Africa-Press – Lesotho. A former principal secretary this week named former Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro as the driving force behind a huge Covid-19 procurement scandal during a grilling by a parliamentary committee.
Lefu Manyokole, the former principal secretary of Cabinet, threw Majoro under the bus as he sought to defend himself against allegations that he played a huge role in the rot that cost the government hundreds of millions.
The PAC also roasted former Maseru District Administrator, Mpane Nthunya, the then Cabinet principal secretary Dr Neo Liphoto, and procurement manager Tsietsi Mosae.
The committee quizzed Dr Letsie over how the ministry spent M7 million on medical supplies from companies whose registration papers were questionable.
The PAC chairperson, ’Machabana Lemphane-Letsie, wanted Letsie to explain why she did not proof-check the companies before they could be contracted. Letsie defended her decision, emphasising that the companies qualified to supply the goods and services.
The suppliers are Bokamoso Medical Aid which supplied 100 2L fog liquid for fumigating Ministry of Health’s offices. The company was paid M711 201. Another supplier was MS Brokers which supplied and installed medical oxygen equipment (250 oxygen gauges, 100 gauges pin index) and was paid more than M1.1 million for installation and over M1.5 million for supplies.
Frasers Lesotho, which supplied and installed other medical equipment, was paid over M2.5 million while Oasis Business Suppliers supplied beds and mattresses for over M1.2 million.
Lemphane-Letsie’s query was that “the nature of the businesses of these suppliers as categorised in their licenses were not in conformity with the required suppliers”.
She also said Bokamoso Medical Aid’s information shows that it was registered as such only this year. She asked why the officers did not buy the supplies from the National Drug Services Organisation (NDSO), the state agency.
She also asked why Afrox, a company with a track record of supplying the ministry with oxygen and other medical supplies was not given the job. Dr Letsie said her office’s responsibility is to make the requisitions and not to directly procure goods.
“This question will be answered by the procurement office,” Dr Letsie said. She said all suppliers that fell under the health care services were correctly engaged.
Mosae said they sourced the rightful suppliers aligning with section 8 of the Public Procurement Act. “It talks about exceptional procurement procedures,” Mosae said.
He said Bokamoso is a seller of pharmaceutical and medical goods, therefore it was rightfully engaged. “As far as 2019 the company was licensed. Even if you can check from the trade portal,” he said.
He also argued that the NDSO does not supply fumigating liquid. He said the suppliers licences were correct, adding that they were introduced to MS Brokers by Fox Suppliers, a company dealing with gas and oxygen in Cape Town.
“At that time medical gas was scarce and the company we asked for services introduced us to MS Brokers, we had no option since Afrox was owed by the government and refused to work with us.
” He however admitted that MS Brokers’ was not licensed to sell gas, “but it was a broker, and its offices are at Sekamaneng, I did my job very well”.
The committee also said it had discovered the previous finding that M16 million spent on the army’s dry rations was incorrect. The actual expenditure, Lemphane-Letsie said, was a staggering M45 million.
She said they went back to check all the documentation and found out that a lot of money was spent. “We found some papers that the Auditor General did not get,” she said.
The committee asked Dr Liphoto why she bought sorghum instant porridge (phusamandla) from a supplier selling at M90 per package when others sell it at M28, M31, and M55.
She also said one supplier was selling a packet of peanuts for M50, which is normally sold at M10 for a small packet and M30 for a bigger one. She also said one company was registered a day after it was awarded a tender.
“Why did you pick the highest prices as principal secretaries?” Lemphane-Letsie asked.
“It looks like the principal secretaries had personal interests on those people they gave a chance to supply,” she said. Dr Liphoto admitted that he might not have checked thoroughly about those suppliers before paying them.
“I thought the army and police had done things right, I had an element of fear that questioning them would be fighting those important institutions,” Dr Liphoto said.
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