By Neo Kolane
The Deejays’ Association of Lesotho (DJALE) and Lesotho Music Rights Association (LMRA) members’ plans to openly sell music at the National Covid-19 Secretariat (Nacosec) premises as a veiled protest gesture, came to naught after they were stopped in their tracks by armed police en route to the Nacosec offices at Maseru Avani.
Following the recent relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions, both DJ’s and artists have been up in arms demanding that the regulations be further adjusted to permit the entertainment industry to operate, like other sectors. The regulations also allowed them to sell their music and products on the streets with speakers for advertisement.
In a bid to make their point, the entertainers decided the most logical place to start selling was at the Nacosec offices. However, their 15-vehicle strong convoy was barred from proceeding beyond ‘Mabathoana High School by police officers who were armed to the teeth.
One of the DJs, Bafokeng Ramoseeli, insisted in an interview with theReporter that their march to Nacosec offices was peaceful, as all they wanted to do was to go sell their music in the Maseru streets.
“Now that we have failed in our mission, the only course open to us is to find a suitable place to stand and sell our music by playing a mix, for example, so that we can too can put food on the table,” Ramoseeli said.
Ramoseeli emphasized that they were not planning on staging a protest march, and were therefore taken aback by the heavy police presence. He was, however, at pains to explain the decision to ‘go out and sell’ en masse. “We just want to start selling together, that’s all.”
