Mohloai Mpesi
PARLIAMENT’s Portfolio Committee on Economic Cluster is set to summon the Minister of Finance and Development Planning Dr Retŝelisitsoe Matlanyane to respond to allegations of interference at Revenue Services Lesotho (RSL).
The Committee’s chairperson, Hakane Sello, the Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) legislator for Qeme Constituency, told the Lesotho Times yesterday that Dr Matlanyane is expected to appear before the Committee today failing which, the Committee will issue a formal summons.
Dr Matlanyane is required to clarify her alleged “unlawful interference” with expelled RSL Commissioner-General Advocate ‘Mathabo Mokoko in September this year.
Adv Mokoko had revealed before the Economic Cluster that Dr Matlanyane had meddled with RSL operations by issuing directives described as “not only inappropriate but outright unlawful.” According to Adv Mokoko, such interference undermined the authority’s independence and included demands for confidential taxpayer information and instructions to issue tax clearances to delinquent companies owing the state millions of maloti.
On the same day of Adv Mokoko’s testimony, the Lesotho Times obtained a leaked letter from her legal representatives, Mei & Mei Attorneys, addressed to both the RSL Board and Dr Matlanyane.
The 9 September letter accused the Minister of issuing a “litany of unprecedented and unlawful instructions,” including repeated demands for taxpayer information prohibited under current tax laws.
A previous letter dated 8 September, also addressed to Dr Matlanyane, catalogued specific incidents of interference. It stated that the Minister had instructed the Commissioner-General to issue tax clearances to delinquent taxpayers who had failed to comply despite RSL’s enforcement efforts, and to disclose the amounts and dates of refund applications as well as anticipated payment dates. The letter further noted that she had directed the Commissioner-General to adjust mining companies’ debt-to-equity ratios to 8:1, contrary to the legally mandated 3:1 ratio, allegedly to assist companies facing financial difficulties.
Adv Mokoko’s legal representatives argued that such instructions were unlawful since the debt-to-equity ratio is governed by legislation, and any changes can only be made through Parliament, not through ministerial directives.
The Committee had previously promised to summon both Adv Mokoko and Dr Matlanyane to examine these allegations in detail. Chairperson Sello told the Lesotho Times that multiple attempts to summon Dr Matlanyane had failed, as she neither attended scheduled meetings nor provided an alternative date for her appearance.
He said the committee expects her to appear before it today, failing which it will resolve to issue her with a summons.
“These issues are still being processed. Tomorrow (today), the committee will convene to make a final decision on whether to summon the Minister if she fails to appear before it,” he said.
“We are expecting her to come before the committee tomorrow or to write a letter explaining her absence. If she fails to do so, the committee will take a decision to write her a letter calling her to Parliament.
“We have been writing to her several times and, although she has responded, what the committee needs is for her to provide a specific date when she will appear. Because of her busy schedule, she has not done so, and that has been a challenge for the committee. Therefore, if she continues to delay, we will set the date for her ourselves.”
He added, “The committee will meet tomorrow to deliberate on the matter and decide whether to summon her through the normal procedures. However, given the several unsuccessful attempts made, the committee may opt to issue a summons directly. A summons is binding, and failure to comply could lead to her arrest.”
Efforts by this publication to obtain Dr Matlanyane’s comment proved unsuccessful as her phone rang unanswered and later became unreachable until the time of going to print.
