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Ministry of Tourism, Culture & Environment
Department of Culture
P.O. Box 52
Maseru

7th Floor Post Office Building

Tel: (09266) 321429
Fax: (09266) 310194
E-mail: culture@tourism.gov.ls

LESOTHO NATIONAL MUSEUM ACT

ACT 29 OF 1967

(Date of Assent: 9^th November, 1967)

(Date of Commencement. 17^th November, 1967)

ACT

To make provision for the establishment of a Lesotho Museum and for matters and for matters connected therewith. Enacted by the Parliament of Lesotho Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Museums Act 1967. Interpretation

2. In this Act unless the context otherwise requires-Minister means the Minister of the Government of Lesotho for the time being responsible fro education, and includes an Assistant Minister to the extent that he has been authorized by the Minister to perform the duties and exercise the powers of the Minister under this Act; museum means a museum acquired, controlled or established by a board of trustees established under section 3.

Board of 3. (1) There is hereby established a board of trustees to be

trustees known as the Trustees of the National Museum of Lesotho

(hereinafter called the board).

(2) The board shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and capable of suing and being sued in its own name, acquiring and alienating property, entering into contracts and subject to the provision of this Act, generally off performing all such acts as are necessary for or incidental to the carrying out of its functions and duties under this Act.

(3) The board shall not consists of not less than five and not more than seven members who shall bee appointed by the Minister.

(4) A member of the board shall hold office for five years and unless he sooner resigns or his appointment is terminated under the provisions of subsection (9) and a retiring member shall be eligible for re-appointment.

(5) When a vacancy occurs on the board by death or resignation, absence from Lesotho, illness or otherwise, the Minister may appoint a person to fill such vacancy for the un-expired portion of the period for which the member whose office has become vacant had been appointed.

(6) The members of the board shall choose one of their number to be chairman; if at any meeting of the board the chair-man is absent, the members present shall choose one of their number to be chairman at that meeting.

(7) The member presiding as Chairman at a meeting of the board shall have a deliberative vote as well as a casting vote.

(8) Three members present at a meeting of the board shall constitute a quorum and the decision of a majority of members of the board present at a meeting shall be deemed to be a decision of the board.

(9) A member of the board shall vacate his office.

(a) if he has been absent from three consecutive meetings of the board without the permission of the chairman; or

(b) if he is in the opinion of the Minister unable or unfit to discharge functions and duties of a member of the board.

4. No remuneration shall be paid to members of the board each member shall be paid from the funds of the board his reasonable expenses for traveling and subsistence while engaged upon the business of the board at such rates as the Minister may prescribe.

5. (1) The board may, subject to the approval of the Minister, by agreement with the owners thereof acquire and Maintain any existing museum in Lesotho.

(2) If so directed by the Minister the board shall establish and maintain any new museum in Lesotho.

(3) The board may appoint a local committee to advise it upon the conduct and management of any museum acquired, controlled or established by the board under this section.

5. Every museum acquired or established by the board under this Act shall be held in trust by it on behalf of the people of Lesotho.

6. (1) Every museum acquired, controlled or established by the board under this Act shall be open to the public on not less than three days in every week during such hours as the board hall appoint.

(2) Every museum acquired, controlled or established by the board shall conserve and display for purposes of study, education and enjoyment, collections of objects of cultural or scientific significance.

7. (1) The board shall have the entire management and superintendence of the affairs, concerns and property of all museums owned by it, and in all cases not provided for by this Act it shall be lawful for the board to act in such a manner as museums:

Provided that the board shall have no power to hypothecate, alienate or otherwise dispose of immovable property except with the consent, in writing, of the Minister.

(2) The board shall have such powers in respect of controlled museums as may have been agreed with the owners under subsection (1) of section 5.

8. The board may appoint and employ upon such Terms and conditions as it may deem fit, such officers may be necessary to enable the board to carry out its functions, and shall pay their remuneration from its funds.

10. (1) The funds of the board shall consist of such be made payable to it.

(2) The accounts of the board shall be audited annually by such persons as the board with the approval of the Minister may appoint.

11. (1) As soon as possible after the first day of January in every year the board shall furnish to the Minister a report upon its work during the preceding year and upon any other matters connected with museums which it may desire to bring to his attention.

(2) A copy of that report, together with an audited statement of the board’s accounts shall be forwarded to the Minister.

(3) The Minister shall lay copies of every such report and statements on the Table of the Senate and of the National Assembly within fourteen days of receipt thereof if Parliament is then meeting or, if Parliament is not then meeting, within fourteen days after the commencement of its next ensuing meeting.

12. The Minister may after consultation with the board by notice in the Gazette make regulations for carrying into effect the purposes and provisions of this Act and in particular but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, he may make regulations-

(a) prescribing the procedure at meetings of the board;

(b) prescribing the rates of traveling and subsistence allowances to be paid to members of the board;

(d) safeguarding the contents of any such museums from damage or loss.

13. The Museums Proclamation is hereby repealed.

Repeal (of Proclamation 34 of 1958)

ARCHIVES ACT

Act 42 of 1967

{Date of Assent: 13^th December 1967}

{Date of Commencement: See section 1}

To provide for the custody, care and control of public archives in the Kingdom of Lesotho and for matters incidental thereto.

Enacted by the Parliament of Lesotho

This Act may be cited as the Archives Act 1967 and shall

come into operation on a date to be fixed by the Minister by notice in the Gazette.

(1) In this Act unless the context otherwise requires

Archives means any documents or records received or created in a government office or an office of a public authority during the conduct of affairs in that office and which are from their nature or in terms of any other law not required to be dealt with otherwise than in accordance with the provision of this Act, and any documents or records acquired under section 8; archives depot means any archives depot established under the provisions of section 4; Chief Archivist means the Chief Archivist whose office is established by section 5; commission means the Archives Commission established by section 6; Minister means the Minister for the time being responsible for education and includes an Assistant Minister to the extent that he has been authorized by the Minister to perform the duties and exercise the powers of the Minister under this Act; prescribed means prescribed by this Act or in regulations made there under; records includes not only written records but records conveying information by any other means whatsoever.

(2) If any question arises whether a body is a public authority, that question shall be determined by the Minster whose decision shall be final.

(3) Subject to the provisions of this Act the Minister shall exercise control over the custody and care of archives.

4 (1) The Minister may, with the approval of the Minister responsible for finance, and within the limits of fund provided by Parliament for that purpose establish archives depots at Maseru and other places within Lesotho as he may appoint.

(2) If it appears to the Minister that a place outside the archives depot affords suitable facilities for the safe-keeping and preservation of archives and their inspection by the public he may, with the agreement of the person or authority who will be responsible for archives deposited in that place, appoint it as a place of deposit as respect any class of archives selected for permanent preservation under this Act.

(3) The Minister may at any time direct that archives shall be transferred from the archives depot to a place of deposit appointed under subsection (2) or from such place of deposit to the archives depot or another place of deposit.

5. (1) There shall be a Chief Archivist whose office shall an office in Archivist, the public service.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act and to the directions of the Minister the Chief Archivist–

(a) shall be charged with the custody, care and control of archives;

(b) shall have power to do all such things as appear to him necessary or expedient for maintaining the utility of the archives depot and may in particular

(i) compile and make available indexes guides to, and calendars and texts or archives in the archives depot;

(ii) prepare publications concerning the activities and facilities provided by the archives depot;

(iii) regulate the conditions under which members of the public may inspect archives or use the other facilities of the archives depot;

(iv) provide for the making and authentication of copies of or extracts from archives required as evidence in legal proceedings or for other purpose;

(v) make the arrangement for the separate housing of films and other records which have to be kept under special conditions; and

(vi) lend archives, with the approval of the commission, for display at commemorate exhibitions or for other special purposes;

﴾c﴿ may inspect or cause to be inspected any archives in so far as that inspection may be necessary for the performance of his duties under this Act;

(d) may advice any person charged with the custody, care or control of any archives, in regard to the custody, care and filing thereof;

(e) may, with the approval of the Minister, granted after consultation with the commission, by donation, exchange or otherwise dispose of any archives in the archives depot which are redundant or unsuitable for the archives depot, to any library, museum or other body;

(f) may on the application of any person and on the payment of the prescribed fee, do any research in the archives and make copies thereof or extracts there from for that person;

(g) may with the approval of the commission publish or cause to be published or authorize the publication of any archives or original sources of any thesis or other work based on a study of any archives or those sources;

(h) may cause any archives to be repaired or bound or otherwise dealt with as he may deem necessary for the due preservation thereof;

(i) shall perform other duties in connection with archives as the Minister may direct.

(3) Nothing in subsection (2) contained shall be construed as authorizing the Chief Archivist or any person to do anything which is contrary to any law or the conditions under which any archives were acquired.

(1) There is hereby established a commission to be known as the Archives Commission.

(2) The commission shall consist of so many members, not being more than seven, as the Minister may appoint, one of whom shall be designated as chairman.

(3) The terms of office of each member shall be as prescribed.

(4) The functions of the commission shall be

(a) to make recommendations to the Minister in regard to

i) the acquisition by the Chief Archivist of documents and records in terms of section 8;

(ii) the disposal by the Chief Archivist of any archives in terms of section 5;

(iii) generally, all matters affecting archives; and

(b) in its discretion to grant or refuse approval for

(i) the destruction of archives by the Chief Archivist in terms of section of 9;

(ii) the lending of archives by the Chief Archivist in terms of section5;

(iii) the publication of any archives or original sources of any thesis or other work based on a study of any archives or such sources.

(5) The commission may appoint committees from amongst its members and May assign to a committee so appointed such of its functions as it may deem fit: Provided that commission shall not be divested of any function which it has so assigned to that committee and may amend or revoke a decision of that committee.

(6) The procedure at meetings of the commission or a committee thereof shall be as prescribed.

(7) The commission or a committee thereof may co-opt any person as an assessor member to serve on the commission or on that committee, as the case may be, in an advisory capacity.

(8) No remuneration shall be paid to members and assessor members of the commission but the Minister may within the limits of funds provided by Parliament for that purpose, pay to each member and assessor member his reasonable expenses for traveling and subsistence in respect of any period during which he is engaged on the business of the commission and in respect of any journey undertaken in connection with such business.

(1) It shall be the duty of every person charged with custody, care and control of archives of any description which are not in the archives depot to make arrangements for the selection of those archives which ought to be permanently preserved and for their safe-keeping.

(2) Every person referred to in subsection (1) shall perform his duties under this section under guidance of the Chief Archivist shall be responsible for co-ordinating and supervising all action taken under this section.

(3) All archives selected for permanent preservation under this section which are not in terms of any law required to be kept in the custody of a particular person, shall be transferred to the archives depot if they are thirty years old or older:

Provided that

(a) the Minister may at the request of any person charged with the custody, care and control of any such archives, grant permission that those archives or any portion thereof be retained by that person; and

(b) the Chief Archivist may

(j) defer the transfer of any such archives until such time as he deems fit; and

(ii) grant permission that any such archives which are less than thirty years old, be so transferred.

4) Archives which, following arrangements made in pursuance of this section, have been rejected as not required for permanent preservation shall, with the approval of the Minister granted after consultation with the Commission, be destroyed or, with that approval, be disposed of in any other way.

(5) Any question as to the person whose duty it is to make arrangement under this section with respect to any class of archives shall be determined by the Minister.

8. (1) The Chief Archivist may on behalf of the government acquire by purchase or donation or on loan for a temporary period or in perpetuity, either unconditionally or subject to such conditions as may be agreed upon, any documents or records which in his opinion, have or may acquire any historical value.

(2) Subject to any conditions which may be applicable the documents and records so acquired shall be deposited in the archives depot.

(3) A person who in connection with the production of a written matter has made use of any archives, shall, if that written matter has been published or duplicated, at the request of the Chief Archivist furnish him with a copy thereof free of charge and that copy shall be deposited in the archives depot.

9. If it appears to the Chief Archivist that any archives in the archives depot are duplicated by other archives which have been selected for permanent preservation or that there is some other special reason why they should not be permanently preserved he may with the approval of the commission authorize the destruction of those archives or, with that approval their disposal in any other way.

10. (1) Archives, other than those to which members of the public had access immediately before the commencement of this Act, shall not be available for public inspection until they have been in existence for thirty five years or such shorter period as the Minister may for the time being prescribe as respects any particular class of archives.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the preceding subsection, if it appears to the Chief Archivist that any archives selected for permanent preservation under this Act, contain information which was obtained from members of the public under such conditions that the opening of those archives to the public after the period determined under the preceding subsection would or might constitute a breach of good faith on the part of the government or on the part of the persons who obtained the information, he shall inform the Minister accordingly and those archives shall not be available for public inspection even after the expiration of the said period except in such circumstances and subject to such conditions, if any, as the Minister may prescribe.

(3) Subject to the provisions of the preceding subsections of this section and subject to the provisions of any other law which prohibits the disclosure of information obtained from the public except for certain limited purposes, (whether that law was made before or after the commencement of this Act), it shall be the duty of the Chief Archivist, to arrange that reasonable facilities are available to the public for inspecting and obtaining copies of archives in the archives depot.

11. (1) The Chief Archivist shall in each year submit to the Minister report on his activities and those of the commission during the preceding year.

(2) The Minister shall lay copies of every such report on the Table of the Senate and of the National Assembly within fourteen days of receipt thereof if Parliament is then meeting, or if Parliament is not then meeting, within fourteen days after the commencement of its next ensuing meeting.

12. (1) The Minister may make regulations for carrying into effect the purposes and provisions of the Act and in particular, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, he may make regulations as to –

a) The custody, care, microfilming and filing of archives;

b) The inspection and destruction under this Act of archives by the Chief Archivist;

c) The period for which members of the commission shall hold office;

d) The procedure at meetings of the commission and of a committee thereof;

e) The rates of traveling and subsistence allowances payable to members of the commission and to assessor members, in respect of any period during which they are engaged on the business of the commission and in respect of any journey undertaken in connection with such business;

f) The transfer of archives from government offices or the offices of public authorities to the archives depot;

g) The admission of the public to the archives depot and to government offices and offices of public authorities in which archives are kept, the access to archives by the public, and the use of equipment for the making of copies of or extracts from archives;

h) The manner in which archives can be handled by persons making use of them;

i) The tarriff of fees payable for supplying copies of or extracts from archives or for research undertaken at the request of a person by the Chief Archivist, and the manner in which payment of these fees shall be made.

13. (1) A person who –

(a) willfully damages any archives; or

(b) otherwise than in accordance with the provision of this Act or any other law, removes or destroys any archives; or

﴾c﴿ contravenes or fails to comply with any condition of an authority granted under section 10, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding two hundred rand or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding twelve months or to both such fine and imprisonment.

(2) The Chief Archivist may refuse to allow a person convicted of an offence under subsection (1) access to any archives in any archives depot for such period as he may deem fit, subject to the right of appeal to the Minister whose decision shall be final.