Africa-Press – Lesotho. The Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) Director-General (DG) Advocate Mahlomola Manyokole was on Monday served with a suspension letter.
This is the second suspension letter after the first one that he received in December last year, of which he challenged in the court and was ruled in his favour.
The Informative Newspaper is in possession of that suspension letter which was signed by the Prime Minister on Monday afternoon. “Acting pursuant to the provisions of SECTION 4 (6) OF PREVENTION ON CORRUPTION AND
ECONOMIC OFFENCES ACT NO. 5 OF 1999 (As amended) – and also given the fact that you are also an accused in the above-referenced case, I am also empowered under common law to place you on
suspension on account of criminal proceedings in which you are currently on bail with full pay and benefits forthwith. “This suspension shall be operational until such time when the question of your
fitness to hold office or otherwise has been fully investigated and concluded by the aforementioned tribunal. On even note, the criminal trial in which you are
charged and currently on bail is yet another weighty factor that prompts the suspension that I currently place on you. Upon receipt of this letter, you must
submit all the property of the Directorate in your possession- be it, keys or any other material in your possession which is necessary for the smooth transition of your suspension to your
immediate junior,” reads the suspension letter in pertinent part. Advocate Manyokole told this publication that he was met with resistance on Friday as he
tried to access the DCEO premises as the security barred him. Reacting to this resistance, he said that he refused to leave the premises and called the Police
to intervene, upon their arrival he said that they joined the security in refusing him entrance. Frustrated by the move, he said that he called the Commissioner of Police to assign him
Police and was told to make correspondence for such a request. His challenges further compounded on Sunday as the soldiers in concert with the security
denied him an entry inside the premises. Asked what his next move is, he said he has consulted his legal representatives for way forward. The Prime Minister (PM) Dr.
Moeketsi Majoro had in December mounted a Tribunal to “investigate and determine the question of removing the Director-General of the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences, Advocate Mahlomola Manyokole
[and] make recommendations to the Prime Minister as to whether or not Advocate
Mahlomola Manyokole ought to be removed, from office”. Meanwhile, Informative Newspaper had seen a “show cause” letter dated December 20, 2020 written by the Minister of Law and Justice Professor Nqosa Mahao to the DCEO
DG. The letter wanted the accused to “show cause why [the Minister] may not recommend your suspension from duty in terms of section 4 (6) of Prevention of Corruption and
Economic Offences Act No. 5 of 1999 (As amended)”. “There is a criminal case staged against you whereupon you are being accused of obstruction of justice.
You irregularly and illegally staged a litigation and filed an affidavit before a court of law in CIV/APN/451/2020 wherein you staged a litigation citing the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences as a
litigant in a case in which the interests which were being sought to be salvaged were personally yours and nothing to do with institutional and functional autonomy of the DCEO and acted contrary to the law by acting as
such,” reads the letter in pertinent part. Following these aforementioned developments Advocate Manyokole approached the High Court to seek a recourse and the judgement of that case was handed down last week
Thursday also. In the case that was before Justice Moroke Mokhesi, the accused challenged the “show cause” letter why he should not be suspended and also wants the court to interdict the
Minster of Justice and Law from advising the Prime Minister to suspend the petitioner pending the finalisation of the case in court. Secondly, he sought
the disqualification of the Chairperson of the tribunal (Judge Teboho Moiloa) for “bias” and or “conflict of interest”. In his court papers, Advocate Manyokole argued that the DCEO is seized with the
investigations which involves the tribunal Chairperson. One such case relates to the alleged money laundering activities involving Judge Moiloa while a
partner at Webber Newdigate law firm. Coming down hard at the Minister’s move to have the applicant suspended, the court held that: “The court the applicant sought an interdict against the Minister of Justice
against advise the Prime Minister to suspend him. It is common cause that there was no order prohibiting the Minister of Justice from going ahead to advice the Prime Minister, but for
the Minister to go ahead in total disregard of the fact that the very act which he proceeded to effect was sub judice [before the court], can only be interpreted as a naked act of neutering
this court’s exercise of its powers to decide that issue. The argument that there was no order stopping him from doing so can at best be described as fallacious,
given as I said, the issue was sub judice. One would have hoped that the Minister would have been alive to this, but alas that was not to be. In the result the suspension of the
applicant is declared void ab initio [baseless from onset]. ” The court further described the proposed move by the Minister of Law and Justice to advise the Prime Minister to relieve Manyokole
from his duties as a “naked usurpation of judicial power and a breach of a hallowed doctrine of separation of powers”. Following this judgement the tribunal that was set to begin
its work in December last year will now carry on executing its mandate for a period of eight weeks and report to the Prime Minister about its findings.
Last week on Thursday, Advocate Manyokole appeared before the Magistrate court on three charges. He was charged of three counts. The DCEO DG faces the charges relating to defeating the course of justice, money laundering
and corruption wherein he is alleged to have contravened the Section 87 (2) of Penal Code No. 6 of 2010, Section 25 of Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime
Act no 4 of 2008 and Section 21 (3) (b) of the Prevention of Corruption and economic Offences Act No. 5 of 1999 as amended by Act No. 8 of 2006 respectively.
According to the charge sheet, the accused is alleged to have “unlawfully or intentionally” took exhibits in the form of money to the tune of M83 000, “acquire[ed] or
conceal[ed]” the “true nature of that property, movement, or ownership” and “did unlawfully and intention (sic) abuses the functions or position of his
office, in the performance or failure to perform or act, in violation of the law, or in the discharge of his functions for the purpose of obtaining an undue
advantage for himself or for another person to wit…”. The court papers further says that Manyokole deposited the aforesaid amount to the institution’s Criminal Assets Recovery Fund held at FNB before the case was
completed and ‘without due process or disposal order of court”. The 41 years old was released on free bail and is due for the next court appearance on March
4. His bail conditions are as follows: That he should stand the trail to finality, that he attends all remands and that he does not interfere with the witnesses and/ or hamper with the investigations.
For More News And Analysis About Lesotho Follow Africa-Press
