…as exodus of ‘corrupt’ managers begins
…government declines to renew contracts of three senior officers
Mohloai Mpesi
A MAJOR shake-up is unfolding at Queen ’Mamohato Memorial Hospital (QMMH), with the government declining to renew the contracts of three senior managers whose leadership has been under scrutiny over alleged corruption, recruitment irregularities and financial mismanagement.
The departures mark the beginning of what parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has been calling for: a wholesale restructuring of the management of Lesotho’s national referral hospital following months of damning revelations about its operations.
So far, the affected officers are Deputy Managing Director Thenjiwe Dlangamandla, Director of Clinical Services Dr Benjamin Ngoie and Director of Nursing Services Moleboheng Tau, whose contracts expired at the end of October and have not been renewed.
PAC chairperson Ms ’Machabana Lemphane-Letsie confirmed to the Lesotho Times yesterday that the trio’s contracts had not been renewed.
“We knew about the non-renewal of the contracts. We have been saying during the PAC sessions that when October comes, they will go.
“I don’t think there is any sane person who would renew the contract of someone who is ensnared in this corrupt recruitment issues,” she said.
Ms Lemphane-Letsie said the Committee had consistently recommended that the entire management team should be dissolved to pave the way for restructuring.
“Our recommendation is that the whole management of QMMH should be dissolved in order to facilitate a restructuring. It seems the management is also dissolving itself, something we have been saying during the sessions because we knew that their contracts were set to expire in October,” she said.
The PAC’s investigations have exposed a litany of alleged wrongdoing at the hospital, including politically influenced appointments, questionable salary adjustments, unauthorised expenditure, procurement interference and suspected ghost workers.
Among the most contentious issues was the appointment of senior Finance Manager Tšele Sehlabo, which the PAC questioned after learning that another candidate, Hlasa Hlasa, had performed better during interviews for the finance manager position.
The Committee alleged that Mr Sehlabo was subsequently elevated without an open recruitment process, despite Mr Hlasa having scored higher. It questioned whether positions had been manipulated to favour preferred candidates.
The Committee also heard allegations of political interference in recruitment and procurement, including claims that individuals were employed because of their political connections rather than merit.
In August this year, former senior procurement officer Relebohile Poulo told the PAC that she had secured her position through her political affiliation with the Movement for Economic Change (MEC). She also alleged that politically connected individuals influenced tender awards and that some suppliers were allowed to provide goods without proper procurement orders.
She cited the supply of fruit and vegetables by Capital Fruits and Veg, a company she alleged was politically connected, and claimed that procurement officials had directed her to facilitate its supply arrangements. These allegations were disputed by some of those implicated.
The PAC also heard allegations of interference by QMMH executives in procurement decisions. Procurement manager Masekoati Motšetšero told the Committee that senior executives, including the managing director and her deputy, sometimes instructed her on which service providers should be engaged.
She admitted that procurement procedures were sometimes not followed, although she could not provide written evidence of having advised management against the practices. The PAC subsequently called for disciplinary action against executives implicated in the alleged interference.
Another major controversy involved Ms Tau, who was accused of increasing her own salary and those of other employees in her department while serving as acting managing director.
According to evidence presented to the PAC, the hospital’s payroll manager, Patlo Khoalenyane, said a salary normalisation exercise had set deputy directors’ salaries at M42 171. However, Ms Tau allegedly adjusted her own salary to M48 000 and those of other deputies to M44 000.
Ms Tau denied wrongdoing, maintaining that the adjustments were legitimate.
The hospital has also been under scrutiny over its payroll, with the PAC hearing in July that salaries and allowances had continued to be paid to people who were no longer working at the institution.
Payroll figures presented to the Committee showed the number of employees on the payroll rising to 1651 in December before falling to 1605 by July. Mr Khoalenyane told the Committee that he relied on information provided by his supervisor, Ms Dlangamandla, to determine who should be paid.
He said he added new employees and removed those who had resigned or whose contracts had been terminated based on information supplied to him.
The Committee was investigating whether the payroll was inflated by so-called ghost workers who continued receiving salaries despite no longer reporting for duty.
Financial management has also emerged as a major concern. In August, Mr Sehlabo struggled to provide documentation authorising the expenditure of nearly M8 million from the hospital’s patient revenue accounts.
He also admitted before the PAC that he had independently redirected staff pension contributions intended for the Lesotho National Insurance Group to pay hospital suppliers.
The Committee questioned the legality of these decisions and the apparent lack of proper financial controls.
The controversial leasing of QMMH’s private healthcare wing to Tsebo Health Solutions had further deepened the hospital’s governance crisis.
The PAC questioned the procurement process after the hospital entered into an agreement with a company it said had not participated in the original bidding process. The Committee also raised concerns about the company’s registration, the evaluation process and the legal basis of the agreement.
In its earlier report, the PAC recommended that the agreement be terminated and that implicated officials face disciplinary action. Parliament subsequently blocked the tabling of the report in December 2025.
The Committee also ordered the Ministry of Health former Principal Secretary, Moliehi ‘Maneo Ntene, to cancel the Tsebo contract, which covers the planned private wing, a coffee shop and a pharmacy. The directive sparked a heated confrontation in Parliament after the Principal Secretary resisted the instruction.
QMMH management has repeatedly resisted the Committee’s scrutiny. Dr Ranyali and Ms Dlangamandla approached the Constitutional Court in December 2025 seeking to stop the PAC from questioning them, arguing that the Committee had exceeded its mandate by raising issues beyond the Auditor-General’s report.
However, in a judgment delivered on 10 June 2026, Chief Justice Sakoane Sakoane, with Justices Fumane Khabo and Moneuoa Kopo concurring, dismissed their application, clearing the way for the parliamentary inquiry to continue.
The two executives subsequently approached the Court of Appeal seeking to overturn that decision. The matter remains pending before the apex court.
Ms Lemphane-Letsie said the Office of the Auditor-General, led by Ms Mathabo Mekenete, was finalising its audit of QMMH, which would be incorporated into the PAC’s report.
“The report has not been released yet because we do not want to leave the Auditor-General’s work behind. She has already held the exit meeting, which means she is close to completing and submitting the report to Parliament so that we can incorporate it into the PAC report,” she said.
She also said the Committee would oppose any additional government funding for the hospital until its governance and salary structures had been overhauled.
QMMH Managing Director Dr ’Makhoase Ranyali declined to comment on the departure of the three senior officers.
Health Minister Mr Itumeleng Ntsekhe and the ministry’s Principal Secretary, Ms Matšoanelo Monyobi, could not be reached for comment as their mobile phones were unreachable.
QMMH, which opened in October 2011, was established under an 18-year public-private partnership (PPP) between the government and the Tšepong Consortium, led by South African healthcare group Netcare.
The 425-bed facility replaced Queen Elizabeth II Hospital as the country’s main referral hospital. The partnership was later terminated prematurely, with Netcare handing over operations to the government.
The government terminated the agreement in 2021, citing concerns that it was consuming half of the country’s health budget. The Ministry of Health also raised issues regarding Netcare’s involvement, claiming the company was benefiting unfairly.
The transition has been dogged by governance and financial challenges, with the PAC’s ongoing inquiry exposing serious weaknesses in the hospital’s management and accountability systems.
