Seymour Kikine

Diplomacy-perspectives from the Mountain Kingdom: Impressions and Experiences of a Diplomat from Lesotho Seymour Kikine

A number of factors prompted me to write this book. First among them was that as Managing Director of Longman Lesotho, I felt that a lot of political developments in Lesotho were going unrecorded except in newspapers most of which, however, were associated with particular political parties and their lifespan was always short. My attempts in interesting certain individuals in writing in this field for possible publication were all in vain. I strongly felt that without this kind of publication later generations might not be informed as to how certain things might have come to pass. Least did I know that I might be appointed as Ambassador of the Kingdom of Lesotho between 1994 and 2007 and serve in Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Arab Republic of Egypt. It was this appointment that led to the second factor which was a feeling that in this time one had learned so much about diplomacy that it would be worthwhile to share these experiences and personal impressions with those who might find themselves in the same job. I felt that they would be better informed and hopefully more effective in their work.