Africa-Press – Lesotho. THE Senate has questioned the government’s decision to dissolve the Government Asset Search and Recovery Task Team (GASRTT), calling for its urgent reinstatement.
While raising the matter during a question and answer session at the Old Parliament building yesterday, the Principal Chief of Leribe, Joel Motšoene, said the disbandment of the task team had worsened the abuse of government property, particularly in Leribe where councillors allegedly allocate public land at will.
Chief Motšoene said he had placed his hopes in the task team to address rampant mismanagement and illegal allocation of government assets. He asked the Minister of Justice and Law, Richard Ramoeletsi, whether the government intended to legalise and formalise the task team to ensure its operations were anchored in law.
Chief Motšoene also asked if the the minister was aware that the task team had been operating without a clear legal framework defining its establishment and mandate, the reason cited for its disbandment.
“If so, what steps are being taken to legalise and formalise the task team to ensure that its operations align with the Constitution, existing laws, and principles of accountability and transparency? Further, can the minister clarify how recovered assets are being managed in the absence of a specific legislative framework?” asked the chief.
In response, Mr Ramoeletsi said Cabinet had directed the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Limpho Tau, to facilitate the drafting of legislation to empower the task team to continue with its mandate.
“The Cabinet directed the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office to draft a law to formalise the task team. A report has already been submitted to that office, and follow-ups are being made to determine where recovered assets will be kept,” Mr Ramoeletsi said.
However, Chief Motšoene pressed him further, saying the situation in Leribe had deteriorated since the dissolution of the task team.
“We are deeply concerned because government funds were used to establish this committee, yet its disbandment has left a vacuum. In Leribe, governance has collapsed. People allocate government sites to themselves, seize public property, demolish government buildings, and build their own houses.
“It is painful for us as leaders to witness such lawlessness while no action is taken. In Hlotse, for example, a councillor is virtually holding government hostage, allocating sites as he pleases. I wonder how soon the government will act to reinstate and legalise the task team to deal with these issues,” Chief Motšoene said.
In reply, Mr Ramoeletsi acknowledged the urgency of the matter, noting that the task team had been formed in 2022 to tackle similar abuses.
“This issue must be addressed quickly. When this government took office in 2022, we were already dealing with the misuse of government land and property, which led to the formation of the task team. Its report has been submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office. What remains now is the legislation to give it legal authority to operate. The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office must expedite this process so that the team functions under the protection of the law,” he said.
Background
The GASRTT was disbanded on 27 October 2025 on the grounds there was no legal instrument to back its existence.
However, insiders alleged this was a calculated move to protect powerful figures implicated in corruption scandals involving government assets.
Formed in December 2022 under the Office of the Prime Minister, the 11-member task team became operational in March 2023. It was mandated to reclaim all state assets — including land, buildings, and vehicles — fraudulently acquired by individuals, with some cases dating as far back as Lesotho’s independence in 1966.
Its duties included identifying illegally occupied sites, verifying developed and vacant plots, and auditing government residential houses amid concerns that the state’s asset inventory was in disarray.
The task team comprised officials from the Prime Minister’s Office, the ministries of Finance and Development Planning, and Public Service, Labour and Employment, with additional support from the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF), the Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS), and the National Security Service (NSS).
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