News

The forgotten children – Part 5

Published

3 years ago

October 26, 2021

MASERU – FROM a very young age, Thabiso was already displaying anti-social behaviour.
Now 22, he was known for “bad boy” behaviour when he was still in school at Motimposo Primary, often attracting the wrath of school authorities and his parents.
When Thabiso was supposed to enrol for secondary school education at the age of 13, he instead started selling wares in the streets together with other boys from his Tšenola village.

Already belligerent, life on the streets turned him into a monster and his association with much older vagrants did not help matters.
“That is where we started smoking marijuana, drinking beer and committing some petty crimes such as housebreaking,” Thabiso told thepost recently.
It did not take long before the Tšenola boys started thinking about forming dangerous gangs in the village to fight for territory.
“Soon it was one knife fight after another,” he said.
At the time Thabiso’s parents tried to convince him to leave his ways and return home “until they decided that I am mpa e tsoileng (an aborted child).

They simply consider me as having not been born at all.”
When Thabiso’s gang was defeated by a rival gang four years ago, he fled and went to Bloemfontein where he started off as a beggar before getting temporary jobs working in people’s gardens.
But it didn’t take long for him to return to his old ways and he started his criminal activities after linking up with a new Basotho gang.
“Soon I had to run away again,” he said, refusing to divulge the reasons for fleeing Bloemfontein.

“Life there warranted me to come back home. I needed to be in Maseru or else I would have died,” he said.
Thabiso is one of several young men living in a house belonging to Khopolo Lebona, situated behind Shoprite in Maseru. Lebona, the owner of the house says she is considering tearing it down.
Compared to several others boys and young men staying at the house, Thabiso is one of the very few there who look clean and healthy and well-fed.
He lives with a woman in a tidied room they share with two other couples.
He didn’t want to reveal how he is making a living except to say “we go out begging and help shoppers carry their groceries for small gifts”.

His girlfriend too does not want to reveal how she is surviving.
The woman, whom we will call Lerato, is 19 years old.
“My home is in Qoaling where my entire family lives. I just decided to come here, to live here, and they know where I am,” she said.
“I had some problems with them. I smoke, I drink beer and it is a problem to them.”
“I left home a long time ago. I made my own decision to come here, I was not chased away from home,” she said.
In essence, Thabiso and Lerato are now adults – one being 22 and another 19 – and they cannot be described as children in terms of the Children’s Protection Act.

However, they were children when they embarked on street life and perhaps could have avoided their current pitfalls had they received help when they were younger.
The Children’s Protection Act gives children the right to be protected from the use of hallucinogens, narcotics, alcohol, tobacco products or psycho-tropic drugs and any other substances declared harmful.
Parents, village chiefs, peace officers and the Ministry of Social Development have the responsibility to help children stay away from such vices.

The Act states that a child would be in need of care and protection if they behave in a manner that is, or is likely to be harmful to themselves or to any other person.
It also states that a child needs protection and care if the parent or guardian is unable or unwilling to take necessary measures to remedy the situation.
A child, according to the Act, would be in need of protection and care if the remedial measures taken by the parent or guardian fail and as a result the child cannot be controlled by their parent or guardian.
“A police officer, the Department of Social Welfare, a chief or member of the community who is satisfied on reasonable grounds that a child is in need of care and protection may take the child and place him in a place of safety,” the Act needs.

If the provisions of the law had been followed, the future of thousands of people such as Thabiso and Lerato could have been different as they could have been taken to safe places.
But another problem is the scarcity of such places of safety where children in need of protection can be sheltered.
The Ministry of Social Development does not have its own places of safety for children and it relies on charitable organisations such as churches, NGOs and private orphanages.

The Ministry’s Child Protection manager, ’Mantoa Sejake, has previously told thepost that their mandate is to protect all kinds of people in danger and to achieve that they work with partners such as government ministries, NGOs and individuals.
She said the Act states that a child is anyone below the age of 18.
“At that age, they don’t have any responsibilities in a way and rely on other people for survival and we don’t have a choice but to intervene either ourselves or through our partners. Action has to be taken,” Sejake said.

“Every child has to grow in a family yard either theirs, neighbours’ or relatives but there should be someone who takes responsibility for that particular child,” she said.
“If that’s not the case then it’s not normal hence the need for the ministry to intervene.”
The ministry knows about tens of children living in the inhabitable house behind Shoprite, which they call the White House, and we wait to see what action will be taken to deal with the problem.

Caswell Tlali

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