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NEWSSurrogate mothersPublished 1 year ago on October 12, 2021By The Post

SHARETWEET

MASERU – FOUR years ago, ‘Makumane was approached by one of her cousins to become a
surrogate mother for a foreign couple that was desperate for a baby.

It began as a lucrative agreement. The couple would pay for all the expenses as well as other perks.
On her part, ‘Makumane agreed not to bond with the child, whom she had to surrender to the
couple.

Although she was handsomely paid, ‘Makumane now regrets the entire episode, not least because
she feels a deep sense of loss after surrendering the child to the biological parents.

“I still can’t get her out of my mind,” ‘Makumane told thepost.

A surrogate mother is a woman who gets artificially inseminated with the father’s sperm and then
carry the baby and deliver it to the father and his partner to raise, according to WebMD.com.

WebMD.com is a website that says it is run by medical doctors and health experts “across a broad
range of specialty areas to ensure WebMD’s content is up to date, accurate, and helps you live a
healthier life”.

According to the website, “a technique called “in vitro fertilization” (IVF) now makes it possible to
gather eggs from the mother, fertilise them with sperm from the father, and place the embryo into
the uterus of a gestational surrogate.”

The surrogate then carries the baby until birth. They don’t have any genetic ties to the child because
it wasn’t their egg that was used, according to the website.
Narrating her experience, ‘Makumane said she was screened to determine her wellness and the IVF
procedure took place in Ladybrand in South Africa.

She said from the onset, the couple agreed to take care of her until the baby was born and paid for
checkups at private hospitals.

She said although she had agreed not to bond with the child, she got emotionally attached once the
pregnancy started showing.

“It was sad to have to give her up before I could even breastfeed her. I really wished I could have
kept her because my first born was a son and I had hoped for a girl,” said ‘Makumane.

“But I had to stick to the contract regardless of how hard it was. I am slowly healing from my
decision and there is a social media group I use as my coping mechanism as we share our stories in
there.”

Married, ‘Makumane still went ahead with the procedure even though her partner and family didn’t
understand it.

However, they gave her the leeway to make the final decision.

“At first, my cousin was the only one very supportive and eventually my family understood although
it took them time.”

She said the couple lived in Lesotho for a while but ‘Makumane had no idea how they met her
cousin.

Also involved in the process was her cousin’s father, a police officer who assisted with the signing of
the contract.

“I still don’t know whether it’s legal and I had doubts about the offer. At some point, I thought she
was planning to traffic me but the involvement of my uncle calmed me down,” said ‘Makumane,
who was a factory worker at the time of the deal.

She said although it is said surrogacy is not paid for, some couples are desperate for a child that they
can pay handsomely for the service.

“The couple built me a seven-roomed house, bought me an Audi and gave me M50 000,” she said.

‘Makumane said she regrets handing over the baby as “she looked cute”. “I am slowly working on
getting over her, eventually I will succeed.”

‘Makumane said being a surrogate was stressful as she “suffered” for other people to have a child.

“It was worse as people around me didn’t understand the whole thing except for my cousin.”
She said she last saw the baby on the day she gave birth.

“I don’t know anything about her whereabouts or how she is doing wherever she is. I wish to see
how grown she is…even a mere picture of her would make me feel better,” said ‘Makumane.

She said it wasn’t easy after parting ways with her.

“I regretted a lot and I can encourage people who are emotionally weak not to do it because it took
me a long time to accept that the child is gone. The good news is that I now have a daughter.”

“The torture worsened when I witnessed people experiencing post-natal depression, disabilities and
mental health problems after giving birth.

“I kept wondering ‘what if something like that happened to me?’ What if I went through the same
thing? Yet it was not even my baby I was carrying. I got even more confused and swore never to do it
again.”

She swore never to repeat it ever again.

“It’s a traumatising experience.”

SHE health clinic gynaecologist Dr Lineo Mabusela-Letlala said surrogacy is illegal in Lesotho.

“We don’t have its services at all.”

She said surrogacy comes in different forms – gestational where the surrogate mother is implanted
with an egg and sperm of the couple. For Artificial Insemination (IUI), the sperm is injected directly
into the women’s uterus without any intimacy and traditional, where the surrogacy’s own egg is
used.

“IUI can be done all the time but it is tricky. A person can decide not to surrender the child, she can
elope and leave. It’s all about trust,” she added.

In the legal procedure of surrogacy, she said garments are not supposed to be mixed.

With IVF, she said both the sperm and egg are implanted to the surrogate.

She said a number of reasons can lead to surrogacy such as a woman removing her womb, medically
or socially or avoiding pain.

Dr Mabusela-Letlala said surrogacy is not practised in many countries. It is available in South Africa
but not at all the facilities.

“The laws governing it are very strict.’’

She said a lot of screening takes place before a person becomes a surrogate. This includes screening
for mental issues and psychological issues to ensure that the surrogacy is fit enough and also to
understand how well versed the couple is on the process.

“The moment a surrogacy’s egg is used, she will personally feel that the child is hers leading to
conflict of interest and such a person can legally fight for the baby. The surrogate shouldn’t be
known. It has to be donated garments or that of a couple.”

She added: “After birth, the surrogate is not supposed to breastfeed the child and doesn’t even meet
with the child. There is not even a bonding moment.”

She said in some areas, a surrogate is given a chance to hold the baby.

“Legally, it shouldn’t be happening, she shouldn’t be emotionally attached. In some places,

surrogates are trained for professionalism.”

She said the practices done locally were illegal and there is no compensation for a surrogate.

“It has been happening traditionally and it is wrong.”

‘Mapule Motsopa

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NEWSWhy ABC lost the electionsPublished 2 days ago on October 18, 2022By The Post

MASERU – THE All Basotho Convention (ABC)’s thumping defeat in the election last week could have
dealt the party a massive blow from which it might never recover.

The party is now down 200 000 votes and 40 seats. It did not win a single constituency.

Eight compensatory seats are all it has to show for its efforts.
So spectacular was the collapse that even the leader Nkaku Kabi did not win in his constituency.
Other stalwarts also bit the dust.

Whichever way you look at it, the party faces an uncertain future. And it has only itself to blame for
the remarkable demise.

Incessant internal squabbles were the biggest cause of its undoing. Having failed to manage its
succession, the party embarked on a path to self-emolition.

Thomas Thabane, its founder and former leader, should take the blame for swinging the hammer
that delivered the most fatal blows on the party.

He held on to power for too long and stubbornly refused to let internal democracy prevail when it
was time to go.

Instead of taking the back seat in the race to replace him Thabane repeatedly interfered, pretending
to be neutral but playing for one of the teams. His undemocratic tendencies put off even some of
the party’s staunchest supporters.

By the time Kabi took over, the ABC was damaged goods. His spirited campaign in the weeks
preceding the election could not turn the tide.

Thabane had created a monumental mess that was killing the party slowly.

His first mistake was to wage a war to block Nqosa Mahao’s election as his deputy leader. In so
doing, he was tearing the ABC constitution and antagonising a significant bloc in the party.

Thabane refused to work with Mahao and resorted to political chicanery to frustrate him.
A frivolous court case was launched to nullify Mahao’s victory. Thabane might not have been the
face of that lawsuit but he sure gave his blessing.

When that failed Thabane became belligerent and refused to work with Mahao.

Mahao eventually left to form the Basotho Action Party (BAP), taking with him a significant chunk of
ABC supporters and MPs.

Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro replaced Mahao but Thabane and his hawks immediately leapt on
him. It became clear that Thabane was not holding on to power for his preferred candidate but for
himself. He was the team he was fighting for.

Majoro was hounded out of the party but refused to let go of the premiership.

It was a decision that would haunt the party for months and eventually play a role in the party’s poor
showing in the election.

Instead of extending the olive branch and mitigating the damage, Kabi and his supporters sharpened
their knives against Majoro and his government.

When their ill-conceived move to topple Majoro’s government in parliament failed, Kabi and his
executive pulled out the ABC from the government.

It was a pyrrhic victory because it did not change anything.

Majoro continued to rule with the remaining ABC MPs who were ministers and saw no incentive in
toppling the government. The Democratic Congress (DC) also provided a buffer that insulated
Majoro from Kabi’s manoeuvres.

As the elections approached Kabi realised the mistake of alienating Majoro.

Majoro refused to give him access to the state resources that could have oiled his campaign. Bereft
of the means that come with being the incumbent, Kabi had to scrounge around.

He became so desperate that he received dirty money from the famo music gangs loathed by many
because of their heinous crimes.

It didn’t help that he did not have any positives to point at to justify his pleas for a fresh mandate
from the people. Under the ABC corruption and unemployment had worsened. Nepotism and
cronyism were the order of the day.

Billions of state funds had been pilfered by civil servants under the ABC’s watch. Roads were poked
with potholes and infrastructure crumbled.

Hunger had exacerbated to make a mockery of the ABC’s election promise to eradicate it. Basotho
were living in fear because of violent crimes.

The police were not only corrupt but also poorly equipped to deal with the scourge of crime. The
government was so broke that it failed to pay suppliers and delayed civil servants’ salaries.

The economic transformation the ABC fervently promised had failed to materialise.

To the angry voters, it did not matter that the bulk of the government’s financial troubles had been
caused by the Covid-19 pandemic that had shaken almost every economy in the world.

True, the company closures, especially in the textile industry, had emptied thousands onto the
streets.

Granted, the lockdowns had affected the government’s revenues. True, Lesotho’s share of the
Southern African Customs Union revenues was at its lowest in years.

Yet none of those explanations would have resonated with the voters who had long convinced
themselves that the ABC was to blame for their economic problems.
Kabi was up against a perception that had been concretised.

It did not help that Kabi is not a gifted orator and lacks the charisma of Thabane in his prime. He
might have schemed his way to the top but he could not talk his way into the voters’ hearts.

Kabi could not fill Thabane’s outsized boots. The lack of a clear campaign message only made things
worse.

Without Thabane, his political godfather, to handhold him, Kabi was at sea. He struggled to find his
voice and made schoolboy blunders.

His attempts to ingratiate himself with the dangerous famo gangs was political suicide.

Yet the voters might still have forgiven the ABC were it not for other monumental mistakes
committed by its government.

One of the biggest bungles was the government’s inept handling of the wool and mohair industry.

They railroaded an ill-advised policy to localise the industry by giving Stone Shi, a Chinese national,
the monopoly to buy wool and mohair from the farmers.

The decision would not have been as infuriating if Shi had played fair with the farmers.

The government however continued to force the farmers to sell their fibre to Shi even as it became
clear that he was broke, his business model unworkable and scamming the poor farmers.

When the farmers resisted the injustice, the government set the police on them. Some of its
ministers vowed to punish farmers who refused to sell to Shi.
By the time sense prevailed and the policy was reversed, thousands of farmers were on their knees.
Their flocks had dissipated and bank accounts were empty.

To make up for its mistake the government settled some of Shi’s debts to the farmers. But the
damage had been done. The rural voters were infuriated and itching to punish the ABC at the polls.

The legal troubles of Thabane and his wife only deepened the animosity towards the ABC. The two
might be off the hook for the 2017 murder of Lipolelo Thabane but the case remains alive.

Thabane’s wife, Maesiah, was vile with both her character and mouth. She gave the impression she
was running the government on Thabane’s behalf.

Whether this was a myth or lie, Thabane did nothing to refute it. She would harangue senior
government officials and ministers for incompetence.

When she was not injecting herself into government and party matters, she was misusing her
newfound status as the first lady.

She brawled with a woman at a local hospital. A waiter at a lodge was tongue lashed for delaying her
drinks. A young man who mistakenly called Thabane was frog-marched to the State House to be
whipped by Maesiah and her friends.

Within just a few months she had become the most hated woman in Lesotho and her husband
suffered for it.

When Mahao broke away it looked like his party was the sanctuary that embittered ABC supporters
were looking for. And for some months it looked as if the BAP was going to be the biggest
beneficiary of the ABC fiasco.

Then out of the blue came Sam Matekane’s Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) and Lesotho’s political
establishment went into a tailspin.
Kabi looked paralysed as the RFP grew. Unlike other political leaders, he didn’t seem to have jabs
against the RFP. His party was reeling.

It’s still sliding and its death beckons.

Unless something dramatic happens over the next five years the ABC’s tombstone will read: “Here
lies a party that contrived to kill itself. A party that squandered massive goodwill and buried itself”.

A mouthful but true all the same.

Staff Reporter

CONTINUE READINGNEWSLighting up dreamsPublished 2 days ago on October 18, 2022By The Post

BEREA – A cattle herder from Ha-Makujoe, Thabiso Monokoa, is atop Berea Plateau on voting day.
The nearest polling station is two kilometres away and is about to close. He is unlikely to make it,
even though he wishes he could cast his ballot and help secure the change he desperately yearns
for.

Clad in a worn-out Lefitori (Victorian) blanket of blue and black colours with white stripes, a pair of
jeans and gumboots, Monokoa is looking after 12 head of cattle in Berea. He doesn’t wish to be
here, but he has little choice.

Dreams of becoming a respected professional vanished in 2008 when the 26-year-old failed to
proceed to secondary school after completing primary education because his parents couldn’t afford
it.
Although his dreams are up in smoke, he still harbours some hope for his siblings-only if the
electorate could vote for a government that can extend the provision of free education to secondary
education for poor families like his.

“I have many wishes but the most urgent among them is free secondary education so that my
siblings can go to school,” Monokoa told thepost last Friday, on Election Day.

As the All Basotho Convention (ABC) party vacates the seat of power to make way for a coalition
government led by businessman Sam Matekane’s Revolution for Prosperity (RFP), some dreams are
getting reignited.

Chief among them is a chance at getting an education for thousands of Basotho who can’t afford to
pursue their dreams due to poverty.

“The incoming government must extend free education to secondary schools,” said Monokoa.

“Had the government done so in 2008 when the first batch of pupils who received free and
compulsory primary education passed to secondary school, I would not be where I am today,” said
the 26-year-old.

“Had the government introduced free secondary education at that time, I could have gone to school
like other children,” he said.

He said before the election, several parties promised to extend free education to secondary schools.

“May they keep their promises, whichever party wins,” said Monokoa.

The RFP is setting up a coalition government with the Movement for Economic Change (MEC) and
the Alliance of Democrats (AD), whom it says it shares a common understanding on economic
development.
Monokoa said his parents are surviving on piece jobs and struggle to feed their family of five, let
alone save enough money to pay for secondary education.

Annual fees for secondary education in public schools, whether state-owned, church-owned or
community-owned, range from M1 500 to M3 000, excluding registration and other costs. Uniforms
and stationery are paid for separately.

“I was 18 years old when I dropped out of school and out of no choice I had to find a job. I got a
temporary job at a construction company as a labourer and after that I have always looked after
cattle,” he said.

“I don’t want any child of this country to drop out of school because their parents cannot afford to
pay school fees. I know how it hurts. I felt it.”

Monokoa’s experience is not isolated.

A 15-year-old boy we will call Tseko to protect his identity was forced to drop out of school last year
to make the sojourn to the capital from Mafeteng, about 80 kilometres away.

The boy said abject poverty and hunger drove him to seek employment.

His grandfather was looking after him and his younger sister because the parents were too poor to
take care of them.

‘‘I had no uniform and my parents were unable to pay my fees. Going to school without uniform
made me feel like an outcast and I also hated being expelled due to lack of fees. It affected my
school work and I dropped out,” he said.

His grandfather gave him his last M300 to buy fruits and vegetables stock.

He said he later opted to sell motoho (a traditional Sesotho sour porridge) as competition was too
stiff in the fruits and vegetable business.
“The motoho business is promising as I now have people who I supply weekly,” he said.

“With the little that I make, I have to pay M1 200 yearly for my younger sister’s education to ensure
that she doesn’t endure the same pain I did,’’ said Tseko.

A local group, ≠bachashutdown has been campaigning for free secondary education for the past
three years.

“Lesotho is experiencing high level of secondary and high school drop-outs students because most
families are poor and cannot afford to pay the fees,” the group said in a letter to the incoming
government this week.

The group cautioned that failure to implement this measure would result in increased youth
unemployment “and the worst part is that they end up in the streets committing crimes”.

The group warned that failure to ensure access to education for children from poor families would
promote drug and alcohol abuse and gangsterism.

“Young people are becoming increasingly impatient with the lack of progress towards eradicating
unemployment and cannot wait any longer when government continues to pay lip service,” the
letter reads. “We will be watching and listening to you with eagerness and hope.”

Lesotho introduced free primary education in 2000 as a strategy towards achieving the Education for
All (EFA) goals, and made it universal and compulsory.

As a result, thousands of children enrolled in primary schools but failed to proceed to secondary
level because their parents could not afford the fees and other costs.

Experts have noted that failure to make secondary education free has made access to secondary
education skewed towards urban areas and higher income groups.
A situational analysis published in the Education Sector Plan 2016 – 2026 says the drop-out rate is a
source of concern as it hovers around 25 percent and 21 percent at junior and secondary levels
respectively.

The analysis states that it is internationally recognised that repetition is a driving factor for dropping
out, “especially at school levels where opportunity costs gain weight”.

“These features describe a secondary sub-sector that does not succeed to promote students
efficiently through the schooling process,” states the analysis. “As a consequence, significant amount
of resources are also wasted at junior and senior secondary levels.”

Other studies have revealed that barely 30 percent of parents whose children pass primary
education are able to afford tertiary education fees.

A recent World Bank report, titled Kingdom of Lesotho: Education Public Expenditure Review, shows
that education spending in Lesotho is in favour of the rich and mostly urban residents as opposed to
those in rural areas.

The World Bank showed that Lesotho spends more on education compared to all countries in the
world as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

It states that for every M1 000, Lesotho spends M165 per student in secondary education and M326
per student in tertiary education.

Education spending, according to the World Bank report, is highly regressive and unequal,
considering that only a small number of students reach tertiary education.

The institution states that among the lowest income people, the net attendance ratio of 13 to 17-
year-olds in secondary education was only 15 percent, while this was 72 percent amongst the
richest.
“For instance, for every 100 students that complete their primary education, only 36 complete their
secondary education and five complete their tertiary education. This strongly favours the richest
quintiles,” the report reads.

Caswell Tlali

CONTINUE READINGNEWSEU election observers praise IECPublished 2 days ago on October 18,
2022By The Post

MASERU – THE European Union Election Observer Mission has commended the Independent
Electoral Commission (IEC) for holding a “peaceful and well organised election” last Friday.

The mission released its preliminary findings on Tuesday, promising to release the final detailed
report with recommendations within two months.

The mission said despite the persistent financial shortcomings and legal uncertainty, “the IEC was
able to conduct most of its activities according to the electoral calendar”.

“The budget allocated for this election was insufficient and did not take into consideration the IEC’s
financial needs in the context of a significantly increased number of contestants,” the mission said.

“In addition, the IEC received its funding late in the process, in weekly installments, which also
impacted negatively on the election preparations and made the implementation of the planned
essential activities such as voter education and the transportation of election materials very
difficult.”

It said the IEC provided the public with information posted exclusively on its Facebook page, mostly
related to voter education messages and announcements.

However, it said meetings were informal and meeting minutes were not made public.

Moreover, it said, the IEC lacks procedures and a mechanism to formally determine and declare its
decisions.
“While the IEC has the legal power to make regulations and interpretation into rules of procedures
on various aspects of the election process, in practice they are neither formalised nor published,
reducing the clarity and transparency of the IEC’s work.”

The mission found that the performance of the election administrators at district and constituency
level was professional.

The workers were committed to the work despite the difficult situation, it said.

Many people interviewed, the mission said, expressed general trust in local election administrations
but also doubted the capacity of the IEC to deliver, particularly in rural areas.

It found that some constituencies struggled with the difficult environment and long distances, lack of
electricity and access to the internet.

It also found that many returning officers had to work without basic office equipment and
insufficient communication tools to liaise efficiently with stakeholders and IEC district offices.

The mission found that polling staff was recruited on time and the IEC demonstrated competence
training staff.

However, due to financial constraints, many observed training sessions were conducted in
overcrowded and inadequate locations with insufficient training materials.

Voter education, it said, was one of the areas that was most affected by the financial shortcomings,
as it was reduced from three months to three weeks ahead of the elections.

Most of the interviewees, it said, considered the voter education for these elections to be
insufficient especially for certain categories of voters such as youth and disabled people.
The mission found that trust in the voter register was affected by a lack of a comprehensive
approach to improve its accuracy.

It said the accuracy of the voter register was questioned by many interviewees referring to possible
names of dead people and reported errors in voters’ data.

To improve the quality of the voter register the IEC had initially planned to link it to the civil register.

This, the mission said, proved impossible to do prior to the elections due to the large volume of data
to be processed.

In an effort to find an alternative solution to improve the accuracy of the voter register, the IEC
decided to extend the period for public scrutiny and corrections from 12 August to 30 September.

“The IEC respected the legal obligation to publish the certified voter register and shared it with
registered political parties no later than 30 days before the elections,” the mission observed.

The voter list contained 1 383 844 voters, which is 767 158 women and 616 868 men.

“Closer to election day, allegations of errors and inaccuracies in the voters’ list were expressed in the
media. The IEC denied the allegations and threatened anyone spreading inaccurate information with
civil action.”

The mission observed that there was a peaceful campaign with lack of transparency of campaign
finance, no spending caps, and use of state resources.

It also raised concerns about the links between some political parties and famo music groups, “which
have grown into organised gangs, and their participation in campaign events raised concerns about
their influence on elected officials”.

“The EU EOM saw several instances of the use of government vehicles for campaigning, which is
legal for ministers and “other officials” but contrary to international good practice.”
“The IEC is the sole oversight body for campaign and party finance. Its lack of financial and human
resources coupled with the high number of registered parties made it extremely challenging to
perform this function,” it said.

There is a legal requirement for political parties and independent candidates to declare to the IEC
any donation exceeding M200 000 “but no declaration has been made since 2012”.

“Foreign funding for campaign purposes,” the mission said, “puts the country at risk of foreign
influence, and is not in line with international good practice for democratic elections.”

Staff Reporter

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