NEWS
14
20 Oct. - 26 Oct. 2015
Doctor attributes his success to his partner’s support By Majara Molupe MASERUThe Director of Willies Hospital Dr. Cephas Kelvin Hoedoafia says keeping the ethics of medical doctors helped him scoop Best Hospital Award 2015 in Lesotho organised by pmr Africa last week. Dr. Hoedofia said it is the 9th time that he had won the award organised by the same company- pmr Africa, in the country “Reliance on God has guided me to do what he is pleased for us to do in the vineyard,” the Doctor explained. He went on to indicate that keeping focus on his work and not being derailed by negative comments or trials has also contributed to his success in the medical sector. “Perseverance, motivation to my staff, patience and keeping to the good standard of my academic work are the rationale behind my success,” he said. Meanwhile, Dr. Hoeadofia never left his wife Dr. Isdorina ’Ma-
In the middle, Dr. Hoeadofia Kelvin and Dr. Isdorina 'Mamakhetha Ts'olo
makhetha Tšolo behind when he narrated his secret of success. “She is very supportive and dedicated to her work,” he explained. He said they started their operations as a small clinic on the outskirts of Maseru, at Khubetsoana Bochabela, but with time, given the
influx of the patients they had, they had to secure more space and therefore decided to build the hospital, which is still is operating today- Willies Hospital. “We established Willies Hospital together with my wife and registered it as hospital in 2003 as a company
working together with my wife,” said the Doctor. Central to his success in the medical field, Dr. Hoeadofia indicated that he loves his work which is the driving force helping him reach the highest heights and achieving what seems to be impossible by those around him. Asked about the challenges in the field, he responded: “Challenges are there but l do not want to regard them as challenges.” He said according to him, the challenge is when people try to derail him, so he does not focus on his calling of looking after sick. Dr. Hoeadofia maintained that he has been in the presidency of Lesotho Medical Association (LMA) for a number of years where he was able to amass a wealth of experience on the Lesotho health system. He said at the moment, he is still in the executive committee of LMA, a position that he said makes him understand issues surrounding the health care system of Lesotho.
Taxi operators to petition government
Representatives of the Transport Operators at a press conference last week
By ‘Mantšali Phakoana MASERU-Taxi owners operating from Maseru, Central, South and North Regions will be handing over their letter petitioning the government through the Minister of Public Works and Transport on the 30th October this year, demanding good services, Informative can reveal. Speaking with a member of Maseru Road Transport Operators (MRTO), Makama Monese, he said they had a meeting as the organisation and other associations under their umbrella. “We had a meeting yesterday as all the associations operating under the umbrella of MRTO and we concluded that we would have a
peaceful match from the place yet to be announced, but before that, on Wednesday we have decided to invite all other taxi operators from all the regions in the ten districts such as; North, South and Central Region to a meeting to be held here in Maseru so that we could discuss more on this day,” he explained. However, Monese said they are just informing them so that they could be prepared for the match, “what we know is they are already supportive and some of our concerns were raised by them.” This paper has established that amongst other issues that the taxi operators will be petitioning include, ill-treatment of taxi drivers by the Special Operation Unit (SOU, the Bidvest vehicles hired by the govern-
ment, delay of putting into operation the document on taxi operations as per the government’s and taxi operator’s agreement. Monesa told the Informative that they are concerned that the government hired vehicles from outside the country while they would have hired the Basotho’s vehicles. “We are aware of the statement made by youth of the ruling parties. It is really a funny statement because Basotho have capable vehicles that could operate for the government which are well insured,” he said. “We were even able to provide vehicles to the Maseru City Council (MCC) during South African Inter Municipality Sports Association (SAIMSA) games and therefore we could not fail to provide the required
vehicles to the government,” added Monese. However, we want the government to have our time and guarantee that even after the six months when the Bidvest contract expires, they would give us that chance as Basotho people. We invite every Mosotho who would like to join us to that,” he said. During a press conference held last week, the taxi operators from the North, Central and South Region from the ten Districts of Lesotho showed their concern on how SOU ill-treats their drivers while operating on the roads. Tšepang Mononela from City Centre said since the operation of SOU on traffic control, the drivers go through a lot of road challenges which impact negatively on their businesses. “To our knowledge, SOU is one of the units which are not responsible for traffic matters, but special operations within their institutions,” he bemoaned. Mononela pointed out that it is their understanding that if SOU is now operating on traffic issues, this means they would not be able to operate well in a way the taxi drivers could be handled by traffic Police. He further indicated that they are also concerned that SOU officers arrest drivers and keep them in Police custody. Monehela maintained that as per the Law if a driver violates some of the road regulations, such a driver should pay a spot fine payable at the Lesotho Revenue Authority (LRA) or Sub Accountancy. “This spot fine is given to a person for duration of seven days and if such a person fails to pay, he or she would be arrested and appear before courts of law,” Monehela noted.