Africa-Press – Lesotho. ELSEWHERE in this issue we carry a story of the industrial scale looting of public funds that happened during the Covid-19 pandemic. There was no doubt that the Covid-19 pandemic was a national emergency.
It posed an existential threat to Basotho. Yet even under such a dark cloud, some crooked fellows among us, with no bite of conscience whatsoever, went on a massive looting spree.
These individuals had their eyes on the cookie jar, dipping their hands in what was a thieving spree on an industrial scale. The National Covid-19 Secretariat (NACOSEC) became a vehicle for the plunder of public funds.
Senior officials within government ministries had no shame in tinkering with procurement regulations to benefit their cronies. They awarded themselves hefty salaries and perks.
They also inflated prices of personal protective equipment, and shared the loot with their cronies thereafter. This was clearly a grand, shameless looting scheme that was meant to enrichen themselves.
Sadly, this grand looting spree happened at a time when the government of Lesotho had admitted that it was struggling to meet its financial obligations and was relying on foreign donors to procure vaccines and PPEs.
This is the sad story that came out during hearings led by parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) this week. We heard how former NACOSEC boss, Thabo Khasipe, allegedly pushed for the hiring of Dr Catherine Lephoto, a Mosotho microbiologist who was based in South Africa, at a staggering salary of M120 000 a month.
Instead of staying in a modest house that NACOSEC had rented for her, she opted to stay in a hotel, raking a M900 000 bill that the government is now struggling to pay.
Dr Lephoto’s salary, benefits and hotel bill cost the government a staggering M1.6 million over six months. There was also one Reatile Elias who was allegedly head-hunted by Khasipe at a cool salary of M90 000 per month.
Elias was hired without going through the normal recruitment procedures. We would like to believe that what we heard this week was just a small part of the rot.
We are likely to hear more as the hearings continue. There is much more that happened at NACOSEC that the PAC needs to unpack. When all has been said and done, Basotho want to see accountability in Lesotho.
The issue of accountability should lie at the core of the PAC’s work. Yet over the years, we have seen a number of public servants and others summoned to appear before the mighty committee.
They were harassed and grilled under the glare of the cameras. The politicians who led the process would take the plaudits, giving the impression that they were working hard to fight corruption.
That is as far as it went. Beyond the grilling, nothing much has come out of these interviews, giving credence to charges that they are just a charade meant to hoodwink the masses.
It is for this reason that Basotho want to see accountability. There must be consequences for those who looted the national purse. It cannot just be business as usual.
Despite numerous public hearings in the past there has not been a single senior government official or civil servant who has been convicted for any wrongdoing.
Nothing much has come out of these interviews apart from the shame and usual anger they generate on our radio stations. This must change. The crooked among us should not be allowed to take advantage of a national crisis to enrichen themselves.
Unless offenders are taken to court and prosecuted, these hearings will likely continue to be seen as one big charade at which people just go through the motions.
https://www.thepost.co.ls/comment/basotho-want-to-see-accountability/
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