{"id":29493,"date":"2023-06-03T11:00:12","date_gmt":"2023-06-03T11:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2"},"modified":"2023-06-03T11:16:55","modified_gmt":"2023-06-03T11:16:55","slug":"high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2","title":{"rendered":"High Court gives Frazer Solar 14-day ultimatum"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>HIGH Court Judge Ts\u030celiso Monapathi has given Frazer Solar 14 days to respond to Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro\u2019s application to nullify the award of \u00a350 million (M856 million) damages to the German company.<\/p>\n

The damages are for the government\u2019s alleged breach of the two parties\u2019 M1, 7 billion 2018 deal for the supply of solar power to Lesotho. Justice Monapathi issued the order on 1 November 2021 in response to the government\u2019s application on the matter. Advocate Motiea Teele appeared on behalf of Attorney General Rapelang Motsieloa who instituted the application on behalf of the government.<\/p>\n

The application, which is in addition to his pending lawsuit in South Africa\u2019s Gauteng High Court, is a clear indication that Dr Majoro is pulling out all the stops in his quest to reverse the controversial deal which could cost the country as much as 2 percent of its gross domestic product.<\/p>\n

In his application filed on 21 September 2021, Dr Majoro wants the Lesotho High Court to nullify a 2019 South African arbitration award of damages to Frazer Solar.<\/p>\n

The damages are for the government\u2019s alleged breach of the 2018 contract the German company claims to have entered into with the previous Thomas Thabane-led government for the supply of solar power to Lesotho over four years.<\/p>\n

Justice Monapathi on 1 November granted the government condonation for the late filing of its application against the damages award and further ordered that if Frazer Solar intends to oppose the application, it should do so within 14 days of being served with his order.<\/p>\n

South African lawyer, Nicole Rebecca Gilfelleon, will represent Frazer Solar in the application, hence Justice Monapathi\u2019s order will be served in South Africa and not Germany where the company is based.<\/p>\n

In his court papers, Dr Majoro argues that Lesotho cannot be held liable for an agreement that was clearly founded on \u201cfalsities\u201d. \u201cThe Kingdom cannot be bound to an agreement that includes an undertaking and clauses that are clearly false and known to the parties that purported to sign the agreement,\u201d Dr Majoro states.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be against public policy to hold the Kingdom to an agreement that is clearly founded in falsities and was concluded with the ulterior purpose of creating obligations that the Kingdom would have already breached as soon as the agreement was concluded.<\/p>\n

Significantly, I note that these breaches are what Frazer Solar relied upon in its claim against the Kingdom in the arbitration. \u201d Dr Majoro savages former Minister in the Prime Minister\u2019s Office, Temeki Ts\u030colo, for \u201cfraudulently and corruptly\u201d signing the botched deal on behalf of the government.<\/p>\n

Dr Majoro says he had no right to negotiate and sign such an agreement. Mr Ts\u030colo has previously denied signing the deal on behalf of the government. However, Dr Majoro insists that he signed and, in the process, violated national laws which stipulate how such contracts are agreed and how payments to third parties are made.<\/p>\n

He accuses the former minister of acting outside his powers by \u201cclandestinely\u201d signing the agreement without the knowledge and approval of parliament, cabinet and himself as the finance minister at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr Ts\u030colo did not notify the chief accounting officer nor did he inform the Ministry of Finance of the supply agreement before it was signed. Minister Ts\u030colo acted alone.<\/p>\n

Minister Ts\u030colo also breached regulation 32(b) (of Public Procurement Regulations) when he decided to act alone to commit the Kingdom to a \u20ac100 million (M1,7 billion) financial commitment.<\/p>\n

There can be no doubt that the purported conclusion of the supply agreement was unlawful and invalid for failure to comply with the Public Procurement Regulations.<\/p>\n

\u201cMinister Ts\u030colo undertook to commit the Kingdom to the financing agreement without parliament\u2019s approval.<\/p>\n

In light of the provisions of the constitution and statutory framework, it could never be permissible for a minister in the Office of the Prime Minister to conclude an agreement of the nature of the supply agreement concluded by Minister Ts\u030colo.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe acted unlawfully and beyond his powers and abused his discretion when he concluded the agreement without the approval or cooperation of the Minister of Finance, parliament, cabinet or the procurement unit.<\/p>\n

A reasonable member of cabinet who is not a finance minister would never commit the Kingdom to a loan of \u20ac100 million. \u201cMinister Ts\u030colo acted in bad faith to the detriment of the Kingdom for the exclusive benefit of a foreign entity.<\/p>\n

He was acting in pursuit of a purpose other than to protect the interests of the Kingdom. Minister Ts\u030colo was not advancing the public interests of the Kingdom.<\/p>\n

His actions in appointing Frazer Solar and concluding the supply agreement were unreasonable and fall to be reviewed and set aside,\u201d Dr Majoro argues. He further argues that the deal should have been negotiated and signed by the Ministry of Energy and Meteorology, not by Mr Ts\u030colo.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. HIGH Court Judge Ts\u030celiso Monapathi has given Frazer Solar 14 days to respond to Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro\u2019s application to nullify the award of \u00a350 million (M856 million) damages to the German company. The damages are for the government\u2019s alleged breach of the two parties\u2019 M1, 7 billion 2018 deal for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":29492,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[233,246,994,245],"class_list":["post-29493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-german","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"\nHigh Court gives Frazer Solar 14-day ultimatum - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"HIGH Court Judge Ts\u030celiso Monapathi has given Frazer Solar 14 days to respond to Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro\u2019s applic ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"High Court gives Frazer Solar 14-day ultimatum\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"HIGH Court Judge Ts\u030celiso Monapathi has given Frazer Solar 14 days to respond to Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro\u2019s applic ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-06-03T11:00:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-03T11:16:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/06\/sm_1685774688.77083.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1721\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1093\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"High Court gives Frazer Solar 14-day ultimatum\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-03T11:00:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-03T11:16:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2\"},\"wordCount\":830,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/06\/sm_1685774688.77083.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"German\",\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2\",\"name\":\"High Court gives Frazer Solar 14-day ultimatum - Lesotho\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/06\/sm_1685774688.77083.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-03T11:00:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-03T11:16:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"HIGH Court Judge Ts\u030celiso Monapathi has given Frazer Solar 14 days to respond to Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro\u2019s applic ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/06\/sm_1685774688.77083.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/06\/sm_1685774688.77083.jpg\",\"width\":1721,\"height\":1093,\"caption\":\"High Court gives Frazer Solar 14-day ultimatum\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"High Court gives Frazer Solar 14-day ultimatum\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/\",\"name\":\"Lesotho\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"High Court gives Frazer Solar 14-day ultimatum - Lesotho","description":"HIGH Court Judge Ts\u030celiso Monapathi has given Frazer Solar 14 days to respond to Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro\u2019s applic ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"High Court gives Frazer Solar 14-day ultimatum","og_description":"HIGH Court Judge Ts\u030celiso Monapathi has given Frazer Solar 14 days to respond to Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro\u2019s applic ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2","og_site_name":"Lesotho","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2023-06-03T11:00:12+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-06-03T11:16:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1721,"height":1093,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/06\/sm_1685774688.77083.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"High Court gives Frazer Solar 14-day ultimatum","datePublished":"2023-06-03T11:00:12+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-03T11:16:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2"},"wordCount":830,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/06\/sm_1685774688.77083.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-Lesotho","German","Lesotho"],"articleSection":["all news","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2","name":"High Court gives Frazer Solar 14-day ultimatum - Lesotho","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/06\/sm_1685774688.77083.jpg","datePublished":"2023-06-03T11:00:12+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-03T11:16:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"HIGH Court Judge Ts\u030celiso Monapathi has given Frazer Solar 14 days to respond to Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro\u2019s applic ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/06\/sm_1685774688.77083.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/06\/sm_1685774688.77083.jpg","width":1721,"height":1093,"caption":"High Court gives Frazer Solar 14-day ultimatum"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/high-court-gives-frazer-solar-14-day-ultimatum-2#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"High Court gives Frazer Solar 14-day ultimatum"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/","name":"Lesotho","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}