Travel Update

The latest travel advisory (9/18/2014) from the Dept. of State warns U.S. citizens to defer travel to Lesotho at this time due to continued concerns regarding the security situation.  If you would like to read more about the conflict in Lesotho and background information visit Think Africa Press.

Travel to Lesotho

The Dept. of State warns U.S. citizens to deter travel to Lesotho at this time due to concerns over a possible detioration of the security situation in Lesotho. For more information visit travel.state.gov

Board Expanding

Laptops to Lesotho is fortunate to bring on board Fortunate Gunzo. Fortunate is a PhD candidate in ICT in Education at Rhodes University located in Grahamstown, South Africa. Her research interests are in ICT for development, computers in teaching and learning, and computers in rural areas.  Prior to her becoming a board member, Fortunate served as a volunteer since 2010. She helped with logistics and support for volunteer's visits to Lesotho. She also worked with teacher training and grant writing.  In her new role she will focus on lesson development aligned with the Lesotho curriculum as well as teacher training.

Lesotho's Coup Crisis

According to the Bloomberg News, Lesotho was left in political limbo after the prime minister and head of the armed forces fled to neighboring South Africa following what they said was an attempted military coup.

South African President Jacob Zuma convened emergency talks in a bid to resolve the crisis and met today with Lesotho Prime Minister Thomas Thabane and his deputy and rival Mothetjoa Metsing, said Clayson Monyela, a spokesman for South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation.

Thabane fled the mountain kingdom on Aug. 30, saying the army tried to overthrow him. The military claimed it disarmed police officers who threatened to destabilize the nation. Lesotho has been run by a three-party coalition government since elections two years ago. In June, Thabane suspended parliament until February, a move opposed by other coalition partners.

“Metsing has assumed control over the government and he is likely to end the parliamentary suspension and form a new coalition” with former Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili’s Democratic Congress party within a month, Robert Besseling, principal analyst at IHS Country Risk in London, said in e-mailed comments.

Maseru, the capital, was calm today and there was no sign of uniformed police officers or soldiers on the streets. Police stations and courts in the capital were closed.

Metsing said the army’s seizure of the police headquarters was a misunderstanding between the two institutions and not a coup.

                                                                  Reprinted from the Bloomberg News