One of the main issues around Lesotho’s general elections, including the recent poll of 3 June 2017, is the incredibly low voter turnout. Much of the commentary on this blames election fatigue, among other things. The 3 June general election was, for example, the third in five years. But, is there more to Lesotho’s voter apathy than election fatigue? 

The politician who led Lesotho for the last 14 years will now be leading the opposition after his party failed to win a majority in parliament in weekend elections in this mountainous southern African country. A day after Pakalitha Mosisili resigned as prime minister, Lincoln Ralechate Mokose, the secretary general of his Democratic Congress Party, said in a telephone interview that 'our stand is to concede and work in parliament as opposition'.

Preliminary results in Lesotho parliamentary elections have put the ruling Democratic Congress (DC) in the lead with 45 per cent of the vote in 77 constituencies out of 80 counted. The results show that the Democratic Congress has won 46 seats, followed by the All Basotho Convention with 27 and the Lesotho Congress for Democracy with 13 seats. Official results are still being verified by the Electoral Commission with final results expected tomorrow.

Defense representatives from more than 30 African nations joined together in Maseru, Lesotho, 7-11 November to participate in the initial planning conference for next year's Africa Endeavor. Africa Endeavor is an annual US Africa Command-sponsored communications exercise focused on building interoperability and information sharing among African nations.

The tiny mountain kingdom of Lesotho is to harness the power of wind and water in a $15-billion green energy project, the biggest of its kind in Africa. The Lesotho highlands power project (LHPP) will generate 6,000 megawatts (MW) of wind power and 4,000MW of hydropower, equivalent to about 5 per cent of South Africa's electricity needs.

Many patients have resorted to private clinics and pharmacies after struggling to get service at both government health facilities and those run by the Christian Health Association of Lesotho (CHAL), an organisation made up of six different churches that provides 40 per cent of health care in the country. Thabo* was forced to go to a private doctor after failing to get drugs or a medical examination at government or CHAL health centres in Maseru. 'I went to the government clinic because I was going to pay only 15 maloti (US$2.14) but now I have to cough up 120 ($17.14),' he said.

In August, SA's minister of water affairs and Lesotho's minister of natural resources signed an official agreement to implement Phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP). The LHWP has been fraught with problems since the treaty was signed in 1986, says this article from Business Day, which
notes that there are good reasons why the public should be paying more attention to the huge development and that there are better alternatives to building more huge dams in Lesotho.

South Africa and Lesotho have signed an implementation agreement for the second phase of the R15-billion Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) and committed to building a hydropower station with an installed capacity of between 1,000 MW and 1,200 MW. The hydropower plant would be operational in 2018, and would see some 200 MW supplied for Lesotho’s power needs, with the remaining power transmitted to South Africa.

Lesotho sits like pearl in a shell, surrounded by the land mass of South Africa. But this tiny kingdom of 1.8 million people boasts another jewel, which is perhaps astonishing given its size. Lesotho is ranked eighth in the world by the World Economic Forum (WEF) when it comes to bridging the gap between the sexes.

This policy series paper from the Southern African Migration Project looks at remittances in Lesotho. 'Lesotho is one of the most migration dependent countries in the world. Migrant remittances are the country’s major source of foreign exchange, accounting for 25 per cent of GDP in 2006. The majority of households and rural communities are dependent on remittances for their livelihood. Households without access to migrant remittances are significantly worse off than those that do have such access.'

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has signed a cooperation agreement with two organisations in Lesotho under which it will allocate over $1.2 million to boost an integrated social protection system for orphans and other vulnerable children in the country. The groups – World Vision Lesotho and Sentebale – will use the funds for projects that contribute to the achievement of Lesotho’s vision for a society in which all vulnerable children are free from discrimination, live in dignity and have their rights and aspirations fulfilled.

The United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) is giving $646,000 to immunize hundreds of thousands of children in Lesotho, the Southern African country which since January has been grappling with a deadly outbreak of the disease.

The European Union (EU) and the Food and Agriculture Or ganization (FAO), in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS) are offering assistance to about 36,000 farmers in Lesotho, more than half of its vulnerable farmers. Soaring food prices and the recent global economic downturn struck Lesotho hard, especially the majority of its 1.9 million people that rely on agriculture.

The government of Lesotho has enacted the Education Act 2010, legalising the right to free and compulsory education. The act is hailed as "a historic landmark for the children of Lesotho" and will boost school enrollment. In Lesotho, free primary education was introduced in the year 2000 as a major strategy towards achieving the "Education for All" goals. This initially led to rapid increase in the net enrolment rate, which currently stands at an impressive 82 percent of primary school aged children - 80 percent of boys and 84 of percent girls.

The Lesotho Highlands Water Project will move into its second phase in 2010. The first phase has been praised as a shining example of transboundary water sharing in Africa, but community dissatisfaction may mean a rough ride for its extension. The Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) is the largest on the continent, transferring water from the Malimatso, Mtsoku and Senqunyane rivers to South Africa’s industrial heartland in Gauteng province.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has been feeding people in Lesotho since 1965, yet the tiny mountain kingdom is still not much closer to achieving food self-sufficiency. Time to overhaul the approach, aid agencies say. WFP generally only ships and provides food in crisis situations like civil conflicts and natural disasters. Programmes sometimes linger on after the emergency has passed, when food aid used is to help communities rebuild, but the goal is usually to move out.

Taelo Motseki had every reason to wear a broad smile despite the afternoon chill. His family along with 21 others displaced by Phase 1B of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project at Ha Mohale had won a decade-long struggle seeking compensation. On Sep 8, the Ombudsman, Sekara Mafisa, reversed and earlier decision and ruled in their favour, ending what had become a source of both frustration and anger for the 22 households now resettled at Ha Matala, in Lesotho's capital, Maseru.

The construction of a two billion dollar dam in Metolong, some 35 kilometres outside of Lesotho’s capital Maseru, is being welcomed by people in and around the city who will gain access to clean and safe drinking water when construction is completed in 2013. But for 250 rural families who will lose access to land and natural resources - some will be forced to relocate to make way for roads, power lines and other infrastructural development during construction - the dam is bad news.

This report by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) outlines the community-based approach to the decentralisation of HIV and AIDS services. The Wellspring of Hope was the first programme in Lesotho to provide HIV and AIDS treatment and care through an entire health service area as a result of this initiative.

A health centre in one of Lesotho’s poorest districts has scored significant success in implementing a prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) programme, but health experts warn that a number of factors, including cultural beliefs and stigma, threaten to derail it. "It was the most difficult decision to make in my life, but I knew that I had to do it for the sake of my unborn child. The pre-testing counselling we received also helped a great deal," recalled 24-year-old Nthabiseng Rannyali who decided to undergo HIV testing to protect her unborn child.