…as ousted LCA chief licensing officer accuses government of political interference
Moorosi Tsiane
FORMER Lesotho Communications Authority (LCA) Chief Licensing Officer, Advocate (Adv) Thato Ponya, has accused the government of using political influence to determine who occupies senior positions at the communications regulator, alleging that political interference cost him his job.
The allegations come against the backdrop of questions over Adv Ponya’s own appointment to the LCA in 2021, when he was a vocal member of the All Basotho Convention (ABC), which led the government at the time. He was fresh from the National University of Lesotho when he landed the cushy job.
Adv Ponya, however, strongly rejected suggestions that his appointment had been politically motivated, insisting that he was appointed on merit after going through an interview process.
Five years later, he is challenging the circumstances surrounding his departure from the Authority, alleging that political forces intervened to prevent him from retaining his position.
He made the allegations during a media briefing this week, following the LCA’s decision not to renew his five-year contract, which expired on 31 May 2026.
Adv Ponya accused Minister of Science, Communications, Innovation and Technology Nthati Moorosi, Prime Minister Sam Matekane and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Relations Limpho Tau of interfering in the affairs of the regulator.
He said his departure was unrelated to his performance and instead resulted from political interference.
“I have seen this trend happening and I am at the point where I think this is enough and I should stand my ground,” Adv Ponya said.
“It has happened before here at the LCA where people would lose their jobs and you could easily tell that was the political decision.”
He argued that the alleged interference undermined the authority’s independence.
“Section 3 of the LCA Act gives it autonomy and independence from the government but clearly this has not been the case.
“We are the latest victims together with the former Executive Secretary of the Universal Service Fund (USF), Thabiso Soko, who has also faced the boot.”
Adv Ponya joined the LCA in 2021 on a five-year contract and reported directly to the Chief Executive Officer, then Mamarame Matela, and since 2022 Nizam Goolam.
He said his performance had consistently been strong and should have placed him in a favourable position for contract renewal.
“I was hired as Chief Licensing Officer in 2021 with a five-year contract which was to end on 31 May 2026,” he said.
“At the start of every year we would sit down with the CEO and map how we were going to work that year and at the end of every year he would use the performance management system to gauge if I had achieved my targets.”
According to Adv Ponya, employees who achieved at least 85 percent of their targets qualified for bonuses, which he said he had received from his first year at the Authority.
“And these are the determining factors when it gets to the point on whether the contract will be renewed or not,” he said.
He said Mr Goolam approached him in December 2025 and asked whether he was interested in remaining at the LCA after his contract expired.
“In early December last year, Mr Goolam approached me and asked if I was aware that my contract would be ending in May and said if I was still interested in working for LCA I should write my renewal application before we closed for December holidays, which I did,” he said.
Adv Ponya said Mr Goolam subsequently told him that he was satisfied with his application and intended recommending its approval to the board.
However, he alleged that the situation changed after Mr Goolam informed Ms Moorosi that his contract and that of the USF executive secretary were due to expire.
According to Adv Ponya, the minister subsequently met the LCA board before it could deliberate on the contracts and urged it to re-advertise the positions.
He said board members had expressed satisfaction with his performance but that the minister insisted the positions be advertised.
He further alleged that Ms Moorosi denied having a particular candidate in mind and said she wanted the recruitment process to be based on merit.
The positions were subsequently advertised, and Adv Ponya applied for his own position.
Five candidates were initially shortlisted for oral interviews, with three progressing to psychometric testing.
It was at this stage, he alleged, that some board members advised him to approach Ms Moorosi.
“I was very sceptical at first but I eventually went and on the 26 May 2026 I texted the minister and asked for a meeting,” he said.
He alleged that the minister eventually met him at her residence on 28 May.
According to Adv Ponya, he asked her not to interfere with the recruitment process.
He claimed the minister told him she had received “direct orders” from Mr Matekane but was still trying to resolve the matter.
“I then left and went for a psychometric test. I was very fortunate enough to see the psychometric report around 16/17 June and I had scored more,” he said.
Adv Ponya alleged that the matter took another turn on 18 June when Ms Moorosi allegedly told him that she had failed to resolve the issue.
He claimed she told him that Mr Tau had intelligence indicating that he was “dangerous” and should not be appointed.
“Immediately when I left the minister’s office I called LCA board chair Lerato Lerato and asked him whether they had surrendered their independence to the minister,” he said.
“I will not allow this institutional rot to happen against me.”
He further claimed that three other board members had told him that Ms Moorosi had said the LCA could hire anyone “but not me”.
Adv Ponya said he subsequently raised the matter with Chief of Staff in the Prime Minister’s Office, Sofonea Shale, on 6 August.
Despite his allegations, he eventually received a letter informing him that he had not been successful.
“I have been forced out of the office illegally if not irrationally,” he said.
“There is a serious political meddling in this institution and the political hierarchy does not respect the independence of the LCA.”
He said he had, on several occasions, received political instructions while working at the authority but maintained that he ensured whatever action he took remained within the law.
“LCA has surrendered its independence to the minister as she is now controlling the board,” he alleged.
Yet one of the more striking aspects of the dispute is Adv Ponya’s insistence that his own appointment in 2021 was not politically engineered.
Asked whether he had been appointed politically during the previous ABC administration, he rejected the suggestion.
He said he had gone through interviews and had been appointed on merit.
His denial adds another layer to the controversy, particularly because he is now alleging that political considerations were used to prevent him from retaining the same position.
Adv Ponya said he suspected he had been targeted because of his political affiliation and because he had allegedly refused to be controlled.
“I suspect I am being kicked out because of my political affiliation and also because I was not a pushover and cannot be easily controlled and I always demanded accountability,” he said.
He insisted that his fight was bigger than his own job.
“I want this illegal practice to stop,” he said.
Ms Moorosi, however, dismissed the allegations as the frustrations of a man whose expectations had not been fulfilled.
“I think he is trying to look for answers for his expectation that was not met.
“He is very confused, maybe he thought he was the owner of the position. He had his own expectations and unfortunately they did not materialise,” Ms Moorosi said.
She also denied being involved in the recruitment of LCA managers.
“As a minister, I am not involved in the process of the recruitment of the LCA managers. I only get involved in the recruitment of the CEO and the board members.
“Even in the recruitment of the CEO it comes as a recommendation of the board to either approve or disapprove. So he is just implicating me in the process and he is very wrong.”
She said her meetings with the LCA board dealt with various matters but maintained that the recruitment of managers did not fall within her responsibilities.
“I have several meetings with the board regarding so many things but I cannot discuss with the board the issues of managers’ recruitment positions because that has nothing to do with me. I think he is just trying to find answers and he is confused.”
The LCA also distanced itself from the dispute.
Authority spokesperson, Mothepane Kotele, said the matter concerned the human resource office and could therefore not be discussed publicly.
“These are all human resource issues and he knows there are right platforms where they can be discussed and unfortunately we are not in a position to comment on such,” Ms Kotele said.
Adv Ponya has since left the LCA, with the position he once occupied now held by Adv Tankiso Mohobo.
The dispute has nevertheless raised broader questions about political influence in senior public-sector appointments and whether merit, political affiliation or personal loyalties determine who gets appointed to key positions.
For Adv Ponya, the matter appears far from over.
“I will not allow this institutional rot to happen against me. I am going to court,” he said.
