while and may need to receive bypassing agents,” Dr Nwako said.

Mpolai Makhetha

News

Knives out for Molelle

Published

19 hours ago

January 13, 2025

The Post

MASERU

KNORX Molelle’s appointment as the Director General of the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) in February 2023 could have been illegal.

The Law Society of Lesotho has told Prime Minister Sam Matekane that Molelle was appointed without being admitted as a legal practitioner in Lesotho, as required by law.

The society claims the information came from a whistleblower on January 2 and was corroborated by its roll of legal practitioners in Lesotho.

The society says the appointment violates section 4 of the Prevention of Corruption and Economic Offences Act 1999 which states that a person shall not be appointed as the DCEO director general unless they have been admitted as a legal practitioner in terms of the Legal Practitioners Act.

In the letter, Advocate Ithabeleng Phamotse, the society’s secretary, tells Matekane that this requirement “is not a mere procedural formality but a substantive qualification essential to the lawful appointment of the Director General”.

“The absence of such qualification fatally impairs the appointment ab initio, rendering it null and void from the outset,” Advocate Phamotse says in the letter written on Tuesday.

The society argues that if left unaddressed the illegality undermines the credibility, effectiveness and legality of the DCEO’s operations and exposes the kingdom to serious risks, including challenges to the lawfulness of decisions and actions made by Molelle.

“Should it be confirmed that the appointment was made in contravention of the mandatory legal requirements,” Advocate Phamotse said, “we respectfully urge you to take immediate corrective action to rectify this glaring irregularity”.

Advocate Phamotse tells the prime minister that if the appointment is not corrected, the society would be “left with no alternative but to institute legal proceedings to protect the interests of justice and uphold the rule of law in Lesotho”.

“We trust that you will accord this matter your highest priority and act decisively to avert further damage to the integrity of our governance structures.”

The Prime Minister’s spokesman, Thapelo Mabote, said they received the letter but Matekane had not yet read it yesterday.

Matekane is on leave and is expected back in the office on January 14.

Questions over the validity of his appointment come as Molelle is being haunted by the damaging audio clips that were leaked last week.

The clips were clandestinely recorded by Basotho National Party leader, Machesetsa Mofomobe.

In some of the clips, Molelle appears to be describing Matekane and his deputy Justice Nthomeng Majara as idiots. He also appears to be calling Law Minister Richard Ramoeletsi a devil.

In other clips, he seems to be discussing cases. thepost has not independently verified the authenticity of the audio clips.

Staff Reporter

News

Massive salary hike for chiefs

Published

19 hours ago

January 13, 2025

The Post

MASERU

THE government has increased the salaries for traditional leaders by a massive 88.5 percent.

This means that a village chief not appointed by a gazette will now earn M3 001 a month, up from the previous salary of M1 592. That means village chiefs will now earn an extra M1 409 per month.

A village chief, or headman, appointed by a gazette has moved from M1 966 to M3 567 per month.

Above a village chief is one with jurisdiction over a small cluster of villages, a category three chief, who now moves from M3 768 to M5 181 per month.

A category four chief, known as ward chief, has moved from M4 455 per month to M7 993.

The category five chief, who reports directly to a principal chief, will now earn M10 674, up from M9 939 per month.

There is no increment for principal chiefs.

The government says the budget for chiefs’ salaries has moved from M129.4 million to M208.3 million annually.

The hike follows a series of discussions between the Lesotho Workers Association, representing the chiefs, and the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftainship.

The revised salaries will be implemented with effect from April 1, 2025.

According to the settlement agreement, a discussion about raising the lowest salary of M6 000 for the lowest-ranking chiefs will be revisited in October 2025.

Chiefs who spoke to thepost have expressed satisfaction with the hike, saying it will significantly improve their lives.

Chief Mopeli Matsoso of Ha-Tikoe in Maseru said his previous salary of M1 500 per month would now be doubled, which would improve his life and help provide smoother services to the community.

He stressed that they used to close the offices while going out looking for jobs to compensate for their little salaries.

“Now the people will get smoother services,” Chief Matsoso said.

“The offices will forever be open,” he said.

Chief Matsoso said the salary hike will also serve as a motivation for other chiefs.

Chief Tumo Majara of Liboping, Mokhethoaneng, also expressed his gratitude.

Chief Majara acknowledge the positive impact the salary review would have, especially as a new officeholder.

“I guess we are all happy, that review will help a lot,” he said.

The Principal Chief of Thaba-Bosiu, Khoabane Theko, said the salary increase of chief is a welcome move by the government.

“I’m yet to study how the new salary structure looks like. But I welcome it as a good move by the government,”Chief Theko said.

Nkheli Liphoto

News

Maqelepo says suspension deeply flawed

Published

19 hours ago

January 13, 2025

The Post

MASERU

Motlatsi Maqelepo, the embattled Basotho Action Party (BAP) deputy leader and Tello Kibane, who was the party chairman, have rejected their suspension from the party arguing it was legally flawed.

The BAP’s central executive committee on Tuesday suspended Maqelepo for seven years and Kibane for five years. The suspensions became effective on the same day.

The party’s disciplinary committee which met last Wednesday had recommended an expulsion for the two but that decision was rejected with the committee pushing for a lengthy suspension.

Maqelepo’s suspension will end on January 7, 2032 while Kibane’s will run until January 7, 2030.

Their suspension letters from the BAP deputy secretary general Victoria Qheku, say they should not participate in any of the party’s activities.

“In effect, you are relieved of your responsibility as a CEC member and BAP deputy leader,” Maqelepo was told in the letter.

“You were found guilty by default on all charges and the committee recommended your immediate dismissal from the party,” the letter reads.

On Kibane, the verdict states that the committee decided to mitigate the recommended sanction by reducing his suspension to five years.

“In the gravity of the charges, the suspension affects your membership in the BAP parliamentary caucus from which you are removed as a chairman.”

They were suspended in absentia after they refused to attend the disciplinary hearing, which they said was illegal.

In response to the suspension, Maqelepo wrote a letter addressing the BAP members in general, defying the committee’s decision to suspend them.

He has called for a special conference, appealing to party constituencies to push for it, citing the ongoing internal fight that includes the leadership’s decision to withdraw the BAP from the coalition government.

Maqelepo also said the central executive committee is illegally in a campaign to dissolve committees in the constituencies and replace them with stooges.

He reminded the members that there is a court case pending in the High Court seeking an interdiction to charge them in the party’s structures without approval of the special conference that he is calling.

He said the party leadership should have awaited the outcome of the case before proceeding with any disciplinary action.

“The party that is led by a professor of law continues to do dismissals despite the issue being taken to the courts,” Maqelepo said.

The party leader, Professor Nqosa Mahao, is a distinguished professor of law.

Maqelepo said they would write the central executive committee rejecting its decision to suspend them, saying they will continue taking part in party activities.

He said their fate in the party is in the hands of the special conference.

He appealed to all the party constituencies to continue writing letters demanding the special conference.

Both Maqelepo and Kibane received letters on November 28 last year inviting them to show cause why they should not be suspended pending their hearing.

They both responded on the following day refusing to attend.

Maqelepo, Kibane, Hilda Van Rooyen, and ’Mamoipone Senauoane are accused of supporting a move to remove Professor Mahao from his ministerial position last year.

They were part of the BAP members who asked Prime Minister Sam Matekane to fire Professor Mahao, who at the same time was pushing for the reshuffling of Tankiso Phapano, the principal secretary for the Ministry of Energy.

When Matekane ignored Professor Mahao’s demands, the latter withdrew the BAP from the coalition government much to the fierce resistance of the party’s four MPs.

Maqelepo started touting members from constituencies to call for a special conference to reverse Professor Mahao and the central executive committee’s decision.

The central executive committee issued a circular stopping Maqelepo’s rallies but he continued, with the support of the other MPs.

In the BAP caucus of six MPs, it is only Professor Mahao and ’Manyaneso Taole who are supporting the withdrawal from the government.

Nkheli Liphoto