business

Dec. 20, 2021

KABELO MASOABI

2 min read

Lesotho mourns death of great business icon

Lesotho mourns death of great business icon

The late Mokoena Arthur Majara

Story highlights

    Dr Majara was first Mosotho to bring internationally acclaimed chain food stores, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) to Lesotho
    Cause of death of the famed businessman remains unknown

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TRIBUTES continue pouring in from fellow entrepreneurs, colleagues, friends and fans of the late Dr Arthur Mokoena Majara, who died on Sunday at a hospital in Maseru.

Majara was a renowned businessman and Managing Director of a local radio station - 357 FM.

The cause of his death remains unclear at this stage. However, his family has reported that he had not been well for quite some time.

"Ntate Majara played his role in the entrepreneurial leadership of this country and that is how he will be remembered," a mourner said on social media.

According to local historian, Mahmoud Jay Letsie, Majara was the first Mosotho to bring the internationally acclaimed chain food stores, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), to Lesotho in 1982, two years after its founder Harland Sanders died on December 16, 1980.
He was also involved in other business adventures, one notably being the launch of 357 FM radio.
"I have personally clashed with him on numerous occasions, however I am here paying my last respects to this fallen Lesotho legend. Rest in peace Mokoena," Letsie also said.
One of the late Majara’s fans, Zwelithini Matsoso says: "After People's Choice (PC) FM captured the hearts of the young populace, 357 FM was established. It became the first radio station to operate from a shopping mall, where you could see your presenters from the hallways of Pioneer Mall. That, right there was innovation.
"Ntate Arthur not only followed a business revolution but he inspired it. From venturing into planned giving-Banca Del Afrique (a new form of financial service offering which traditional banking did not understand) to being the first Mosotho to revolutionise the KFC franchising industry in the 1980's when it was unpopular to do so.

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"Like every Mosotho, I believe Ntate Arthur became annoyed with the political system in Lesotho and started mixing politics with entrepreneurship. The gentleman did what he could to talk sense into politics for a peaceful and business friendly Lesotho. I never missed his presentations on radio particularly the Sunday morning show on PC FM. His analysis and commentary resonated a lot with my ideology on Lesotho's development agenda," he says.
"Lastly, his eloquence in English and Sesotho will be missed greatly, beyond following his shows, sometimes I would just follow the accent and wish it were mine," Matsoso says.

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