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The forgotten school

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QACHA’S NEK – TWO teachers shout at the top of their voices, competing for attention. Their students are confused, but it is slowly becoming a norm at a school where six classes, from Grade One to Grade Six, share a single building.
Each class faces a different side of the hall and teachers have to shout to be heard.
Welcome to St Magdalena Primary School, situated deep in Lesotho’s Maluti mountainous region of Mphaki in the Quthing district.

The school is one of many in the hard-to-reach areas of the country that has insufficient infrastructure, forcing teachers to conduct lessons under trees or share a single building.
At St Magdalena Primary School, the old building built by the Roman Catholic Church in 1956 is housing six different classes in which students are taught at the same time.
The church itself is dilapidated and poses a risk to users. The principal, ’Masebabatso Letsie, said the situation at the school worsened this year because of the heavy rains.
“Teaching students in an environment like this takes away the motivation from both the teachers and the students,” Letsie said.

“St Magdalena Primary School only has the old church building used as a one big classroom,” she said.
“We have six classes in one room and the students have to sit facing different angles so that they can concentrate on their teacher,” she said.
She added: “Being in one room teaching different classes confuses the students. It is sometimes a matter of who has the loudest voice, sometimes a child focuses on a teacher who is not teaching them. Students lose concentration when we teach.”

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Letsie said the other thing that disheartens students is being sent to collect cow dung and soil for plastering the building on Fridays.
“They became so demotivated that they sometimes do not come to school on Fridays as they know that they have to plaster the hall,” she said.
The church hall has broken windows and as a result students catch the cold and hesitate to go to school during rainy days as well as during the winter.
“Our school, since it was built over 50 years ago, leaks heavily when it rains,” she said.
She said many children drop out of school every year.

“At the beginning of the year we usually have a lot of children but by mid-year many of them would have dropped out,” she said.
“We sometimes start with 180 students but at the end of the year we will have only 60.”
“We do not have enough teachers and also the school is not good enough to attract teachers. Right now, we only have two teachers handling six classes,” Letsie said, adding: “I am afraid this building may fall over the students one day.”

“We have seen some schools receiving assistance to construct good classrooms but we are always left behind.”
Letsie said even parents have been demotivated to an extent that many are opting to withdraw their children from school and ask them to look after family livestock.
“Parents here do not see school as something important. Seeing a student from here going as far as university level would be a miracle. At the age of 14 they get married, they look after livestock and they go to South Africa to be domestic workers,” she said.

The councillor of Mphaki Ha-Kelebone, Molefi Ramakatsa, said the school building and the wellbeing of the students are worrying.
Ramakatsa said he has since asked for help from different sources.
“The community at large and I have been asking for help even before I became a councillor,” he said.
“But even today our children are schooling in a room which can fall over them anytime. This situation does not give any value to education, at least in the eyes of many around this place,” Ramakatsa said.

Ramakatsa said some parents do not hesitate to call their children during school break time to instruct them to leave classes and look after livestock.
“The other thing I have noticed is that our children are not getting educated as much as the children attending school in Maseru and I think that is because the environment is not good for them,” he said.

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He complained that children become absent from school because parents no longer care about education, especially because they have not seen any change in their lives ever since the school was established.
“The school is without windows and has a broken door. During winter the children get cold, that is why some of them quit during those cold winter days,” he said.

Ramakatsa said it is worrying that the students do not even have desks and chairs.
“This situation has forced some of the parents to take their children to Maseru or other places that are better.”
’Maseoehla Nkuebe, a parent, said due to Covid-19 measures, children are told to attend school on different days to avoid congestion in the hall, but this was also breeding another catastrophe.

“Many students end up opting for marriage. They were bored by waiting for some days without going to school, we already have our problem of lack of buildings and Covid-19 has made it worse,” Nkuebe said.
“The students are dropping school like never before and their future is the only thing we are worried about, but we are very disappointed as parents that the government is not taking part in efforts to help us save the education of our children,” she said.

After Lesotho introduced free primary education in 2000 and made primary education compulsory in 2010, the government of Japan financed the construction of both primary and secondary schools, and the upgrading of school facilities throughout the country.
Japan pumped in M346 million for the project. Japan also built pit latrine toilets for teachers and students as well as low-cost multi-purpose playgrounds in some of the schools.

Deputy Prime Minister Mathibeli Mokhothu, under whose constituency the school falls, told thepost that he has sent a proposal to the Ministry of Education.
“The ministry told me that they are working on the project,” Mathibeli said.

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Knives out for Molelle

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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

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Massive salary hike for chiefs

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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

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Maqelepo says suspension deeply flawed

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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

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