THE latest audit by Auditor-General, ‘Mathabo Makenete, into the Royal Palace project is yet another embarrassing illustration of the misgovernance that continues to afflict Lesotho, with seemingly no end in sight.
For more than a decade, fourteen years to be exact, the project is nowhere near completion and continues to bleed the public purse, benefiting corrupt elites.
The project is a case study on how public funds are continuously squandered through poor oversight, administrative chaos, and a lack of accountability. In this case, these vices seem to be deliberately orchestrated. The more time the project takes, the more prolonged the period of looting, it seems.
What started as a M136.7 million undertaking in 2011 has now exploded to M411 million, with no end in sight. New estimates suggest it will now inevitably cost more than M500 million, assuming it will ever be completed.
This is all shameful of course. But don’t expect anyone to be held accountable.
Ms Makenete’s audit lays bare the mismanagement at the heart of the project, including the inexplicable decision to change architects three times. It’s the same mismanagement that resonates across the entire public sector.
Of course, each change of architects set off a costly chain reaction, requiring major redesigns and even the demolition of already completed sections by the contractor, LSP Construction. The contractor cannot be blamed for the frequent changes as she is only supposed to work to the specifications provided by the client.
It is tempting to blame the frequent design changes and the resultant delays on the incompetence of those bureaucrats at Public Works charged with overseeing the project. But it is also tempting to smell a rat. It cannot just be a question of incompetence. They are most probably delaying the project to maintain their value chain of looting public funds. Otherwise, how can one credibly explain the morass.
The Office of the Auditor-General has, year after year, flagged the project. Yet, little has changed. How can one explain the failure to remedy the situation other than that it is deliberately orchestrated to maintain a lucrative loophole for looting. With the full knowledge that there will never be consequences for their mismanagement, it seems there is no incentive for the bureaucrats at Public Works to complete the project.
The Ministry of Public Works and Transport’s Building Design Services (BDS) department has sadly become a byword for graft and incompetence, albeit deliberate incompetence. Everything the BDS touches turns into dust.
The Royal Palace is just one example, but it points to a broader sickness in how public money is managed in Lesotho. Without real reform and a commitment to transparency, such fiascos will continue to drain resources that should be improving the lives of ordinary Basotho. The findings of this audit must be a catalyst for change, not just another report gathering dust. Sadly, it won’t.
Just this week, Prime Minister Sam Matekane was lamenting the rot surrounding the Ha Belo electrification project.
Initially valued at M86.6 million, the project’s costs had since escalated to M136 million. And now the Prime Minister disclosed that an additional M50 million was now needed to complete the project. Despite all the monies poured into the project thus far, only 60 percent of the project is completed. Sounds very familiar.
Such is the rot that characterises public administration in Lesotho that no project is ever completed timeously. The scant disregard for public funds is astonishing.
The Building Design Services (BDS) department is a national embarrassment. As a result of its gross mismanagement and corruption, the taxpayer has been the biggest loser. As per the Auditor General’s report, the BDS’s shoddiness has resulted in excessive payments to consultants and contractors.
Palace Architects, for example, were initially contracted for M3,056,925.13 but ultimately received M8,243,603.67—a 170 percent increase.
Makeka Design Lab’s fees rose by 36 percent, from M6,142,986.23 to M8,382,606.64. Most strikingly, Lethola Cost Associates were paid M25,563,479.95 despite an original contract of just M826,160.47, representing a staggering 2,994 percent increase.
There is a common denominator in all these payments: there is nothing to show for them. The reasonable inference to draw is that the BDS bureaucrats are trigger happy to facilitate such corrupt payments in exchange of backhanders. What other conclusion can be reached for this ominously deliberate mismanagement of this project?
According to Deputy Auditor-General, Paul Letlela, they have now initiated a new audit into the Royal Palace project following significant disclosures from a former principal agent. This whistleblower, who was reportedly dismissed after voicing concerns, brought to light more serious issues regarding the project’s management. As a result investigators now have access to original project documents that were previously unavailable.
The renewed investigation will no doubt expose more rot.
As we await the Auditor General’s new exposures of corruption, we can only urge Basotho to say enough is enough. Unless voters stand up to demand accountability and mete out punishment against politicians who continue to do nothing while looting of the public purse continues earnestly, Lesotho will remain a byword for squalor.
The corruption surrounding the Royal Palace project is emblematic of the incompetence, chaos and corruption that has brought this Kingdom to its knees.
The country has a plethora of non-governmental organisations, some with weird names, that claim to speak for the people and promote democratic and accountable governance. Sadly when issues of corruption that imperil good governance and hinder efforts to build a prosperous society, come to the fore, these organisations are nowhere to be found. But when it comes to peripheral issues, such as the hiring of 500 more soldiers, they make the most noise.
The latest revelations from Ms Makenete’s audit must catalyse the much-needed civic action to force reforms in public administration to halt the endless cycle of mismanagement and corruption or this country will remain a perennial laggard. Above all, voters need to say enough is enough.
Another political party joins the fray