…while DCEO claims Town Clerk not yet off the hook
Mohloai Mpesi
Following the withdrawal of fraud charges against him, former Maseru City Council (MCC) Town Clerk, Molete Selete, has now accused Principal Secretary of Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs and Police, Mamphaka Mabesa, of having orchestrated his arrest over the “trumped up charges” that he says were bound to fail.
Mr Selete spoke to the Lesotho Times yesterday after the withdrawal of the charges last month. Mr Selete claimed he believed Dr Mabesa had collaborated with the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) to have him arrested.
But the DCEO has refuted his allegations, promising to re-enroll the charges once it completes its probe.
Mr Selete nonetheless believes his ordeal was orchestrated by the PS. He claims that prior to his arrest last year, he had been instructed by the PS to go and work at the Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS), a directive he refused, insisting that he was employed by MCC, not the police.
Mr Selete alleges that the DCEO stormed MCC offices and interrogated all staff members. He was the last to be questioned and was subsequently informed that he was being charged with fraud, corruption, and money laundering.
He was charged in the Maseru Magistrate’s Court for allegedly making an illegal payment of M14 million to a Chinese joint venture engaged by MCC to construct the Mpilo Boulevard intersection in Maseru.
Mr Selete, along with MCC Engineer Matsoso Tikoe and SCIGM-SMGC Joint Venture’s project manager, Kenneth Leong (a Chinese national), was brought before Magistrate ‘Makopano Rantšo by the DCEO, accused of defrauding the government of M14 million between 2021 and 2023.
According to the charge sheet, Mr Selete, Mr Tikoe, and MCC consultant Molefe Nthabane “illegally authorised” an advance payment of M14 million to the SCIGM-SMGC Joint Venture and Mr Leong despite knowing that the company had not submitted the mandatory 20 percent advance payment guarantee on the total contract value of about M75 million.
The DCEO maintained that the payment was illegal and fraudulent due to the absence of an authentic advance payment guarantee.
The MCC terminated the contract with SCIGM-SMGC Joint Venture on 30 January 2024 before the completion of the project, effectively losing the M14 million paid in advance.
They were granted bail: M5000 each and immovable property worth M200 000 as surety for Mr Selete and his co-accused; and M10 000 bail plus M400 000 worth of property as surety for the joint venture and Mr Leong.
Following his bail, Mr Selete said he received a show cause letter asking why he should not be suspended. Despite responding, Dr Mabesa swiftly issued him with a suspension letter.
The charges, however, were withdrawn last month.
Mr Selete claims this sequence of events confirms his suspicion that Dr Mabesa masterminded his arrest. He maintains there was a deliberate attempt to remove him from MCC and place him at the LMPS.
“There was an effort to remove me from MCC and have me stationed at the police. But I refused because I’m employed at MCC,” Mr Selete said.
“The DCEO interrogated everyone at MCC, then finally arrested me and took me to court the next day. After being granted bail, I received a show cause letter on 30 April, and the next day I was suspended. The PS personally delivered the letter.”
“What’s surprising is that I was the only one suspended, yet I was charged along with other MCC employees—one being a consultant and the other a City Engineer. I don’t know the motive behind my arrest. I can’t say it was solely the DCEO or the PS, but the connections are there,” he said.
He further stated that his suspension led to a disciplinary hearing, even though his court case was ongoing.
Mr Selete also criticised the DCEO for failing to inform the public when the charges were dropped.
“They accused me of fraud, corruption, and money laundering—serious charges. But when the case was withdrawn, the DCEO didn’t call the media like they did when they arrested us. Our names remain tainted as if we stole government funds,” he said.
“We paid people who were supposed to be paid. There was no evidence that we personally benefited from the money. So why were we taken to court? Was someone pushing a personal vendetta?”
He said the DCEO cited lack of sufficient evidence as the reason for withdrawing the case.
“Where did they get the intelligence to begin with? Was it from the same person who wanted me reassigned to the police?” he asked rhetorically. “You don’t take a case to court without solid evidence.”
When contacted for comment, Dr Mabesa simply declined saying, “No comment”.
DCEO spokesperson, ‘Matlhokomelo Senoko, denied the allegations, insisting that the DCEO had relaunched investigations and would return the matter to court.
“The case has been withdrawn, not dissolved. At any time when DCEO is ready, they can be charged again,” she said.
“The fact that the case has been withdrawn does not mean there is no evidence. We have a serious corruption case to pursue. Once sufficient evidence is secured, they will be prosecuted,” she said.
She dismissed allegations that the DCEO colluded with the PS as “not true”.
