…as High Commissioner of Lesotho accredited

PRESIDENT David Granger, on Wednesday, accredited the first High Commissioner of the Kingdom of Lesotho to Guyana at an accreditation ceremony hosted at the Ministry of the Presidency.

Letters of Credence were accepted from High Commissioner, Ralechate Lincoln Mokose, who told the President that the Southern African country looks forward to partnering with Guyana in the areas of tourism, energy, education, agriculture, water, trade and investment, transport and the environment.

“Lesotho and Guyana are two small geographically distant countries with diplomatic relations established in 1979. Being the first-ever High Commissioner of the Kingdom of Lesotho to Guyana since our established relations, I feel it is a great privilege to me to be accorded an opportunity to kick-start our bilateral cooperation,” he stated.

In turn, President David Granger expressed Guyana’s interest in discussing and developing ways in which the two countries can improve relations in the fields of trade, investment, agriculture and energy.

He said that the countries share common views and have worked closely at the multilateral level within the Commonwealth, the United Nations and the Non- Aligned Movement.

Lesotho and Guyana, he said, remain advocates on global issues such as climate change and international peace and security.

“Guyana welcomes the opportunity to enhance its efforts at collaboration with the Kingdom of Lesotho. We look forward to sharing experiences in building climate-resilient economies and collaborating on important developmental issues such as education, the environment, the economy, the eradication of poverty and the improvement of the livelihood of our people,” the President said.

He congratulated the High Commissioner on his appointment and relayed his best wishes to His Majesty King Letsie III of Lesotho.

Guyana and Lesotho established diplomatic relations on 25 August 1979.

The country (formerly Basutoland) was originally inhabited by local tribes of hunter-gatherers called the Khoisan; the Bantu tribes and eventually the Sotho-Tswana peoples.

King Moshoeshoe, in 1822, united the land under one rule for the first time then, in 1843, it was constituted as a native state under British protection.

After being annexed to Cape Colony in 1871, in 1884 it was restored to direct control by the Crown and, on October 4th, 1966, it became an independent nation.
High Commissioner, Mokose later laid wreaths at Guyana’s Independence Arch as a sign of respect to the country and one of its most important national symbols.