Maseru, July 30 — The Ministry of Tourism launched a series of activities ahead of 60th independence diamond jubilee set for October 4, 2026.

The independence will be celebrated under the theme ‘honouring our past, shaping our future’, calling all Basotho to take part in celebrating the country’s heritage and charting the way forward. 

Addressing the media today, the Minister of Tourism, Mr. Stephen Mputi stated that this milestone is not just a celebration of the past but a reflection of Basotho’s journey and recommitment of the future Basotho want to build together.

Mr. Mputi mentioned that as Lesotho celebrates 60 years of independence, different activities planned  include national prayer service, flag hoisting, leaders forum, national anthem campaigns and youth empowerment programmes.

He said the activities are designed to be inclusive, saying the commemoration belongs to all Basotho. 

Moreover, Mr. Mputi urged stakeholders, civil society’s traditional leaders to support this activities for promotion of unity and patriotism. He said the activities are aimed to promote tourism and inspire youth amongst others. He further explained that the celebration is budgeted 20 million maloti, where 15 million will be used in the activities and 5 million for the national celebration.

Lesotho gained its independence on October 4, 1966 and Basutoland became the kingdom of Lesotho. 

ENDS/ML/tl