…despite his case being thrown out of court
…while Judge blasts DCEO prosecutors for incompetence
Moorosi Tsiane
FORMER Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Temeki Tšolo, may find himself back in the dock as the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) intends to appeal the High Court’s decision to free him.
This after Justice Tšeliso Mokoko on Monday permanently stood down the much-talked about trial in which Mr Tšolo was facing serious corruption charges alongside Robert Frazer of Frazer Solar.
The DCEO spokesperson, ’Matlhokomelo Senoko, told the Lesotho Times yesterday that they were working on their appeal papers.
“We are appealing the matter and our legal team is busy preparing court papers which I believe they will file soon,” Ms Senoko said.
A source close to the matter said one reason the DCEO may be appealing was because Justice Mokoko could have ruled in Mr Tšolo’s favour because they had served together in the All Basotho Convention (ABC).
Justice Mokoko was the Principal Secretary (PS) of Ministry of Local Government and Chieftainship in 2017 before he moved to become Defence and National Security PS when Mr Tšolo was the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Ms Senoko was reluctant to respond to this issue.
“I am not at liberty to disclose the reasons for our appeal at this moment as we have not yet filed our court papers which will entail everything.
“However, we could not seek the judge’s recusal from the onset because we do not choose who should preside over our matters.”
Background
Mr Tšolo had been dragged to court by DCEO on fraud and corruption charges connected to the botched M1.7 billion solar power deal between the government and Frazer Solar in 2021.
He was first remanded at the Magistrate’s Court, where the charges were read and he was released on M5 000 bail, before the matter was transferred to the High Court and allocated to Justice Mokoko in 2024.
The charges related to Mr Tšolo’s role in committing the government to the deal with the German company for the supply of solar power to Lesotho over a four-year period.
The M1.7 billion deal was signed in 2018 during the Thomas Thabane administration, when Mr Tšolo endorsed the deal on behalf of the government as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office.
However, the project never materialised after then Finance Minister, later Prime Minister, Dr Moeketsi Majoro, refused to sign the financing agreement necessary for its implementation.
Court appearance
Clad in a brown scotch coat and khaki trousers, Mr Tšolo told the court he was overwhelmed when asked if he understood what the court order meant.
“My Lord, I have been listening to what has been happening and at the moment I am just overwhelmed,” said Mr Tšolo, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe away tears from his face.
Long delays and excuses
The matter was supposed to have started on 2 October 2024 before Justice Mokoko, but it could not proceed as Mr Tšolo had no legal representative. He asked the court to provide him with a pro deo lawyer, and Advocate (Adv) Masoabi from Legal Aid was appointed to represent him.
On 17 October 2024, Adv Masoabi appeared on his behalf and was given the docket to study, with the next trial date set for 21 October 2024.
However, on 21 October 2024, lead prosecutor Adv Jay Naidoo failed to attend court. His assistant, Attorney Mojalefa Shakhane, asked for a postponement, explaining that Adv Naidoo was tied up in another case in Durban, South Africa.
Justice Mokoko reluctantly postponed the matter to 18 August 2025.
When the matter was due to start again on Monday, before charges could be read and Mr Tšolo asked to plead, Mr Shakhane informed the court that he had instructions from Adv Naidoo to apply for another 30-day postponement, citing a pending case at the Supreme Court of Appeal in South Africa between Frazer Solar and the Government of Lesotho relating to the same issues.
Judge Mokoko pressed him on why this should prevent the local case from proceeding, and Mr Shakhane said the outcome in South Africa could have repercussions for this case.
Both parties await South African Supreme ruling.
(See sidebar for implications of this ruling)
He added that another reason for the delay was that the DCEO and Mr Tšolo were still locked in plea bargain negotiations.
Justice Mokoko fumes
The Judge fumed at the excuses, pointing out that the matter had been pending for almost 10 months.
“Mr Shakhane, you appeared before me on 2 October 2024. The accused did not have a legal representative and the court found him one. They came back on 17 October where they were handed a docket to study and the matter was set to continue on 21 October. But as it was supposed to continue, Mr Naidoo was nowhere to be found and you asked for the court’s indulgence to postpone. You were given today’s date.
“You cannot come here today to say that you are still negotiating a plea bargain with the accused. This matter has been allocated this week, and I cannot tell the accused that the Crown is not ready while you had earlier given me the impression that the Crown is ready to prosecute. You should have discussed this plea bargain a long time ago. I will not grant that postponement,” said Justice Mokoko.
Mr Shakhane then requested a short adjournment saying he could not make a decision on the way forward before consulting his superiors.
The Judge stood down the matter for an hour. When court resumed, Mr Shakhane asked for more time, until after lunch, to call witnesses and begin the trial.
He was asked how many witnesses he intended to call, and whether they had been subpoenaed, to which he said he had 11 witnesses, but none of them had been subpoenaed.
“. . . My Lord, the Crown did not anticipate that the matter would continue because it was a mutual agreement with the defence that the matter be postponed today. But we can try and call a closer witness, if we can be given at least until after lunch to start,” said Mr Shakhane.
But Justice Mokoko was not convinced.
“My biggest challenge is that you act as if you only learned last week about this case, yet you knew since 21 October 2024 that it had to start today. Is this how we should conduct trials? Is this how you prosecute cases? Now you want to call witnesses who were never subpoenaed. These people are not just waiting around for you. What you are doing is a mockery of this case.
“How are you going to prosecute the case without preparing? It is clear you were never eager to prosecute. You have wasted the court’s time because this week could have been allocated to other cases. With all the resources at your disposal, you have failed to prosecute.
“Whatever agreement Mr Naidoo and the defence had does not bind this court. You ought to have come ready. What is important to this court is not whether parties agreed to a postponement, but the reasons for it. And in this case, your reasons are not convincing, and I am not going to postpone,” said the Judge.
Discharge application and ruling
At this point, Adv Masoabi applied for his client’s discharge under Section 278 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence (CP&E) Act, 1981, citing the prosecution’s repeated failure to prosecute.
Mr Shakhane asked for another 15-minute break to consult his seniors.
When court reconvened, he claimed to have secured one witness, a principal investigator, who was ready to testify.
“My Lord, I have been able to get a principal investigator into the matter, and he is ready to take the witness stand so that we can start with the matter,” said Mr Shakhane.
Justice Mokoko dismissed this as another attempt to cover up the prosecution’s lack of preparedness.
“You are simply trying to create a pretext for this court by calling in your colleagues to testify in a matter you were never ready to prosecute. You are just calling anyone to save you from this mess,” he said.
In his landmark ruling, Justice Mokoko freed Mr Tšolo from all charges, stating that the DCEO had failed twice to prosecute while unfairly dragging him before court.
“. . . The prosecution has confirmed today that they are not ready to continue, as none of the witnesses have been subpoenaed. The court’s time has been wasted. The Crown failed to prosecute this matter on 21 October 2024 and again on 18 August 2025. The Crown has not indicated any intention to prosecute. You are dragging this accused and not respecting the court’s time. Therefore, the matter is permanently stayed for lack of prosecution,” ruled Justice Mokoko.
Tšolo reacts
In an exclusive interview after the ruling, Mr Tšolo said he was relieved that the case was finally over.
“I am very happy today because this matter is now behind me. This case has had a negative impact on my life, especially on my family. I am very thankful to those who have been supporting me, and it is about time I keep my full focus on my businesses,” Mr Tšolo said.
