{"id":66943,"date":"2026-02-20T11:33:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T11:33:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments"},"modified":"2026-02-20T11:50:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T11:50:11","slug":"chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments","title":{"rendered":"Chiefs Celebrate Salary Hike Amid Calls for More Adjustments"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong> <\/span>Following the announcement by the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Dr. Rets\u2019elisitsoe Matlanyane, of a salary increment for chiefs in the 2026\/27 budget speech on Wednesday, reactions from Qacha\u2019s Nek chiefs have been mixed.<\/p>\n

In an interview with the Agency on Friday, Ha Mpiti Chieftainess \u2019Malets\u2019ela Mpiti expressed excitement, calling the move \u201clong overdue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are thankful because we work tirelessly, often through sleepless nights, and for years we have been neglected,\u201d she said, adding, \u201cwe are looking forward to the new financial year.\u201d<\/p>\n

She, however, hopes that those earning less than M2,000 will receive at least M4,000.<\/p>\n

Chief Makoko Makoae of Patlong, Ha Sekake, echoed similar sentiments. \u201cWe are very happy as chiefs because this salary increment addresses our long-standing concerns. We felt neglected even though we serve the public at night, prevent criminal activities, and at times risk our lives intervening in disputes. All the chiefs I spoke with share this satisfaction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet, Chief Makoae believes the adjustment could go further, suggesting that the lowest-ranking headman earn M6,000 while the highest chief receives M25,000, reflecting the demands and responsibilities of their roles.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what has been done is better than nothing, and we understand that \u2018khomo ha likae batho re bangata\u2019,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Ha-Mosuoe Chieftainess \u2019Malireko Sehahle expressed cautious optimism. \u201cIt\u2019s long overdue, and I will believe it when I see it,\u201d she said, noting that while the proposed increment is still insufficient in today\u2019s expensive economy, it is \u201cbetter than nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added that the M3,000 proposed for a headman still falls short of current demands but is an improvement from the previous M1,600.<\/p>\n

Ha Mapote Chief Lets\u2019abisa Moorosi described the increment as a \u201chuge achievement,\u201d highlighting the challenges chiefs face while working in often harsh and hostile environments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t even get paid much to make this treatment at least worth it. The increment would provide some comfort,\u201d he said, noting that his current salary of M1,900 should ideally rise to M4,000 for it to make a meaningful difference.<\/p>\n

Currently, ungazetted headmen, numbering 2,166, earn M1,699 per month, with the proposed allowance being M3,124. Chief II, totaling 560 chiefs, currently earns M2,036, with the proposed increase to M3,712.<\/p>\n

Chief I, numbering 268, earns M3,844, with a proposed new salary of M5,210, while area chiefs, 307 in total, will move from M4,545 to M8,153 per month. These categories align with civil service grades: the first two equivalent to Grade B, the third to Grade C, and the fourth to Grade D.<\/p>\n

While the increment marks a long-awaited recognition of chiefs\u2019 contributions, many leaders maintain that the adjustment is just a first step. The hope remains that future revisions will better reflect the challenges, responsibilities, and risks they face in serving their communities.<\/p>\n

Find more news and analyses on Lesotho<\/span> on the Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. Following the announcement by the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Dr. Rets\u2019elisitsoe Matlanyane, of a salary increment for chiefs in the 2026\/27 budget speech on Wednesday, reactions from Qacha\u2019s Nek chiefs have been mixed. In an interview with the Agency on Friday, Ha Mpiti Chieftainess \u2019Malets\u2019ela Mpiti expressed excitement, calling the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":66942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[245],"class_list":["post-66943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"\nChiefs Celebrate Salary Hike Amid Calls for More Adjustments - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag"> Africa-Press - Lesotho. Following the announcement by t ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chiefs Celebrate Salary Hike Amid Calls for More Adjustments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"-article-header-tag"> Africa-Press - Lesotho. Following the announcement by t ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-20T11:33:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-20T11:50:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2026\/02\/sm_1771588136.409755.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Chiefs Celebrate Salary Hike Amid Calls for More Adjustments\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-20T11:33:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-20T11:50:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments\"},\"wordCount\":482,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2026\/02\/sm_1771588136.409755.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments\",\"name\":\"Chiefs Celebrate Salary Hike Amid Calls for More Adjustments - Lesotho\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2026\/02\/sm_1771588136.409755.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-20T11:33:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-20T11:50:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"-article-header-tag\\\"> Africa-Press - Lesotho. Following the announcement by t ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2026\/02\/sm_1771588136.409755.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2026\/02\/sm_1771588136.409755.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"Chiefs Celebrate Salary Hike Amid Calls for More Adjustments\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Chiefs Celebrate Salary Hike Amid Calls for More Adjustments\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/\",\"name\":\"Lesotho\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chiefs Celebrate Salary Hike Amid Calls for More Adjustments - Lesotho","description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press - Lesotho. Following the announcement by t ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chiefs Celebrate Salary Hike Amid Calls for More Adjustments","og_description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press - Lesotho. Following the announcement by t ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments","og_site_name":"Lesotho","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2026-02-20T11:33:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-20T11:50:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2026\/02\/sm_1771588136.409755.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Chiefs Celebrate Salary Hike Amid Calls for More Adjustments","datePublished":"2026-02-20T11:33:18+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-20T11:50:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments"},"wordCount":482,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2026\/02\/sm_1771588136.409755.jpg","keywords":["Lesotho"],"articleSection":["all news","head lines","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments","name":"Chiefs Celebrate Salary Hike Amid Calls for More Adjustments - Lesotho","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2026\/02\/sm_1771588136.409755.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-20T11:33:18+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-20T11:50:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press - Lesotho. Following the announcement by t ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2026\/02\/sm_1771588136.409755.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2026\/02\/sm_1771588136.409755.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"caption":"Chiefs Celebrate Salary Hike Amid Calls for More Adjustments"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/chiefs-celebrate-salary-hike-amid-calls-for-more-adjustments#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chiefs Celebrate Salary Hike Amid Calls for More Adjustments"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/","name":"Lesotho","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66943\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}