…as Social Development freezes payments pending verification
Rethabile Pitso
THE Ministry of Gender, Youth and Social Development has uncovered more than 4 000 old-age pension beneficiaries who were receiving monthly payments but could not be traced during a verification exercise.
The revelation emerged from a pilot study dubbed “Proof of Life”, conducted between August and October last year and later extended to 10 January 2026 due to low turnout. The exercise covered Maseru and parts of Berea, with plans to roll it out to other districts.
According to the Minister of Gender, Youth and Social Development, Pitso Lesaoana, the study targeted 18 429 registered pensioners. However, only 14 270 were successfully verified, leaving 4159 beneficiaries unaccounted for.
Addressing a press conference yesterday at his ministry’s headquarters in Maseru, Mr Lesaoana said payments to the unverified pensioners have been frozen while further checks are conducted.
“As of next week, on 9 February, when funds are disbursed, all those who failed to provide proof of life will not receive their pensions,” Mr Lesaoana said.
The minister explained that the verification exercise was undertaken on the advice of the World Bank, which has consistently warned that outdated and poorly monitored pension systems result in massive financial losses.
“World Bank studies show that millions are lost every year when systems are porous and not checked timeously, and Lesotho is no exception,” he said.
Mr Lesaoana said the study revealed that the 4159 beneficiaries either failed to meet eligibility requirements or did not present themselves for verification. As a result, their grants have been withheld until they come forward with valid documentation to confirm their eligibility.
He acknowledged that the system may have erroneously excluded some legitimate beneficiaries.
“There is a possibility that some eligible pensioners were mistakenly removed and will also be affected.”
To mitigate this, the ministry has suspended the practice of issuing two-month pension payouts and reverted to monthly payments, allowing affected beneficiaries to come forward and be reinstated without losing extended benefits.
“This will give those wrongly excluded an opportunity to be properly re-entered into the system.”
While admitting that administrative errors could have occurred during the registration process, Mr Lesaoana said the possibility of fraud could not be ruled out.
“It is difficult to correct a system that may have been rigged, especially one that depends on coordination with other ministries such as Home Affairs,” he said.
He stressed that Home Affairs officials and families are legally responsible for reporting deaths of pensioners, but many fail to do so.
“This may be a well-coordinated syndicate involving some civil servants, which ends up costing the government millions of maloti that fall into the wrong hands,” he said.
Mr Lesaoana added that some officials conducting the study reported suspicious behaviour during the exercise.
“In some cases, people ran away and hid when our staff approached. At times, even area chiefs were unaware of the individuals’ existence,” he said.
Going forward, the minister said ministry officials will be redeployed to verify those who come forward for re-registration. The ministry will also work closely with area chiefs and their auxiliary staff to identify pensioners who were missed during the exercise or who failed to report due to genuine reasons.
Nonetheless, the discovery of the 4159 “ghosts” is not an isolated case. A November 2023 investigation by the Directorate of Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) had revealed that ghost pensioners in Leribe District have been receiving monthly pay-outs from the government since 2018. The probe confirmed that up to 145 ghost pensioners in Leribe were receiving hundreds of thousands of Maloti monthly.
Fifty-three of the pensioners on the State’s pensions payroll had died between 2018 and 2022 while 92 could not be traced.
