Six commercial buildings in Maseru go under the hammer next month, ending the company’s hopes of a political solution to its troubles
Lekhetho Ntsukunyane
Six commercial buildings belonging to MKM will be auctioned on 17 November 2014, ending whatever hopes the company’s embattled owner, Simon Thebe-ea-Khale, was still nursing of saving his brainchild.
The properties—Agric Bank Building along Kingsway, MKM Headquarters and three other buildings in the Railway Station Industrial Area, and a massive office apartment between Sparrows and Engen Garage all in Maseru—go under the hammer at Lesotho Sun beginning 10:30am.
The auction would be conducted by South Africa-based liquidators, Chavonnes Cooper and Daan Roberts, according to a notice released this week.
Asked for more details of the sale and when the rest of the MKM properties would be auctioned, Mr Cooper said: “Next week, I will be in Maseru with Mr Roberts; we can then be able to give details of the liquidation.”
Mr Thebe-ea-Khale, on the other hand, promised to give the Lesotho Times an interview “after lunch” yesterday, but his mobile phone was continually on voicemail from 2pm until the time of going to print last night.
MKM Group of Companies was shut down in November 2007 by the Central Bank of Lesotho (CBL) after it emerged the company was operating banking and insurance businesses in violation of the Financial Institution Act 1999 and Insurance Act 1976, respectively.
A CBL-commissioned investigation conducted by South African firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, also revealed that of the M400 million invested by depositors, MKM— comprising MKM Marketing Ltd, Star Lion Group Ltd, Star Lion Insurance Ltd and Star Lion Gold Coin Investment (Pty) Ltd—could only account for M100 million in assets that included buildings and vehicles.
The CBL then applied for MKM’s liquidation in the High Court, citing the company was insolvent because its liabilities were much more than its assets. The application was granted on 18 May 2011, and upheld on 21 October 2011 by the Court of Appeal after the company had challenged the ruling.
The judgment paved the way for MKM’s liquidation, leaving the estimated 400 000 investors who were left stranded following the company’s closure, unsure if they would ever recover their funds.
However, in an interview with the Lesotho Times last week, Mr Thebe-ea-Khale had expressed confidence that his company would be back in business before the end of this year, allegedly following the intervention of the coalition government led by Prime Minister Thomas Thabane. Mr Thebe-ea-Khale said: “MKM is going to be back in business; the company is going to be even stronger when it returns. You see, some people had only connived and conspired to pull us down for their own personal interests and agendas. You saw the many people I have just accompanied out of our offices as you got in? They were here for burial services and we were able to assist them. A lot of people, because they were afraid of what was going on with MKM and the liquidators, had terminated their burial policies and investments with us.
“But I can assure you now that they are gradually coming back for our services. They are regretting their decision to leave because other people, who were not easily intimidated and remained with us, have continued to benefit through our burial schemes. And I should mention now that we are trying, as much as possible, to abide by all the rules and terms of our service-provision so that MKM goes back to what people had come to know us for—a reliable company committed to assisting Basotho.”
Mr Thebe-ea-Khale further claimed that since the coalition government took over in 2012, there had been several meetings with various stakeholders regarding his company, and how it could still be saved. However, the Lesotho Times could not independently verify these claims at the time.
Mr Thebe-ea-Khale said: “The prime minister has assigned (Senior Minister Thesele) Ntate ’Maseribane to facilitate the meetings on behalf of the government. And since Ntate Thesele’s intervention, we are having regular meetings with stakeholders, who include the liquidators themselves. And I can assure the nation that the talks are really going smoothly, although I will not go into details lest I jeopardise the process. But we are really having fruitful talks with Ntate Thesele and the liquidators.”
Meanwhile, before Mr Thebe-ea-Khale asked this reporter to call him “after lunch” yesterday, he had expressed shock that the buildings would be sold through auction.
“I am shocked to see that notice, but I can’t talk to you right now. Call me after lunch because at the moment, I am attending a meeting. We can discuss the issue in detail when we talk about lunch,” he said.
Repeated efforts to get a comment from Chief ’Maseribane were fruitless yesterday.
