News

‘Let’s talk about mental health’

Published

11 months ago

March 5, 2024

They were old, frail and defenceless women from Ha-Kholoko village in Roma, who were stabbed to death with a spear during a deadly night.
Their crime?
They were accused of being witches.
Three suspects, all from Ha-Kholoko village, have since appeared before a High Court judge to answer a charge of murder.

They accused the women of bewitching one of their relatives who had died.
In Sesotho culture, no one just dies. Someone causes their death. And in this case, the blame was put on the three elderly women.

They were, however not given a chance to defend themselves; they were just bludgeoned to death. Even if they screamed, no one was there to help them.
Stories of this nature are all too common in Lesotho where belief in witchcraft is rife.

’Makamohelo Malimabe, who is leading a Mental Health for Public Health project in Lesotho, says such issues are a reflection of the huge challenges facing Basotho.

“Mental health symptoms are largely misunderstood,” she says. “And so when you have nkhono (grandmother) in the community, facing early signs of cognitive decline, when they are less aware of themselves and their environment, our default position as Basotho is to say they are witches.”

She says some of the old women have been beaten and violated for things that can be clearly explained as early signs of cognitive decline and the early onset of dementia.

“One day this person knew who they were, but now that they are 70, they don’t know who they are and what’s happening to them mentally; we as Basotho resort to calling them witches,” she says.

Malimabe, together with two other colleagues Grace Sello and Sello Ramokanate, are spearheading the Mental Health for Public Health project which seeks to fight these misconceptions about mental health.

She says the project will also seek to address some of these challenges by proving a platform to Basotho to talk about these issues.
The project will also seek to improve mental health services in Lesotho.

Malimabe says the project will carry out training programmes in all districts of Lesotho. It will also seek to raise awareness on issues of mental health and promote dialogue among Basotho who work in mental health services.

She says there is a lot of stigma surrounding issues of mental health in Lesotho. The project will seek to destigmatise the illness by sharing information on mental health.
“There is a lot of resistance, which can be attributed to compromised information about what mental health is,” she says.

“We will share critical information on mental health in an effort to improve mental health services and scale up mental health care in Lesotho.”
Malimabe says Lesotho is dealing with a serious mental health crisis.

Dr Daniel Vigo, a Harvard University researcher, says a fifth of Lesotho’s 2.2 million people, about 440 000 people, are suffering from some kind of mental illness.
“That’s a high number,” she says. “We may not be aware of who does because of our inability to immediately identify mental health symptoms as per how they present in Lesotho. They can be attributed to witchcraft, or bad spirits or other things.”

“So we end up missing cases of mental illness. But based on research and WHO (World Health Organization) numbers, mental health issues are high and very prevalent in our country,” she says.

She says their project will seek to raise awareness on mental health challenges.
“We want them to have sufficient information to be able to identify when they are being presented with mental health symptoms, mental illnesses and mental disorders,” she says.
“What we are hoping to achieve at the end of the day, is to optimise care where mental health is not a neglected problem.”

She argues that at present, issues of mental health are at the bottom rung of the ladder as compared to other health issues such as HIV/AIDS.

“We are seeing heightened programmes in HIV, but when you look at mental health, we are not seeing as much work being done in that area.”

She says they want to “scale up mental health services in Lesotho to respond to global targets”.

At the end of the project, Malimabe says they hope to have disseminated sufficient information to villagers across the country so that they are able to identify mental health issues.

“We are going to work with clinicians, psychiatry nurses, counsellors, psychologists and social workers. With the information they will have, we are hoping there will be some kind of information cascade. Now that I have been trained to identify what psychosis looks likes, I think this is what you need to do,” she says.

“We are hoping to have some sort of intervention that is specific to our context, that will say we have done this, and we think this works. We are hoping to normalise mental illnesses in our context so that they are not as taboo as they are now.”

She says they “want people to talk openly about their challenges”.

“We are hoping that through such training, the mental health champions will be improved in communities.”

She says what inspired the project was a realisation that Basotho had their own ways of healing that worked perfectly before the advent of colonialism.
Malimabe says they want to explore some of those methods as part of community engagement.

“The interventions that have been tried in the past are actually what is guiding our project. We figured out that Basotho had their own ways of healing; they have always had them. When they are burdened with suffering, they go to traditional healers, they go to spiritual healers.

“They go to church leaders and share their challenges and burdens with pastors. This was central to our approach in dealing with mental health issues.”
She says while most Basotho go to hospitals and clinics, including Mohlomi Mental Hospital when they have symptoms of depression and mental health challenges, they had realised that is not the only place they go to when they have challenges.

“We thought since these practices, were used by Basotho in the past, and have always been there in the past, why can’t we uplift these again and ensure they are trusted again? We want to optimise what has already been there by bringing back trust in these services.”

She says there is secondary data from research that shows that traditional healing methods and spiritual healing practices, herbal treatment interventions have been found to be helpful.

“Clinical models have been tested and trials have been done, showing that they work,” she says.
“So it is on this basis that we think they work. We have a strong belief that they actually work when they are done right and they are channelled right.”
The project is being funded by the US Embassy Maseru of the US Department of State.

Participants can reach out to the project team on the following details : Tel +266 57975598 (WhatsApp available)
Email: mentalhealth4publichealth@gmail.com

News

Knives out for Molelle

Published

5 days 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

5 days 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

5 days 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