Africa-Press – Lesotho. The Lesotho Opportunities Industrialization Centre (LOIC) is left with financial hardships after the Ministry of Small Businesses Development, Cooperatives and Marketing
stopped giving subvention to the institution. LOIC acting Executive Director (ED) Kokolia Ramabele said the ministry has stopped giving them subvention in the past four months, saying they have been surviving from savings
and collection of tuition fees and the money from projects that were carried out during the course of the year. “This shortage of money forces us to request
an increase in tuition fees of which is very hard for us to do since our learners are from less fortunate families, we cannot burden them with extra or additional
fees as that would be destroying or expelling them,” he said. Ramabele indicated that the school receives M3.7million which includes lecturers’ salaries, institution equipment and basically everything related to LOIC, which
was supposed to be disbursed by October 2020. He stated that at least M4.8 million could cover all their expenses. He expanded that the Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Small Businesses Development, Cooperatives and
Marketing terminated membership of the board members. “The reasons he gives for terminating membership of board members are not clear, those people are not in
the day to day running of the school,” he charged. For his part, the Ministry of Small Businesses Development, Cooperatives and Marketing Principal Secretary (PS) Tankiso Phapano said he cannot comment on the matter since it
has been taken before the courts of law. “The matter is in the court as we speak where he (ED) filled the case so it is my plea to allow the courts of law
to give judgement over the matter,” the PS said. The institution was established in 1978 to offer vocational entrepreneurial training and development skills to the economically challenged sectors of the population.
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