TUMISANG SERAME The kingdom of Lesotho is one of the countries in the world whose corruption perception seems to be escalating daily with youths among the loudest crying for an end to corruption and abuse of public office. According to the 2018 transparency international report, Lesotho is ranked 78 out of 180 countries on corruption. The country
Author: news@lescij.org
Lekhetho is Founding Editor and Journalist at MNN Centre for Investigative Journalism in Maseru, Lesotho. He is 2016 First-Prize Investigative Journalism Award Winner sponsored by MISA – Lesotho and US Embassy – Maseru. Lekhetho has attended a three-month intensive investigative journalism fellowship with AmaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism in Johannesburg, South Africa, from mid-August to mid-November 2018.
During the fellowship, Lekhetho published in South Africa and Lesotho five “impressive” investigative articles about the beleaguered Lesotho’s wool industry, the country’s capture claims by Chinese community, how a Chinese business mogul in the country funded almost every politician and influenced state decisions.
Lekhetho has been commended by his editor and mentor at AmaBhungane, Andrew Forrest, as one of best fellows the Centre has enrolled.
Lekhetho is one of 37 contributors in the Southern African Muckraking – an anthology edited by Anton Harbor and launched during the 2018 African Investigative Journalism Conference in October.
Gendered impact of corruption
…as women are proportionally more vulnerable to corruption than men MATIISETSO MOSALA Corruption is referred to as a global phenomenon and serious impediment to development and economic growth. Although it affects all social classes in communities we live in, poor women and young girls are among the most affected. In order to understand corruption best in Lesotho,
Reflection on corruption in Lesotho
Billy Ntaote For many Basotho today, talking about sustainable development goals and why their country fails to attain these important milestones and realise prosperity is mostly blamed on a corrupt cabal influential over state power referred to as State House. State House, under normal circumstances, is an eminent house in any country, of course, second after
Government and corporates suck LEC dry
…allegedly owe nearly M200 million in bill arrears KEISO MOHLOBOLI and MANTSALI PHAKOANA The government owes the Lesotho Electricity Company (LEC) more than M50 million in unpaid electricity bills while private companies and some embassies owe the struggling state-owned enterprise an additional M140 million, MNN Centre for Investigative Journalism can reveal. The size of debt
Parliamentarians in bloody scuffle over wool and mohair farmers
Billy Ntaote Lesotho’s wool and mohair farmers’ protracted fight to see a localisation policy imposed on their business reversed yesterday precipitated a bloody scuffle in the national assembly of Lesotho. Farmers demands to see the wool and mohair marketing regulations of 2018 imposed on their business by small business, cooperatives and marketing minister Chalane Phori were
Female condom low demand widens inequality gap
Matiisetso Mosala Cultural norms have dictated that women shy away from acts that expose their sexual desires. Women in Lesotho are frowned at if found carrying condoms on them. This exposes them to unplanned pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases and further elevates their risk of contracting HIV. The female condom, known as femidom, was developed in the
Ray of hope for vegetable production amid harsh climate change
Nteboheleng Thamae Climate change is considered one of the biggest crises facing humanity today, it has posted threats to food security due to negative effects on agriculture, but a legion of smallholder farmers in Lesotho are fighting to defy the odds and are cashing in on vegetable production. One such farmer is Tšepo Massa,
Lesotho urged to go techno to quell new HIV infections
‘MATIISETSO MOSALA AND TUMISANG SERAME Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Machesetsa Mofomobe has advised parliament to adopt technological applications to remind people at regular intervals to use condoms as a preventive measure against HIV/AIDS. This approach, Mofomobe recommended during National Assembly’s deliberations on new HIV/AIDS infections threatening prospects of sustainable funding to support treatment of the pandemic. “New
Misery of being gay in Lesotho and the fight against HIV
…HIV prevalence among men who have sex with men a concern under the spotlight for People’s Matrix Billy Ntaote His attackers knew nothing and were ignorant and never thought deeply what it means to be loved and to live freely to make one’s own choices without being limited by rigid cultural norms. Rethabile (not
Cabinet guarantees M2.4 billion loans for unvetted companies
Billy Ntaote Against the advice of Minister of Finance, Moeketsi Majoro, Lesotho cabinet has approved a whopping M2.4 billion for yet flawed sports facilities project as the country prepares to host Africa Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 games in December 2020. Majoro had noted in a secret cabinet memorandum to cabinet huge risks of the