MASERU — The Lesotho Sports and Recreation Commission (LSRC) has been grounded by a serious financial crisis.
The LSRC is failing to pay its employees as well as to foot its water and power bills.
The country’s supreme sports body is also failing to fund affiliate associations.
LSRC chief executive officer Kholoang Mokalanyane said the commission had not yet received its financial allotment from the Ministry of Sports and Recreation.
The LSRC was supposed to get a quarterly M2.2 million subvention from the ministry by the beginning of April.
The commission is entirely funded by the ministry.
“Yes, it is true that we do not have money to run the office,” Mokalanyane told the Lesotho Times this week.
“In other words, everything is at a standstill. It’s a serious problem.”
He added: “Our mother ministry has not given us our first-quarter subvention which was due in April and we are in June now.
“It is M2.2 million.”
However, the ministry itself has been handicapped by “problems with the government’s new financial system”.
The government is in the process of installing a new financial system, resulting in some civil servants not getting their salaries since April.
Ministries and government departments are struggling to access funding for the activities.
“We were told by the ministry that they have problems with the new financial system,” Mokalanyane said.
“It’s a mess.”
Mokalanyane said the LSRC had approached a bank for a bailout, especially for salaries and daily business needs.
“In the meantime we are negotiating with our bank for help especially on salaries,” he said.
“We are also failing to give our member associations their allowances to improve sports in the country through their programmes.”
Lesotho Dance Sport Association and the Lesotho Taekwondo Association are examples of affiliate members who have already felt the pinch.
Both associations were forced to postpone events due to lack of funds.
