Moroke Sekoboto  THE Revenue Services Lesotho (RSL) has reaffirmed its commitment to preserving the environment by planting more trees.   RSL, in collaboration with the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) through its Youth Development Programme Boot Campers and the Department of Forestry, marked another milestone in shared commitment to protecting and preserving the country’s natural environment at the LDF Military Base in Mafeteng by planting 2,000 trees last Thursday.  RSL Commissioner Operations Support, Mpono Mosase said this initiative forms part of their activities focused on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) efforts.   Ms Mosase said that they developed their three-year strategy, dubbed Lesokoana 2024-2027, which encourages them to contribute to the development of the Basotho.   She added that through that development, it is their responsibility to protect every Mosotho and positively impact the livelihoods of Basotho.  “Since 2023, when RSL celebrated its 20th Anniversary, RSL made a bold pledge to plant 20,000 trees and increase that number annually. To date, 41,000 trees have been planted across the country. This financial year, the plan is to plant 22, 000 trees. A total of...

….vows to end political interference from crippling power utility    Moorosi Tsiane  The Acting Managing Director of the Lesotho Electricity Company (LEC), Ts’eliso Mokela, has blamed “political interference and nepotistic appointments” for the parastatal’s long-running financial and operational crisis, vowing to stamp out the practices that have left the power utility on the brink of insolvency.  Speaking in an interview with the Lesotho Times, Mr Mokela said years of politically driven recruitment had hollowed out the company’s technical and managerial capacity, with unqualified individuals placed in critical positions for partisan reasons rather than competence.  “Many of the problems at LEC stem from politicians infiltrating the company by offering jobs politically,” Mr Mokela said, adding that people lacking even basic skills were routinely appointed to posts they were unfit to hold.  Mr Mokela said the consequences of such interference were now evident in the company’s dire finances, weak governance and repeated appearances before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee over allegations of mismanagement and corruption.  LEC, he said, had survived...

Mohloai Mpesi  Concerns over delays in the appointment of commissioners to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) have escalated sharply, with the Democratic Congress (DC), Lesotho’s official opposition party, joining earlier warnings by smaller parties that the vacuum threatens the constitutional functioning of the country’s electoral body.  In a strongly worded press statement issued this week, the DC said it was “profoundly concerned” by what it described as an unjustified and constitutionally troubling delay in finalising the appointment of three IEC commissioners.  “The continued failure to appoint IEC Commissioners threatens the integrity, legality and effective functioning of Lesotho’s electoral system,” the DC said.  The opposition party’s intervention follows similar concerns raised earlier by the Yean for Economic Sustainability (YES) party, which wrote to the Council of State urging it to advise His Majesty King Letsie III to proceed with the appointments in terms of section 66(4) of the Constitution.  “There is currently no legal impediment, court...

  …judge condemns “barbaric” gender-based murder  Moorosi Tsiane  A Thaba-Tseka man who stabbed a woman to death after she refused to have sex with him—despite his claim that he had bought her alcohol—has been sentenced to 38 years’ imprisonment, in a case the High Court described as a brutal act of gender-based violence rooted in sexual entitlement.  Mohau Matele of Mohlakeng was on Monday sentenced by High Court Judge Maliepollo Makhetha after being convicted of murdering Mahali Lekheloha on 5 June 2025.  Evidence before the court showed that Matele killed Lekheloha after she rejected his sexual advances following a day of drinking, during which he had bought her alcohol and expected sex in return.  The court heard that on the night of the murder, first state witness Ntsane Botsane was drinking with Thabo Motemekoane, the second state witness, who volunteered to accompany him home to Mohlakeng.  As they approached the area, Botsane testified that they noticed a pool of blood by the roadside and stopped to investigate.  “We approached the body and realised it was a...

  Rethabile Pitso  LETSHEGO Financial Services’ “LetsGo & WIN” campaign touched on Mohale’s Hoek this past Friday where lucky winners walked away with cash and prizes valued at M35 000.  The campaign, which commenced on 1 October and is set to end on 31 December 2025, was designed to give back to Basotho for their support towards the Gaborone headquartered financial services powerhouse.  With a M400 000 budget to be spent through monthly and weekly draws, countrywide events have since been conducted through money-giveaway activities that included trolley dashes, wheel of fortune spinning, among other games.  Last week in Mohale’s Hoek six lucky winners walked away with prizes comprising two M1000 electricity vouchers, two trolley dashes valued at M5000 each, as well as M18 000 and M5000 cash prizes.  One more prize giving event is awaiting lucky winners in 2025 with a whopping  M100 000 earmarked for cash prizes next week.  Among the winners was Peiso Seutloali, who walked away with groceries worth M5000 after participating in...

Moroke Sekoboto  THE Minister of Trade, Industry and Business Development, Mokhethi Shelile, has opened a locally owned apparel and textile factory, marking a significant milestone in the government’s quest to harness and develop Basotho industrialists.  The minister officially opened the factory, Tranquil Textiles (Pty) Ltd in Maputsoe, Leribe, yesterday hailing it as a good example of the entrepreneurship spirit of Basotho.  Tranquil Textiles founder, Clement Molupe, said the factory was established in 2019 with only four employees but now employs 60 workers.  Mr Molupe said that through strategic support and funding from the Competitiveness and Financial Inclusion (CAFI) programme, the company had expanded significantly, contributing meaningfully to job creation and skills development.  “We started in 2019 with four employees, but our mission was to expand and deliver large orders. We found buyers in Durban, but their conditions were that we should have a big operational place, many machines, and that we should be financially stable. That encouraged us to push for bigger space and purchase more machines,” Mr Molupe said.    Speaking at the opening, Mr Shelile emphasised that the growth of...

Kabelo Masoabi  A Mokhotlong man charged with murder has denied any involvement in the killing, insisting that he was falsely implicated by prosecution witnesses and a co-accused who later fled justice.  Fose Chalo is charged with the murder of Letsema Maekane, who was fatally injured at Malubaluba village on 22 June 2019. Maekane was found lying injured on the ground late at night and later died in hospital.  Police investigations led to the arrest of Chalo and Realeboha Mohlahli. Mohlahli was subsequently released on bail but later absconded, prompting the High Court to issue a warrant for his arrest.  Testifying in his defence when the trial resumed last Wednesday, Chalo maintained his innocence, claiming he had been wrongly implicated in the killing.  He told the court that on the night of the incident he was at home, despite the prosecution’s claim that a knife allegedly used in the murder was found at his house.  Chalo testified that while resting on his bed, Mohlahli knocked and entered his home, claiming to have been injured. He...

Moorosi Tsiane  TWO men who brutally beat and slit the throat of their drinking companion during a drunken brawl in Mafeteng have been sentenced to a combined 73 years in prison, bringing to a close a murder case dating back to June 2017.  Tseko Mosena and Tšepo Kheoana were on Monday sentenced by High Court Judge Maliepollo Makhetha to 38 and 35 years’ imprisonment respectively for the killing of Itumeleng Mokhele, a crime the court described as barbaric and carried out in common purpose.  The court heard that the fatal incident occurred nearly eight years ago after the trio spent the night drinking at a local bar in Mafeteng. A quarrel broke out among them, prompting their ejection from the bar. However, the dispute continued as they walked away together.  Crown counsel Advocate (Adv) Tsebiso Fuma told the court that violence escalated along the way when Kheoana overpowered Mokhele, disarmed him of a nylon stick he had been carrying, and repeatedly struck him on the head, even after he had fallen to the ground.  Mosena then joined...

 . . . As Acting MD bares all, vows to change the parastatal’s operations    THE Lesotho Electricity Company (LEC) has hogged the limelight for the past few years, all for the wrong reasons, with the parastatal’s management recently appearing before the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to respond to a litany of allegations of mismanagement and corruption.  The parastatal has for long been in the red due to mismanagement. Consequently, the government, in October 2025, took a major step to overhaul its management to try and turnaround its fortunes and set it on a recovery path.  The Lesotho Times  (LT) reporter, Rethabile Pitso,  caught up with the man leading this unenviable task, Ts’eliso ‘Mokela, who was appointed Acting Managing Director in October. We asked this experienced corporate titan, about his plans to put this ailing power utility on a sound financial and operational footing.    Excerpts    LT: Since your recent appointment, you have the onerous task of cleaning up the company...

. . . As Acting MD bares all, vows to change the parastatal’s operations   THE Lesotho Electricity Company (LEC) has hogged the limelight for the past few years, all for the wrong reasons, with the parastatal’s management recently appearing before the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to respond to a litany of allegations of mismanagement and corruption.  The parastatal has for long been in the red due to mismanagement. Consequently, the government, in October 2025, took a major step to overhaul its management to try and turnaround its fortunes and set it on a recovery path.  The Lesotho Times  (LT) reporter, Rethabile Pitso,  caught up with the man leading this unenviable task, Ts’eliso ‘Mokela, who was appointed Acting Managing Director in October. We asked this experienced corporate titan, about his plans to put this ailing power utility on a sound financial and operational footing.   Excerpts   LT: Since your recent appointment, you have the onerous task of cleaning up the company...