—-As at least 431,000 Basotho suffer from mental illnesses
Mathatisi Sebusi
LESOTHO continues to grapple with the problem of containing the ever-escalating levels of mental health issues despite the government’s approval of a new Mental Health Policy and Strategic Plan (2023-2027) which aligns with the World Health Organization’s (WHO)’s call for urgent transformation of mental health systems globally.
The Mental Health Policy and Strategic Plan launched towards the end of 2024 disclosed that nearly 431,000 citizens, out of a population of about 2.2 million people, were affected by mental illnesses.
Lesotho’s sole psychiatric hospital, Mohlomi Hospital, is therefore overwhelmed and operating under dire conditions.
Many patients could benefit from specialized rehabilitation services, but the lack of such facilities exacerbates the problem.
Speaking to the Lesotho Times this week, Mohlomi Hospital Public Relations Officer, Maholi Ramahlele, said the hospital building had severely deteriorated and urgently needed replacement, with ceilings on the verge of collapse and walls unable to adequately support patients’ needs.
Further compounding the issue, Ms Ramahlele said, was a critical shortage of mental health professionals in the country.
Each of the country’s ten districts has only one psychiatric nurse, and Lesotho relies on a single foreign psychiatrist who arrived just two months ago.
The hospital was overcrowded, she said, with many patients being drug addicts or complicated cases “who cannot be released due to the scarcity of psychiatrists”.
She said although the government approved the new Mental Health Policy and Strategic Plan last year, its implementation had yet to yield any significant impact.
For instance, Ms Ramahlele noted, key provisions such as deploying at least two psychiatric nurses per district, who would impart skills to general doctors on dealing with mental health cases, remained unimplemented.
Additionally, she said, Lesotho continued to operate under the outdated 1964 Mental Health Law, with proposed amendments still pending in Parliament.
During last year’s Mental Health Day commemoration, Minister of Health, Selibe Mochoboroane, announced the Cabinet’s approval of the Mental Health Policy and Strategic Plan (2023–2027).
Mr Mochoboroane had also acknowledged the challenges faced by the hospital, promising that his ministry was developing plans to construct a new mental health hospital and a dedicated rehabilitation centre to alleviate the burden on Mohlomi.
However, Ms Ramahlele told this publication that to date, no significant impact of the policy’s implementation had been observed.
While she acknowledged the ongoing training of village health workers to detect and refer mental health cases, she said the policy’s other key provisions had not been realized.
“These unrealized provisions include a request for at least two psychiatric nurses per district and granting general doctors with mental health experience the same authority as psychiatrists. Additionally, the country continued to operate under the outdated Mental Health Law of 1964, with proposed amendments not yet passed by Parliament,” Ms Ramahlele said.
The hospital is currently housing 62 individuals with mental health complications – 33 males, 25 of whom are drug addicts, and 26 females, only 2 of whom are drug addicts.
“Overcrowding is particularly severe in the forensic department, which holds 80 patients in a facility designed for just 34 beds, forcing many to sleep on mattresses,” she said.
Ms Ramahlele emphasized that some forensic patients had remained admitted for years due to the country’s shortage of psychiatrists.
She appealed to the government to construct a new mental health hospital and establish a dedicated rehabilitation centre for drug addicts, to reduce the burden on Mohlomi.
Ministry of Health Principal Secretary, ‘Maneo Ntene, has confirmed the challenges facing the Mohlomi psychiatric hospital.
Speaking to the Lesotho Times yesterday, Ms Ntene said that the implementation of the country’s new Mental Health Policy and Strategic Plan (2023-2027) was underway, albeit gradually.
Ms Ntene shared that her ministry was developing plans to construct both a new hospital and a rehabilitation centre to address the issues at Mohlomi.
She explained that the current overcrowding was largely due to an influx of young drug users who had been admitted because they posed a danger to themselves and others.
“We are working hard to build these two new facilities to address the needs of people with mental health conditions,” Ms Ntene said.
“Mohlomi Hospital is in poor condition and urgently needs to be replaced.”
However, Ms Ntene stressed that securing the necessary funding to fully implement the new mental health policy remained a challenge for the government.
She also emphasized the importance of creating more job opportunities to help prevent youth from turning to drug use, which she identified as a major driver of the mental health crisis.
This push for reform in Lesotho’s mental health system aligns with the new guidelines launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2025.
The WHO guidelines call on countries to strengthen their mental health policies and services, noting that globally, mental health care remains severely underfunded and inaccessible for many.
“While effective prevention and treatment interventions exist, most people with mental health conditions do not have access to them,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on March 25, 2025 when the guidelines were launched.
“The new WHO guidelines aim to close these gaps by protecting human rights, promoting holistic care, and ensuring people with lived experience help design responsive policies.”
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