Tributes pour in for Dr Phooko

MASERU – Dr Motloheloa Phooko, who died on Monday morning at the age of 83, will be remembered as an astute medical practitioner who was dedicated to the development of the health sector in Lesotho.

Friends and colleagues in the medical field and in politics said the late Dr Phooko worked hard to push for investments in Lesotho’s primary health care system when he served as health minister in the early 2000’s.

They also applauded the programmes he introduced to decongest public hospitals.

They said during his stint as health minister, Dr Phooko fought for the training of nurses and doctors with the aim to respond to the dire shortage of professional staff across all health facilities.

Dr Phooko worked as a medical doctor after graduating from medical school in Israel in the early 1970’s until 2002 when he joined active politics.

A staunch member of Ntsu Mokhehle’s Basutoland Congress Party (BCP), Dr Phooko broke away with him when he formed the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) in 1997.

When his leader and close relative, former Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili appointed him the Health Minister in 2002, health services were in disarray countrywide.

He worked hard to put in place structures to fix Lesotho’s health sector by strengthening primary health care in the districts.

Dr Phooko strongly believed that health care starts at the village stage hence his insistence that it is where investment should be channelled.

He was reassigned to the Public Service Ministry and later to the Office of the Prime Minister.

He is credited with rolling out the nursing assistants’ training programme which unfortunately was terminated shortly after he left the Health Ministry to become Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office.

He had also opened two training facilities in Tša-Kholo, Mafeteng, and in Qacha’s Nek which too were discontinued shortly after he left the ministry.

Dr Phooko had also started the clinic-based training programmes for medical doctors, taking a leaf from the Cuban health training model.

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohlabi Tsekoa, said he knew Dr Phooko as a dedicated health practitioner even before they joined the government.

Tsekoa said when he was still a teacher at St Agnes High School decades ago, he used to take his patients to Dr Phooko and that was when their friendship began.

He said Dr Phooko was very meticulous and scrupulous when looking after his patients.

“He was an active doctor,” Tsekoa said.

The two were to later meet when Dr Phooko joined active politics.

Tsekoa said Dr Phooko worked hard for the growth of the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) in the early 2000’s.

He said Dr Phooko was a disciplined cadre of the party who wanted the same for all party activists.

Tsekoa said Dr Phooko was adamant that the LCD should have strong ties with supporters at the grassroots level.

He recalled a time when the two were part of the government’s delegation to India which was headed by Mosisili.

Tsekoa said Dr Phooko delivered a memorable presentation about Lesotho and the potential for cooperation with India in health issues.

Tsekoa said Dr Phooko was always prepared during Cabinet meetings and would offer incisive comments with clarity of thought.

“He was able to listen to other people and he gave other people a chance to speak,” he said.

He said Dr Phooko could analyse matters clearly and would be able to amplify issues that would have been discussed at any platform.

He said Dr Phooko worked hard to close the existing gap between Cabinet and civil servants.

“He was always quiet but was very productive,” Tsekoa said.

When there was political tension in the LCD, Tsekoa said Dr Phooko fought tirelessly to mend the cracks.

But he failed.

When he lost the battle, he left with a few others and formed the Reformed Congress of Lesotho (RCL) led by Keketso Rantšo.

He served as the RCL deputy leader until his death on Monday.

Former Minister of Sports, ’Mathabiso Lepono, said her relationship with Dr Phooko stretched as far back as when they were still young. The two later served as ministers under Mosisili in the early 2000’s.

Lepono said Dr Phooko was driven by a vision for development.

She said Dr Phooko was the brains behind the building of the Ministry of Health headquarters in Maseru.

“There was no money but he did his best to help the ministry have such a wonderful building,” Lepono said.

She said Dr Phooko was always dressed to the nines.

“He was a neat man. He was also soft-spoken”.

Lepono said Dr Phooko had a vision to take the Ministry of Health to the next level.

She said Dr Phooko had a hand in the construction of Queen ’Mamohato Memorial Hospital (QMMH).

She said Dr Phooko wanted to transform Queen Elizabeth II Hospital into a district hospital that would refer patients to Queen ’Mamohato Memorial Hospital.

The RCL leader Keketso Rantšo said she bonded with Dr Phooko when he was still practising medicine before he joined active politics.

She said the death of Dr Phooko has left her devastated.

Rantšo said she is the one who encouraged Dr Phooko to contest the parliamentary elections in 2002 under the LCD.

“He won that constituency,” she said, adding that she was a youth in the LCD at the time in the Lithabaneng constituency.

Rantšo said Dr Phooko was her pillar of strength and was always supportive.

“Dr Phooko was different from other people,” she said.

“He was very close to me. He supported me wholeheartedly until he died.”

Rantšo said no one dared to contest against Dr Phooko in internal elections for the deputy leader’s position because they all respected him immensely.

Dr Phooko’s wife, ’Maphooko Phooko, who was a pharmacist, died in November last year. He is survived by two grown-up children, Phooko and Puleng.

Puleng said her father had been battling ill-health since 2021.

“He was diagnosed with cancer,” she said, adding that he went for chemotherapy for six months.

Puleng said her father also developed heart and kidney problems.

“We thought the chemotherapy treatment had affected him negatively,” she said.

She said her late father had been in and out of hospital for months. She said her father died at his home in Lithabaneng in Maseru.

Majara Molupe