In a bid to revive stalled legislation, the Ministry of Tourism, Sports, Arts, and Culture held a crucial one-day public consultation with stakeholders, including initiation school leaders, traditional doctors, police officers, education and local government authorities.

The session focused on reviewing the long-debated Initiation School Bill, which seeks to establish regulations for the protection and proper management of traditional initiation schools.This consultation follows the previous attempt to pass the Initiation School Bill of 2022,which was halted when the 10th Parliament dissolved before the Bill could be enacted.

Now the Ministry is restarting the process by holding public consultations to reassess the Bill,ensuring it still aligns with the community’s views and addressing any new concerns.Director of Culture, Mrs Molibeli, revisions since its inception in 2002. “We were optimistic that the Bill would become law during the 10th Parliament but  it dissolved before that could happen.

We are now back to consulting the public to verify if the proposed Bill still meets their expectations or if there are any new concerns.The Ministry has already engaged stakeholders in districts including Leribe, Butha-Buthe,Berea, Mohale`s Hoek, Quthing, Mafeteng and Maseru.