Africa-Press – Lesotho. NEW Revenue Services Lesotho (RSL) Commissioner General Advocate ’Mathabo Mokoko says she wants to create a conducive environment for the team to function smoothly.
“I am determined to build a good team,” Mokoko said. Mokoko said she will be working on building the processes and systems, saying “this is the one stop-shop that feeds on one another”.
“This will enable me to see every activity in the organisation,” she said. Mokoko, who was previously the RSL commissioner of customs, was appointed on a three-year renewable contract. Her term began last Friday.
Mokoko said she wants to see the revenue authority promoting efficiency and transparency. Mokoko said she will seek to build a good and sustainable relationship with stakeholders “because this is not about the organisations, but about the people”.
Speaking at the same press conference, Finance Minister Dr Retšelisitsoe Matlanyane, said Advocate Mokoko comes at a very critical period, looking at our global economic outlook.
Dr Matlanyane said we have recently experienced destructive weather conditions that have negatively impacted our infrastructure. “We have bridges to repair, roads to rebuild, potholes to fill, healthcare to upgrade, and new infrastructure projects to undertake,” Matlanyane said.
Matlanyane said in order to meet all these demands, Lesotho needs to mobilise revenue. The finance minister said the RSL is mandated to make all these demands possible through the collection of much-needed revenue.
Matlanayane said the RSL is expected to take all necessary measures to ensure that all revenue due to the government of Lesotho is fully collected. “I therefore call upon you, Mokoko, and your team to ensure that you take decisive measures to collect from all eligible taxpayers without fear or favour,” Matlanyane said.
Matlanyane further implored Mokoko and the team to embark on strategies that will enable them to broaden the tax net. She said this is to avoid situations in which only a few are burdened with paying taxes while the majority walk free.
“We should demonstrate to our nation and the world at large that we are capable of taking care of ourselves,” she said.
“For our country to develop and respond positively to the many challenges it faces, RSL plays a vital role.
“I appeal to our development partners to support its initiatives that are geared towards maximising the collection of revenue,” Matlanyane said.
Matlanyane pleaded with the RSL board, management, and staff to back the new commissioner general. She appealed to taxpayers to offer their support by voluntarily complying with their tax obligations.
Mokoko, who is an admitted Advocate of the High Court and Court of Appeal of Lesotho, graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the National University of Lesotho (NUL) in 2004.
She also has a Masters of Taxation from the University of Pretoria which she obtained in 2011. She worked as a practising advocate at a private law firm from 2004 to 2006 and taught taxation as a part-time lecturer at the NUL in 2006.
She has also served in a number of roles at the RSL from 2006 to 2014, first as the Legal Officer, Legal Officer Law Interpretation and as a Senior Manager – Policy Procedures and Law Interpretation.
She worked at the United Nations headquarters in New York as the Inter-Regional Adviser on International Tax Matters in 2015. She also served as the Head Legal and Board Secretary at the Water and Sewerage Company in Lesotho from 2017 to 2018.
She worked for Vodacom Lesotho as the Manager Legal Affairs and later as the Company Secretary in 2018. She joined the Revenue Services Lesotho in 2019 as the Commissioner Operations Support and then moved to the Client Services Division in July 2021 as the Commissioner of Client Services (Commissioner of Customs) until last Friday.
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