NEW PARLIAMENT BUILDING DESIGNED LIKE BASOTHO HAT
The new parliament building to be constructed on top of Mpilonyana Hill has been designed to take the shape of a Basotho Hat. This was disclosed by the Leader of the House and the Acting Prime
Minister Mr. Lesao Lehohla when responding to question over the National Flag Bill 2006 in the National Assembly on Tuesday.

Mr. Lehohla said the new parliament building has been designed in such a way that it will shape like 'Mokorotlo', adding that it will look like a traditional Basotho hut. Furthermore he said many Basotho identify themselves with 'mokorotlo' or Basotho Hat which he said even those staying in the neighbouring South Africa display basotho hats on the back of their cars. 'It is therefore befitting that the New National Flag bears Basotho Hat which is a symbol of Lesotho,' he explained.

He stated that the Black colour on the new flag symbolises Africa which he said is a Black continent that all should be proud of. Other colours on the flag are White, Blue, and Green which represent
peace, rain and prosperity respectively. Other Members of Parliament questioned the Black colour on the National Flag. Meanwhile, the Bill was discussed after long debate over the legal procedures including a prerequisite of four days for the Bill to be discussed.

LACK OF RESOURCES HAMPERS DEVELOPMENT-COMMUNITY
Lack of enough resources, lower government employee�s salaries and lack of transparency in allocating public funds are some of the factors that the Qacha�s nek community raised to be the ones hindering the country�s development. Speaking during the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) sensitization meeting with the public held at the community hall on Tuesday, one of the
community members Mr. Mokhafisi Kena attributed Lesotho�s problem in developing to lack of enough resources to carry out developmental projects in the country.

Mr. Kena also said that lack of transparency in allocating public funds is another problem and noted that some of the ministries are being given little money annually but expected to perform various and difficult tasks that require a lot of money, further appealing to the government to review the act. Some of the people noted that lower salaries of government employees also contribute to the country�s lack of development as such employees turn not to be fully committed into their duties and so resulting to the country not producing positive outcomes.

They also indicated that unlike in the past years, the government is no longer organizing public gatherings where the entire community was told about the government action plans and granted on opportunity to voice out their opinions about them. Community members also complained about the issuing of permits to purchase some food like meat from the Republic of South Africa adding that they are forced to travel to Maseru only to access such permit and appealed to the responsible bodies to make arrangements for such office to be available in the district.

A leader of the APRM Committee Mr. Lengolo Monyake explained that the meeting is aimed at soliciting public opinions about APRM, noting that such opinions together with others from different districts will be scrutinized by the government and be used to prepare a national report on APRM that
will be sent to other African countries. Among some of the topics discussed during the meeting included democracy, politics, economy and public safety. The meeting was attended by public servants and the public.
 

LEFA ORGANISES RETREAT FOR EXECUTIVE MEMBERS           Lesotho Football Association (LEFA) has organised a one day retreat for the association's executive members to be held at the Mmelesi Lodge on Sunday. In an interview, LEFA Chief Executive Officer Mr. Kholoang Mokalanyane said the purpose of the retreat is to re examine the association's
development programmes and to enable members to have a common understanding.

'We also want to define roles of each executive committee member and tabulate tasks as well as responsibilities so that each and every member knows exactly what is expected of them,' he highlighted. Mr. Mokalanyane said Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) Zone VI Development Officer from Botswana Mr. Ashford Mamelodi and himself will be facilitating.

The CEO said the retreat has been organised after realizing some shortcomings in some members, adding that after undergoing this exercise, they would be expected to carryout their tasks and roles properly. 'We are expecting them to carryout the practical functions of the committee and management procedures as outlined in the strategic plan of the association,' he added.

The retreat will be the first of its kind to be organised by the soccer national controlling body and similar ones will be held annually from now on.
 

MP DENOUNCES CRIME PREVENTION COMMITTEE
The Assistant Minister of Trade and Industry, Cooperatives and Marketing and also Member of parliament for Tsikoane Constituency N0. 14, Mr. Khotso Matla has denounced the crime prevention
committee of Ha Poulo, accusing its members of committing crime instead of preventing it. He was speaking at the crime prevention gathering held at Ha Poulo at Tsikoane on Tuesday.

The gathering followed among others the concern where the councilor for Litjotjela Community Council representing Ha Poulo, Mrs. �Masele Mataitsane complained about conflict of interests and power struggle between her office and the village crime prevention committee. Mr. Matla said the present government is committed to building peace and so questioned the crime prevention committee�s mandate of preventing development such as tree planting, disrupting gatherings held by the community council and assaults of crime suspects.

He also condemned the reported cases of assaults of residents walking in the village at night, noting that he was once stopped and questioned about his movement around 8:00 PM at the public road passing through the village, describing that as violation of freedom to movement. He appealed to the Leribe police to denounce the committee and facilitate election of another committee that would prevent crime while at the same time respecting the constitution of the country.

Speaking at the same event, the District Administrator Mr. Mothooasebaka Lehloenya highlighted the major responsibilities of the community councils as protection and rehabilitation of environment, land allocation, and facilitation of development through plans in consultation with the community. He indicated that development thrives in peaceful environment, noting that chiefs are first in command particularly in peace and stability working jointly with the crime prevention committees.

He emphasized the need for all to team up with the community councils to victoriously defeat national challenges such as poverty, HIV/AIDS and crime. Responding to question on roles of crime prevention committees, Sergeant Nyakallo Mokhethi stated them as community policing through among others village patrols at night, protection of development, reporting crime and even arresting suspects though without assault. He said that they are not expected to collect social funds as such duty belongs to community councils.

Meanwhile the members of the crime prevention committee had written number of unauthorized letters to the member of Litjotjela community council demanding that she showed them the community funds collected from range management areas. They have also laid a charge against her and the village chief Mathabo Jonathan before the principal chief on embezzlement of the same funds.

The District Administrator together with the police is yet to make a follow up on the matter.

Ends