For years, the Lesotho Electricity Company (LEC) has staggered from one crisis to another, haemorrhaging money while offering the public a steady diet of excuses. Political interference, patronage appointments, weak governance, bloated costs, and incoherent policy frameworks have long been whispered about but rarely confronted honestly.
That is why Acting Managing Director Ts’eliso Mokela’s interview is refreshing. For the first time in a long while, the head of a strategic parastatal has correctly diagnosed the disease rather than merely describing the symptoms.
And in any serious institution—just as in medicine—without a correct diagnosis, the prescription will always be wrong.
Mr Mokela has named the problem without euphemism: political meddling, nepotism, incompetence, financial indiscipline, and a culture that rewarded failure while bleeding the company dry. He has also correctly identified that LEC’s survival to date has depended less on operational strength than on its status as a government-owned entity permanently plugged into the public purse.
That honesty matters. It is the first and indispensable step toward recovery.
But diagnosis alone does not cure the patient. Having identified the illness, Mr Mokela must now ensure that the treatment is administered fully, consistently, and without fear or favour.
Prescription one: insulate LEC from politics — permanently
Mr Mokela is right that politicians played a central role in LEC’s collapse by forcing unqualified people into technical and managerial roles. That practice must not merely be paused—it must be structurally disabled.
This requires more than personal resolve. It requires:
- transparent, skills-based recruitment,
- fixed competency thresholds,
- and written protocols that make political appointments procedurally impossible.
Good intentions without institutional safeguards will not survive the next election cycle.
Prescription two: finish the restructuring — no half measures
Mr Mokela has correctly signalled that restructuring must reach from top to bottom. That process must not be diluted by sympathy, pressure, or fear of noise from those who benefitted from past excesses.
Vacancies should remain frozen until:
- a clear organogram is approved,
- job descriptions are aligned with commercial reality,
- and staff numbers match LEC’s actual operational needs, not political arithmetic.
Re-hiring must be merit-based, even if it is painful.
Prescription three: governance reform, not cosmetic boards
Reducing the size of the board is sensible, but governance reform must go deeper. Board members must be selected for competence, not networks. Performance contracts must be enforceable. Oversight must be real.
Boards that preside over overdrafts while approving bonuses should never reappear in any form.
Prescription four: stop bleeding cash — then grow
Mr Mokela’s early cost-cutting measures—eliminating middlemen, rationalising vehicle use, curbing executive excess—are encouraging. They signal seriousness.
But cost control must be systematic:
- enforce procurement discipline,
- audit supplier contracts aggressively,
- recover debts owed to LEC,
- and end the culture of impunity around losses and write-offs.
Only then does expansion make sense.
Prescription five: energy strategy anchored in reality
The shift toward solar generation is necessary and overdue. Selling imported power at a loss is a guaranteed path to insolvency. Diversifying generation, reducing Eskom dependence, and aligning tariffs with economic reality are unavoidable—even if politically unpopular.
Tariffs cannot remain sub-economic forever. Subsidies must be explicit, transparent, and negotiated honestly with government—not hidden in overdrafts and unpaid bills.
Final warning: credibility is perishable
Mr Mokela has done what many before him would not: he has told the truth. That gives him credibility. But credibility expires quickly if diagnosis is not followed by decisive, visible action.
Basotho do not need another well-spoken reformer. They need results:
- a solvent LEC,
- fewer bailouts,
- reliable power,
- and an institution run as a utility, not a party branch.
The diagnosis is right. The medicine is known.
Now comes the only part that truly matters: administering the cure without flinching.
If Mr Mokela succeeds, he will not just rescue LEC—he will offer a rare template for how Lesotho’s parastatals can be saved. If he fails, it will not be for lack of knowing what was wrong.
The patient is on the table. The scalpel is in hand.
There can be no excuses for botched surgery.
