By Staff Reporter
Joy and ululations engulfed the royal village of Matsieng upon news that Prince Mohato Bereng Seeiso was born.
Born on 17 July 1963, at the Scott Hospital In Morija, the prince was delivered by his mother Queen ‘Mamohato Bereng Seeiso in ward one at the Lesotho Evangelical Church in Southern Africa (LECSA) health facility.
The royal villagers were glad that the prince was born as the first son of the late King Moshoeshoe II.
He was named after Letsie I, the eldest son of Moshoeshoe I, who is the founder of the Basotho nation. He was christened in the Roman Catholic Church and named David.
The coordinator of Scott Hospital Improvement Project, Ntsebḗ Kokome, said the hospital was proud that the prince was born there.
“He was born in Ward I in a building known as Khosana Mohato Children’s ward. It was opened by His Majesty King Letsie III on 29 August 2018,” she proudly told theReporter.
The project she coordinates aims to improve the quality of health services for children and the expectant mothers. The project, initiated by King Letsie III and the LECSA, has resulted in the renovation of the wards.
The ward in which the then Prince was born is currently reserved for critically ill children. The atmosphere at the building is conducive for accommodating children.
Referring to the hospital, she reveals that some people joke that “we work at the palace.” This in reference to the birth of the Prince.
At one of his recent birthday celebrations, the King once said Scott Hospital was at his heart and he thought of how he could develop the facility in order to improve the services rendered there.
He said he was living testimony that the hospital is famous as it cares for children and expectant mothers.
The then Prince began his initial studies at the Iketsetseng Private School in Maseru from the year 1968 to 1972 when he completed Standard Five.
As a young boy he grew up and was raised like any other Mosotho who spent time as a herd-boy looking after cattle.
“He grew up like any other Mosotho child. He looked after the cattle and went to the veld with his peers herding the animals. He was very polite and soft-spoken when he grew up,” says one of the villagers.
He recalled that the King had an aura of high respectability as “he was never involved in conflicts like other herd-boys of his age.”
The Prince, he added, also spent some time in the cattle posts in places like Mantṧonyane and Semonkong where he herded livestock. He noted that the King had a love for farming and livestock, which he continues to have today.
After completing Standard Five, he proceeded to the Gilling Castle in the United Kingdom in 1973, a Roman Catholic school run by the Order of St Benedictine in Yorkshire where he completed his primary education in 1976.
Subsequently, he went to his father’s Alma Mater, Ample College in 1977 where he completed his secondary and high school education in 1980. From that year he pursued his university undergraduate studies at the National University of Lesotho until 1984 where he graduated with Bachelor of Arts in Law.
He was installed as Principal Chief of Matseing on December 16 1989 after which he was sworn into the Office of the King under the new Office of the King Order No. 14 of 1990, which was promulgated on November 6 1990.
