18 June 2025 by Pascalinah Kabi

Mokhothu Makhalanyane, Chair of Chairs for all National Assembly portfolio committees, says Parliament will prioritise adjusting its salary structures and incentives after the winter break to introduce a “no work, no pay” policy.

Makhalanyane says this is to ensure that members of parliament (MPs) who repeatedly miss work will face salary deductions — a step aimed at curbing chronic absenteeism in Parliament.

“We are doing an amendment of the incentives and salary structure in Parliament to ensure that if a member is absent for a certain number of days, their salary will be reduced. This is to mitigate for the absenteeism that is taking place in the parliament,” Makhalanyane told Uncensored News on June 18, 2025.

Makhalanyane was responding to a May 30, 2025 opinion piece by Uncensored Managing Editor, Pascalinah Kabi, which criticised MPs for taking a three-month winter break amid a national health crisis triggered by the U.S. government’s decision to freeze foreign aid.

The article, titled If You Want to Earn M474,348 for Just Six Months of Work, Try Lesotho’s Parliament, argued that MPs only work for half the year, as per the parliamentary calendar adopted in September 2003.

Citing attendance records, Makhalanyane said about 30 percent of parliamentarians regularly miss work, with political leaders among the most frequent absentees. While acknowledging that the same MPs will be the ones voting on the proposed policy, he remains hopeful it will pass without resistance.

Listen to Makhalanyane’s full interview with Pascalinah Kabi, recorded on June 18, 2025, by pressing the audio below.