Mohloai Mpesi
PRIME Minister Sam Matekane must aggressively and effectively address the pervasive corruption plaguing Lesotho’ – an issue he has largely ignored despite mounting evidence that the scourge of graft is ever worsening, experts have urged.
According to analysts who spoke to the Lesotho Times this week, a litany of corrupt activities, have been repeatedly exposed through the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) across various government sectors.
Yet, Mr Matekane had been unable to adequately address these allegations.
The recent controversy surrounding the M184 million Moshoeshoe I International Airport refurbishment project serves as a prime example.
The project was allegedly “corruptly” awarded to LSP Construction, and the PAC has recommended it be retendered.
The committee also called for the dismissal of the Minister of Public Works and Transport, Matjato Moteane, as well as the suspension of several senior officials, due to conflicts of interest in the tender process.
Disturbingly, Members of Parliament last week approved the proposed M108 million budget allocation for the project, effectively greenlighting the continuation of corruption.
The analysts noted that corruption had become deeply entrenched in Lesotho, and the government’s response had been wholly inadequate.
They also cited the example of Mr Matekane’s cabinet directing the Lesotho National Development Corporation (LNDC) in 2023 to provide a M2 million loan to a local textile company, Luqys Manufacturing, at a discounted interest rate – despite the company’s failure to meet LNDC’s lending criteria.
Furthermore, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Business Development, Mokhethi Shelile, was accused of misusing his powers by ordering the LNDC to lend M10 million to another undeserving company, Duty Free Sourcing Incorporated, ostensibly to help it access the US market. Both companies have since failed to repay these loans.
Despite these damning allegations, the analysts noted, Mr Matekane had remained silent on the corruption within his administration, failing to hold his implicated cabinet ministers accountable. Mr Matekane was not realizing that rampant corruption had an adverse effect on foreign direct investment (FDI) and discouraged development, which in turn affected Lesotho’s economy, the analysts maintained.
Mr Matekane had generalized the problem as primarily one of the civil service, with civil servants as the main perpetrators.
The analysts said this raised serious questions about Mr Matekane’s fitness to effectively tackle the corruption crisis.
They argued that the Prime Minister must move to aggressively and effectively address the rampant corruption, instead of continuously issuing hollow threats to take action. The Prime Minister has repeatedly promised to tackle graft but he has nothing to show for it.
According to Dr Seroala Tṧoeu-Ntokoane, a senior lecturer and Dean of the Department of Political and Administrative Studies at the National University of Lesotho (NUL), corruption had become normalized in Lesotho.
It had become a “hyper normalized narrative in our public affairs,” he said.
She noted that while everyone could see the corruption, “we do nothing because we think nothing will change.”
The senior lecturer criticized the Prime Minister’s attempt to blame the “rotten civil service” for the widespread corruption, saying this only confirmed the “feelings of powerlessness” the PM had.
Dr Tṧoeu-Ntokoane asserted that the issue went beyond just the government, stating “it’s Basotho as a society. We are normalising corruption.”
She drew a comparison to other countries where leaders tried to “drain the swamp” to stop the civil service from becoming a “power unto itself.”
However, the lecturer argued that this approach was futile in Lesotho, where corruption had “become deeply ingrained within the national psyche”.
Thabo Qhesi, a local economics commentator, said Premier Matekane must aggressively fight corruption to prove that he was fit for purpose, as the scourge was negatively impacting the country’s economy and damaging its international reputation.
Mr Qhesi explained that because Lesotho’s legal system was compromised, cases at the High Court often delayed for years unless deemed urgent. That backlog, he said, had allowed corruption to thrive, as perpetrators face little accountability.
“To address this, I would recommend establishing a specialized Commercial Crimes Court, separate from the overburdened regular courts. This could serve as a deterrent by ensuring swift prosecution of corruption cases,” Mr Qhesi said.
Mr Matekane should realise that the implications of inaction were severe as they discouraged development and adversely affected foreign direct investment (FDI), Mr Qhesi warned.
“Potential foreign investors are discouraged by the glacial pace of the justice system, while existing development partners like the World Bank have already halted projects due to corruption concerns,” he said.
According to Mr Qhesi, AfDB president, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, visited Lesotho last week to discuss procurement issues in their Lesotho projects, underscoring the depth of the problem.
Mr Qhesi noted that some donors were now bypassing the government entirely, diverting funds to private firms to implement projects.
“Mr Matekane should know that without decisive anti-corruption measures, Lesotho risks further eroding the confidence of its international partners, who may increasingly opt to work through independent channels rather than directly with the government,” he warned.
Political commentator, Thuso Mosabala, asserted that corruption undermined the rule of law and posed a major threat to good governance. It drained fiscal resources, eroded public trust, and crippled economic development, he stated.
Mr Mosabala nonetheless said the question of whether a Prime Minister who failed to address corruption was fit for office was a complex one, as it involved balancing executive leadership, institutional independence, and the rule of law.
Mr Mosabala acknowledged the widespread view that corruption gravely threatened good governance by draining resources, undermining public trust, and stifling economic progress. In this context, he said that “a PM’s ability or failure to tackle corruption was directly relevant to their fitness for office”.
Mr Mosabala cautioned that any prime minister, must also tread carefully, as the fight against corruption could potentially infringe on the independence of anti-corruption bodies like the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO), which were mandated to investigate and prosecute graft without political interference.
“The rule of law demands such investigations remain free from political influence. The solution lies in the Prime Minister creating an enabling environment for accountability, without directly interfering in specific cases. This can be achieved through measures like strengthening oversight mechanisms, empowering whistleblowers, and restructuring public procurement to reduce corruption opportunities,” he said.
Mr Matekane, he said, should also “lead by example, by dismissing corrupt officials and refusing to shield allies from accountability”.
Ultimately, Mr Mosabala said Mr Matekane should act like the legally and morally responsible prime minister he is, by striking a careful balance – publicly declaring a zero-tolerance stance on corruption, ensuring the independence and adequate funding of anti-corruption institutions, and strengthening the legal frameworks that support transparency and accountability.
“Failure to do so would indeed render Mr Matekane unfit for purpose,” he said.
Senior NUL lecturer, Dr Tlohang Letsie, said while corruption was rampant in Lesotho, it should not be the sole measure of Premier Matekane’s fitness for office.
“Corruption is not the only indicator that can be used to assess the Prime Minister’s fitness,” Dr Letsie stated.
“That might be one of his weaknesses, but he could be very strong on other issues.”
Dr Letsie further observed that even past “favoured” prime ministers in Lesotho had struggled to address corruption, which was not a new problem in the country. He recalled former Premier Pakalith Mosisili, who had in June 2012, shortly before handing over power to erstwhile Prime Minister Thomas Thabane, acknowledged his government’s failure to effectively address corruption for most of his first almost 15-year tenure in office then.
“Yes, there is a corruption problem that Matekane has failed to resolve,” Dr Letsie conceded.
“But we cannot use that as the sole indicator of his fitness for office. There are a number of factors to consider in making that assessment.”
Dr Letsie asserted that corruption had a profoundly negative impact on the country’s finances. Specifically, he stated that corruption led to inflated government expenditures, which in turn adversely affected the nation’s development agenda.
Dr Letsie provided the example of the Moshoeshoe I International Airport, where costs had ballooned by over 100 percent.
He emphasized that when corruption drained government resources and eroded public trust, it crippled national development and rendered the leadership unfit for purpose.
Dr Letsie further warned that unchecked corruption also deterred foreign investment, as investors were reluctant to enter a market plagued by a “corruption mess” where tenders were reserved for the well-connected and perpetrators faced no consequences.
This, he said, had a serious negative impact on the country’s already strained resource base and development prospects.
Dr Letsie underscored how corruption’s inflation of government spending and its corrosive effect on public trust and investor confidence severely undermined the nation’s development goals and economic potential.
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