Lesotho News Online Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit LESOTHO NEWS ONLINE/LESOTHO NEWS ONLINE/LESOTHO NEWS ONLINE Edition #21 11 May 1999 Subscribe to Lesotho News Online A bi-monthly update of news from the Kingdom of Lesotho! LESOTHO NEWS ONLINE is written by journalists living in Lesotho and brings you the news from their point of view. It is assembled and edited by Africa News Network, part of South Africa Contact, the former anti-apartheid movement in Denmark. LESOTHO NEWS ONLINE is one of our individual newsletters, and together with those from Mozambique, Angola, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Malawi, provides up to date news through our established network of journalists in Southern Africa. These newsletters will be followed, in the very near future, by news updates from other countries in the region. LESOTHO NEWS ONLINE is brought to you through a co-operation between Africa News Network, South Africa Contact and Inform, Denmark's leading alternative information network. ********************************** In this edition: Feature: 1. KING FINDS LADY OF HIS DREAMS News stories: 1. 70% OF CHILDREN HAVE ACCESS TO EDUCATION 2. PRIME MINISTER COUNTERS OPPOSITION PROPAGANDA 3. THE CABINET VERSUS THE MINISTER 4. NEW BNP LEADER WARNS YOUTH LEAGUE 5. CENTRAL BANK SENSITIZES LESOTHO BUSINESS ON EURO 6. MOSOTHO BUSINESSMAN STEPS UP THE LADDER IN OAU 7. LESOTHO BASEBALL QUALIFIES FOR ALL AFRICA FEATURE: KING FINDS LADY OF HIS DREAMS The 35 year-old King of Lesotho, King Letsie III, has finally chosen the lady of his dreams after five years of struggle in his search for Queen Mother for the Basothos. King Letsie succeeded his father at the age of 27 in 1991 when he was put on the throne by the military government after his father was sent on a forced sabbatical, following differences on the democratization of the country. After five years his mother, Queen Mamohato Seeiso, is believed to have expressed concern within the family at never having seen her son with a girl friend and her worries as to whether her son would ever marry. Following this, King Letsie made history in 1996 during the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit held in Maseru. He appealed to the heads of states and governments to look for a suitable wife for him, saying he had been looking around but had never identified one. He even made a joke about this: One marvels how easy it is for old men like President Mugabe (of Zimbabwe) who has managed to find a lady 40 year-old younger than him, while a young man like me is struggling to get one. In response to the appeal, the President of Botswana, Quet Masire, who was also chairman of the SADC said: ...I promise one, and King Mswati promises one too and President Mandela promises one too. In his position as constitutional monarch, the King of Lesotho used every event in the country to which he was invited to stress his search, once saying that he was still looking for the lady of his dreams and that he thanked the people of Lesotho for inviting him to such occasions because this was the only way he would be able to find his better half. At one of last year's occasions where President Mandela of South Africa was in attendance, King Letsie reminded Mandela about the promises they made as heads of states in 1996 saying: I am still searching and I hope by now you (Mandela) have promising news for me. Now the King has found the Queen Mother-to-be. The lucky lady is 20 year old Karabo Motsoeneng, a second year Bachelor of Arts student at the National University of Lesotho. King Letsie has broken the royal tradition of restricting the choice to within the royal family as he has chosen a commoner. She is the daughter of Thekiso and Makarabo Motsoeneng in the Leribe district. An uncle of King Letsie, Chief Mathealira Seeiso, has announced that even though the traditional lobola (bride price) is 33 cattle, the royal family has decided to pay 40 cattle for the future queen. Money has already changed hands for the herd and the cattle driven to her home. A date for the wedding has not yet been announced. Stories: 1.70% of Basotho children have access to education Basotho children make up 49.8 percent of the Lesotho population. Of these, 70 percent receive education while 30 percent do not. The acting representative of the United Nations Childrens' Fund (UNICEF-Lesotho), Dr. Haile Selasie recently quoted this from a current UNICEF report. Dr. Selasie was briefing members of parliament about the research and the rights of children as provided for by the United Nations convention. He says 30 percent of Basotho children who do not have access to education land up on the streets. He also said that 40,000 school-age children do not receive a decent education with most of the classes overburdened with an average of 67 pupils per teacher. A child is defined by the UN as any human being under the age of 18. Fifty percent of the schools in the country have no toilets or water supply for the pupils and 23 percent of teachers are not qualified, he says, adding that nearly 38 percent of school age children have iodine deficiency which means their brains do not develop as they should. Salasie said that in Lesotho "some children are prisoners while others get married under the age of 18". He did, however, commend the Lesotho government for in 1998 allowing 18 year-olds the right to vote for the first time. He said that it was important to include children in decision making, especially when it comes to things that affect their lives. According to the convention on the rights of the child, every child has the right to basic education, health and special protection. 2. Prime Minister counters opposition propaganda Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili is struggling to convince his followers and the nation at large that the intervention (known as the invasion to many in Lesotho) of the South African-led Southern African Development Community (SADC) troops was a legitimate move. In a series of public gatherings he is holding in the country, Prime Minister Mosisili is stressing the point that the foreign troops came into Lesotho because the opposition parties were involved in criminal activities and that they were protesting against the choice of the people. The purpose of the prime ministers rallies is to kick off the election campaign for the forthcoming general elections, the date for which has not yet been set. Fresh elections were called for after last year's May 23 one was aborted. Ever since the elections were nullified and since the intervention by the South African-led troops, the opposition alliance, now under the leadership of the former head of the military government, Major General Metsing Lekhanya, has been travelling the country blaming the government for having rigged the elections and then bringing in foreign forces. The opposition alliance is led by the Basotho National Party (BNP), which won one constituency in the aborted elections. The ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) won the other 79. 3. The cabinet versus the minister The Appeal Court of Lesotho has ruled out the application of the executive committee of the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD), in which they requested the court declare null and void the election of the minister of education, Lesao Lehohla, as the party's candidate in the Mafeteng Constituency in the last nullified elections. Last year Lehohla was declared by the high court as the rightful candidate after he was nominated by the constituency committee. The LCD executive had argued that Lehohla did not qualify to be a candidate because of violence and irregularities during the nominations. In response to the accusations Lehohla argued that even though there were disturbances during the nominations, these were so minimal that they did not have any impact on the nomination proceedings and that everything was put in order before the nominations were made. The executive committee, not satisfied with the high court ruling, took the matter to the court of appeal which has confirmed the high court ruling. A happy Lehohla at the decision of the court of appeal told the media that his victory meant the victory of democracy. A majority of cabinet members are not happy with the court ruling and are pushing to get rid of Lehohla at the grassroots level to prevent his nomination to the coming elections. This has produced two camps within the ruling party as the other faction - which is in minority, but very close and friendly with the prime minister - believe Lehohla is being victimized by other members just because they want to remove him from this close position to the PM. 4. New leader of BNP warns youth league The newly elected leader of the principal opposition, Basotho National Party (BNP), Major General Metsing Lekhanya, has warned the partys youth league to "refrain from indulging in acts of vandalism, but strive to maintain the integrity of the party". Lekhanya says only the element of good and sound discipline by the youth as the future leaders of the country will earn the party a large following in the coming elections. The BNP youth have become known for their "unruliness" after they last year staged a successful protest against election results demanding that they be nullified. They put Lesotho's capital city of Maseru under siege and ruled it with an iron fist as they hijacked government vehicles and kicked civil servants and ministers out of their offices. They staged night vigils at the royal palace and were involved in several clashes with the national police and the army and refused to disperse even after 35 of their members were killed. This continued until the South African-led troops intervened and restored order. 5. Central Bank sensitizes Lesotho business on the EURO A delegation of the European Commission to Lesotho, in conjunction with the Central Bank of Lesotho, are holding meetings to sensitize the business community, especially exporters and importers about the Euro. In a statement from the EU office in Maseru it was stated that the aim of the seminars is to provide information to the economic players on the implications of the Euro when they are dealing with the Euro-zone countries. The proceedings are led by the head of the EU delegation, Richard Zink and the Governor of the Central Bank, Stephen Swaray. 6. Mosotho businessman steps up the ladder in OAU Advocate Thabo Makeka, Lesothos former ambassador to the United Nations, now a businessman, a politician, and executive director of the Association of Lesotho Employers (ALE), was appointed vice-chairman of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Labour and Social Affairs Commission on April 23. Makeka contested the presidency of the main opposition, Basotho National Party (BNP) during elections held in March this year, where he came in second to the former head of the military government, Major General Metsing Lekhanya. On his return from the United Nations in 1986, Makeka organised the business community forming ALE to look out for their interests as business owners and employers, both at local level and abroad. 7. Lesotho baseball qualifies for All Africa For the first time in its history, the Lesotho Baseball Team has qualified for the All Africa Games to be held in Johannesburg in September this year. To qualify, Lesotho beat the Zambian team 4-2 in the qualifying games. After this, Lesotho was beaten 10-3 by the Zimbabwean team, but this shameful defeat did not disqualify them from going to the All Africa Games. In the Zone 6, which includes Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Africa, only Lesotho and South Africa have qualified for the All Africa Games. South Africa has automatically qualified as host country. Baseball was only introduced in Lesotho in 1996. ******************************** LESOTHO NEWS ONLINE/LESOTHO NEWS ONLINE/LESOTHO NEWS ONLINE A bi-monthly update of news from Lesotho! If you would like to receive more information about LESOTHO NEWS ONLINE, about Africa News Network, about our other newsletters or upcoming newsletters, please send an E-mail to: AfricaNN@inform-bbs.dk We can also be contacted by fax and by phone at: Fax: + 45 35 35 43 32 Phone:+ 45 35 35 96 32 Letters to the editor can be sent to: editor@inform-bbs.dk (Mary Tingay) If you know of anyone else who might be interested in subscribing to LESOTHO NEWS ONLINE, please let us know and tell them about us! To subscribe send an e-mail to: subscribeAfricaNN@inform-bbs.dk (Nina Pedersen) For a one year subscription: Students US$17 Pounds Sterling 11 DKK99 Individuals US$22 Pounds Sterling 14 DKK128 Institutions US$100 Pounds Sterling 60 DKK680 NGOs US$50 Pounds Sterling 30 DKK340 Further information, on multiple subscriptions, special rates or subscribing by fax or mail, available on request. Subscriptions can be paid by credit card (VISA, American Express, MasterCard, JCB, Eurocard, Dankort), bank transfer or international cheque. If subscriptions are paid by cheque, it will be necessary to add US$10 to cover exchange. For details on how to subscribe, please send us an E-mail or fax. Postal address: Lesotho News Online, Wesselsgade 4, Post Box 25, DK 2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark. (c) South Africa Contact ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytaf-05.12.99-12:24:30-15417