Maseru, July 29 — Minister of Information, Communications, Science, Technology and Innovation Ms. Nthati Moorosi on Wednesday officiated the launch of Cybersecurity Incident Response Team (CSIRT).
The event witnessed by different sectors including telecommunications, financial, academia, security and media under the theme, ‘Securing Lesotho’s Digital Frontiers through Collective Intelligence’.
In her keynote address, Minister Moorosi said this is a pivotal moment in the nation’s development journey that mark two foundational milestones: the launch of the interim National Cybersecurity Incident Response Team (CSIRT) and the inauguration of the National Cybersecurity Forum.
She said these milestones are decisive, strategic and necessary steps toward securing Lesotho’s digital future saying they represent their promise to the people of Lesotho that the digital age will be an era of opportunity.
She said even as they embrace this future, they do so with open eyes, fully acknowledging and addressing the vulnerabilities inherent in digital systems. “For generations, we have understood the power of physical infrastructure. Roads connect our villages to towns, enabling commerce to flow and families to unite. Bridges span our rivers, turning obstacles into pathways for progress. Today, we are building a new kind of infrastructure, one that is invisible but just as vital.”
She said the Digital Public Infrastructure that will take this country forward includes secure digital identities, seamless digital payment systems and interoperable data exchange platforms, forming the invisible highways that will connect their people to essential services, to global markets and to limitless opportunities for innovation and growth.
She explained that this infrastructure is central to the broader national vision. She said their guiding compass is the National Strategic Development Plan II, which sets forth a clear vision for a prosperous, resilient and inclusive Lesotho.
“Reinforcing this ambition, the National Digital Transformation Strategy serves as our blueprint for achieving it. Yet, just as physical highways require traffic police and emergency services to keep travellers safe, our digital public infrastructure must be guarded by a resilient trust layer. This is precisely where our new interim National CSIRT fits into our national framework, acting as the digital equivalent of a national fire department to protect our digital payment systems, data platforms, and citizens from systemic harm,” she said.
Additionally, Minister Moorosi highlighted that protection is about more than just technology. It is about safeguarding the very currency of the digital economy: trust. Without trust, the digital world cannot flourish. Citizens will hesitate to engage, businesses will be reluctant to invest, and the government cannot deliver services effectively.
Therefore she said Cybersecurity is not an optional feature or a technical afterthought but it is the very foundation of that trust, the bedrock upon which their entire digital future must be built. She said, “we must actively defend this bedrock because the threats we face are not abstract. They have already tested our resilience. In June 2023, an incident affecting the government’s Integrated Financial Management Information System forced a shutdown, risking delays in civil servants’ salaries. Six months later, an attack on the Central Bank disrupted the National Payments System and halted inter-bank transactions. Even our Judiciary has seen its electronic systems targeted, threatening the administration of justice.”
“A secure digital environment does not emerge by chance or by hope. It must be built intentionally, piece by piece, through sound governance, capable institutions, skilled professionals and an effective, modern legal framework,” she emphasised.
On one hand, she indicated that following extensive and productive stakeholder consultations, Parliament has decided to separate the initial Computer Crime and Cybersecurity Bill into two focused pieces of legislation: the Cybercrime Bill and the Cybersecurity Bill.
She explained that this dual approach allows them to address the criminal nature of these threats with the severity they deserve, while also designing the sophisticated institutional architecture required for protecting critical digital infrastructure and services.
She said these events reveal an urgent truth saying in their interconnected age, a vulnerability in one institution can send shockwaves across the entire system, disrupting livelihoods, commerce and public faith.
“This is a stark reminder that cybersecurity is no longer an isolated IT duty, but a collective national responsibility. We must have the ability to connect the dots and coordinate a swift, unified response before a localized disruption becomes a national crisis,” she stressed.
“That unified response begins today. While our vital legislative work advances, we know that cyber threats will not wait for parliamentary calendars. Therefore, the interim CSIRT will serve as our immediate national command centre for incident response as we build the permanent, legally mandated structure outlined in the Cybersecurity Bill,” she said.
Furthermore she noted that they are also embedding security into government operations citing that for the first time, they have appointed a Chief Information Security Officer to provide strategic oversight across the public sector and also establishing a national Security Operations Centre to serve as the digital watchtower, providing continuous monitoring and threat detection across all government systems.
However, she mentioned that the government cannot secure the digital frontier alone, saying that banks, telecommunications operators, energy providers, and private enterprises are all guardians of this shared ecosystem. “Our national security is only as strong as our willingness to collaborate. That is why the inauguration of the National Cybersecurity Forum today is profoundly important as it is the platform where the public and private sectors will move from conversation to collaboration, building the institutional trust required to share sensitive threat intelligence and forging a unified strategy for managing cyber risk,” she added.
She therefore called for investment in the most critical asset: the people saying technology is a tool, but human capability is the intelligence that wields it.
Minister Moorosi further made an earnest call on universities, technical institutions and professional bodies to make cybersecurity skills development a national priority. She said they have bright, ambitious young people ready to rise to this challenge and they must provide them with world-class training right here at home as well as nurture their own experts to create a sustainable base of national competence.
“We must become the architects of our own digital security,” she emphasised.
She urged all to move forward with an unshakable commitment to collaboration, breaking down the silos that have held them back and building a Lesotho that is digitally empowered, economically confident and resilient for generations to come.
At the same event, Director General ICT Mr. Thapeli Tjabane said they have in place documents on cyber policy including cybersecurity bill, cybercrime bill which await approval of the national assembly.
He said in the government’s digital transformation, they appreciate the Ministry of Public Works for doing physical infrastructure saying it is up to them as the ministry to enable access to government services through piloting the digital identification.
He said through data exchange they will see paperless saying this is not only done by government ministries but all sectors.
He highlighted that as a government, the plan is to move out ICT and make it an agency because while still in government it takes time to purchase even a litre of diesel.
He added that they are aldo developing government security centre to ensure that services provided are secure
He further indicated for the digital population, they have organized digital literacy for citizens across 10 districts of the country.
The Cybersecurity Incident Response Team (also known as a CSIRT) is a dedicated group of experts that handles cyber attacks, fixes broken computer systems and stops data leaks.
Their main job is to act fast, stop threats from spreading and bring normal work back.
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