Staff Reporter
THE Revenue Services Lesotho (RSL) has partnered with different media houses and social media influencers to roll out its three-year strategic plan, Lesokoana, to ease the dissemination of information regarding tax compliance.
Addressing representatives of media houses and social media influencers at Lancer’s Inn in Maseru, RSL Commissioner General, ‘Mathabo Mokoko, said it was important for the RSL and the media to walk the three-year journey together to enable enhanced revenue collection for national development.
Through the Lesokoana project the RSL will invest in human resource and technology development to maximise tax collection for the betterment of Lesotho’s economy.
Lesokoana is premised on three pillars of Staff Depression, Tax Administration Diagnostic Assessment Tool (TADAT) Findings and Leverage on Modern Day Technology.
Advocate Mokoko said the RSL intended to invest heavily in the development of its human resource and technology to execute its mandate effectively.
“For us to deliver, we need to improve ourselves by fixing our people so that we can operate with staff that will make you want to pay tax. The TADAT will help us ensure we address the identified gaps and strengthen measurements of performance against our core mandate, whilst also leveraging on technology and modern-day data,” Adv Mokoko said.
“Our mandate is to assess, collect and remit tax on behalf of the government. We want to serve the nation with passion through improved employee experience, value driven processes, digitalisation and combined assurance.”
Adv Mokoko said they needed media partnerships to effectively disseminate information and root out corruption which hinders effective tax collection.
“We cannot seat back and watch Basotho’s tax being flooded to rich countries. We regard you as our brother’s keeper and therefore we need you to stop corruption and collect tax for the less fortunate,” Adv Mokoko said.
“Let us work together to change this country. Lesotho has a lot of resources for its economy to flourish. There is enough money which is mostly in the wrong hands. We need to stand together to level the playfield for the taxpayers.”
Adv Mokoko said they had started cleaning their own house to root out corrupt officers.
“Corruption is a cancer that is eating everything. If we could put hands together to uproot it, we can go far. We need you (media) to do that,” she said.
For his part, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Lesotho chapter, Lekhetho Ntsukunyane, welcomed the RSL for engaging the media from the onset. However, he also warned the tax collector that the media would be there to hold them accountable.
“It is our duty as the media to discuss and lay issues in a manner through which a lay person can relate. It is quite impressive for the RSL to have engaged the media from the get go and hold this meeting to ensure we understand the strategy and walk this journey together.
“It is also our duty to hold you accountable. Even if we will have to wait for the three years of the implementation to be completed, we will be there to ask for the report in relation to what you are saying you are going to do,” Mr Ntsukunyane said.
