{"id":35652,"date":"2023-11-06T11:53:55","date_gmt":"2023-11-06T11:53:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/dceo-asked-to-probe-water-deal"},"modified":"2023-11-06T12:08:26","modified_gmt":"2023-11-06T12:08:26","slug":"dceo-asked-to-probe-water-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/dceo-asked-to-probe-water-deal","title":{"rendered":"DCEO asked to probe water deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>THE Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) has been asked to probe Metsi ke Bophelo (Pty) Ltd and the government officials\u2019 interest in it.<\/p>\n

The request is from Tsabo Moshemane ha li Jeoe, an association led by spokespersons of opposition parties. The DCEO spokesperson, \u2019Matlhokomelo Senoko, confirmed receipt of the letter yesterday but declined to give what steps will be taken.<\/p>\n

Tsabo Moshemane approached the DCEO after members could not agree on whether they should ask the High Court to interdict Metsi ke Bophelo and the government from holding their hydrogen conference and expo scheduled for today.<\/p>\n

They want the DCEO to probe if there is any corruption in sourcing and availing of funds from the African Development Bank and BRICS and depositing them into the Lesotho National Development Corporation (LNDC) and Metsi ke Bophelo bank accounts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis dubious and amorphous entity is represented by the person of Mashudu Elias Ramaano of South African origin,\u201d the letter partly reads.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe minister confirmed that millions of funds accruing from the African Development Bank, BRICS and other local and foreign parties have been deposited into Metsi ke Bophelo and the LNDC accounts,\u201d it reads.<\/p>\n

They also want the DCEO to investigate if no law was broken in making the government principal secretaries signatories in the bank accounts. \u201cThere is a fraudulent MoU signed between the minister and Mr Mashudu on 25 August, 2023, prior to the incorporation of Metsi Ke Bophelo on 21 September, 2023,\u201d the letter reads.<\/p>\n

They accuse Metsi ke Bophelo boss, Mashudu, and Natural Resources Minister Mohlomi Moleko of illegally engaging the government in the affairs of a private company. They added that many laws including the Public Finance Management Act have been egregiously infringed.<\/p>\n

They also said that despite the legal advice of the attorney general, misgivings of the accountant general, and supervision of the relevant portfolio committee, \u201cthe minister is adamant to proceed with the perpetuation of this felony\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is our considered opinion that it is within the legal remit of duties of the DCEO to heed the cautionary voice of the public and at the behest of concerned citizens act with dispatch to prevent money laundering, racketeering and other incidental crimes,\u201d the letter reads.<\/p>\n

This comes after Moleko admitted before the parliamentary Natural Resources Committee that they mistakenly did not determine the accounts they would use for the project.<\/p>\n

He also told the committee that the date differences between the signing of the memorandum of understanding and the project registration were caused by typing errors.<\/p>\n

He again told the committee that they ended up agreeing with the LNDC to use their bank accounts for the project. The conference is expected to begin today in Maseru.<\/p>\n

What triggered the furore from the association is that the company was launched before it registered and at the same time the government was already instructing Lesotho\u2019s embassies to help raise funds for its conference and expo.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not clear what this company is exactly going to do in the country,\u201d said Lepolesa Makutoane, the Basotho Action Party (BAP) spokesman who appears to be leading the fight against the company.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we could see there is a serious encroachment of Lesotho\u2019s laws by the South Africans,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Two Basotho are also shareholders and directors of Metsi ke Bophelo. All four have equal shares. \u201cBasotho were excluded when this company was brought into the country,\u201d Makutoane said.<\/p>\n

He argues that it is unacceptable to go on with the project yet it is not clear what it has in store for Basotho who are the main beneficiaries of Lesotho\u2019s natural resources.<\/p>\n

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

Africa-Press – Lesotho. THE Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) has been asked to probe Metsi ke Bophelo (Pty) Ltd and the government officials\u2019 interest in it. The request is from Tsabo Moshemane ha li Jeoe, an association led by spokespersons of opposition parties. The DCEO spokesperson, \u2019Matlhokomelo Senoko, confirmed receipt of the letter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":35651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,7],"tags":[233,246,415,245],"class_list":["post-35652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","category-head-lines","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-economic","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"\nDCEO asked to probe water deal - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"THE Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) has been asked to probe Metsi ke Bophelo (Pty) Ltd and the go ...\" \/>\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\/dceo-asked-to-probe-water-deal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DCEO asked to probe water deal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"THE Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) has been asked to probe Metsi ke Bophelo (Pty) Ltd and the go ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/dceo-asked-to-probe-water-deal\" \/>\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=\"2023-11-06T11:53:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-06T12:08:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/11\/sm_1699259788.376497.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\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=\"3 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\/dceo-asked-to-probe-water-deal#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/dceo-asked-to-probe-water-deal\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"DCEO asked to probe water deal\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-06T11:53:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-06T12:08:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/dceo-asked-to-probe-water-deal\"},\"wordCount\":619,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/dceo-asked-to-probe-water-deal#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/11\/sm_1699259788.376497.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"economic\",\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\",\"head lines\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/dceo-asked-to-probe-water-deal#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/dceo-asked-to-probe-water-deal\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/dceo-asked-to-probe-water-deal\",\"name\":\"DCEO asked to probe water deal - 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