KING Letsie III and Queen ‘Masenate Mohato Seeiso yesterday left Maseru for Durham in the United Kingdom at the invitation of the city’s bishop, Reverend Paul Butler.

Foreign Affairs and International Relations Minister, Tlohang Sekhamane, is accompanying Their Majesties along with other senior government and palace officials. Mr Sekhamane told a media briefing ahead of the trip that it was meant to cement the good relations between Lesotho and Durham which led to the establishment of Lesotho-Durham Link in 1986.

He said Lesotho-Durham Link was a Christian charitable organisation operating under the Anglican Diocese of Lesotho and that of Durham in the UK. The organisation, Mr Sekhamane said, had over the years initiated many projects to improve the lives of Basotho, especially those in remote areas.

Among the projects Lesotho-Durham Link initiated was the Community Forestry Project in Phamong, Mohale’s-Hoek, the Ha Popa Health Centre in Mantšonyane — which mainly serves women and children through its antenatal and postnatal services — and the Ha Mohatlane Community Education Centre in Berea which provides vocational training welding, carpentry, sewing and knitting as well as block making and poultry.

The minister also said King Letsie III would also meet the new Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland and Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council Deputy Chairman Mark Simmonds during a stop-over in London.

Their Majesties were seen off at the airport by Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili, his deputy Mothetjoa Metsing and other senior government officials. They are expected to return home on 29 June 2016. – LeNA/Staff Writer.