Reflections on the slain Lesotho commander

The late LDF commander, Mahao
The late LDF commander, Mahao

National University of Lesotho academic, Professor MOTLATSI THABANE reflects on his friend, the late Lesotho Defence Force chief, Maaparankoe Mahao in this tribute speech at a recent memorial for the late commander

By means I cannot now remember, I came to know he was some fellow who had forgone to go to University in 1977 in order to work and raise school fees for his siblings. As human beings, we tend to admire this selflessness in others; and we tend to admire those who value such.

We started University education together, in the spring of 1978. In the years that followed, I found that we subscribed to similar understandings and interpretations of the basis of human action, human relationships, and human interactions, and that we subscribed to similar understandings and interpretations of human reaction to their social and natural environments. We differed a little in that, people who subscribed to these interpretations on campus were in two groups: the less public, on the one hand; and the noisier, rowdier, more outspoken and more public, on the other. You can guess which one of us belonged to which group. This subscription to similar tenets of the human experience turned us into comrades and friends.

Editor's Comment
Gov’t must rectify recognition of Khama as Kgosi

While it is widely acknowledged that Khama holds the title of Kgosi, the government’s failure to properly gazette his recognition has raised serious concerns about adherence to legal procedures and the credibility of traditional leadership. (See a story elsewhere in this newspaper.) Recent court documents by the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Kgotla Autlwetse, shed light on the intricacies of Khama’s recognition process....

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