Minister of Trade Joshua Setipa
Billy Ntaote
TRADE and Industry Minister Joshua Setipa has dissolved the Lesotho National Development Corporation (LNDC) board for allegedly inflating sitting allowances to the tune of M1.2 million during their meetings for 2016.
Mr Setipa yesterday told the Lesotho Times he had approached the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) to probe payments made to board members for the meetings.
LNDC Documents seen by the Lesotho Times appeared to show that board members paid themselves a gross amount of M1, 233, 251.42 in sitting allowances and pocketed M866, 696.20 after pay-as-you-earn deductions amounting to M369, 975.26.
The board members include the former Trade and Industry Principal Secretary Majakathata Mokoena-Thakhisi, Lefulesele Lebesa, Bureau of Statistics Director General Liengoane Lefosa, Lehlohonolo Chefa of the Consumer Protection Association, Mampho Tjabane, Makhetha Thaele, Lebakeng Tigeli, Mosito Ntema, Sehlabaka Ramafikeng, Matseliso Lehohla and Ntsiuoa Jaase.
Some of the meetings that the board members received sitting allowances for attending were the Ordinary board, Special Board, Construction committee, ARMCO, Special ARMCO, Investment Committee, Special Investment, Tiko tour, PSCP and Minister, REMCO, Ad Hoc Sub Committee and Strategic review sessions.
Yesterday, Mr Setipa told this publication that board stood dissolved as at last week and he would appoint a new LNDC board at the “earliest convenience”.
Mr Setipa said he had since approached the DCEO to investigate the payments that were made to the board members in relation to the board meetings.
“They can’t be attending 56 board meetings and spend M1.2 million when they were expected to have attended just four meetings,” said Mr Setipa, adding he was shocked to hear that the board members were also demanding to be paid bonuses in addition to the inflated sitting allowances.
“They wanted bonuses for themselves which I blocked and at the same time they proposed only a 2 percent salary increase for the general staff of the LNDC.
“These people were now looting from the LNDC. So I will be appointing a new board at the earliest convenient time.”
However, one of the board members, Makhetha Thaele dismissed the allegations as a fabrication on the part of the minister who he accused of interfering with their attempts to properly run the parastatal.
“All I know is that I’ve been fired from the LNDC board and I have approached the courts to contest this removal.
“The minister is abusing his powers and he wants to exploit the LNDC money for personal benefits, hence his decision to remove us from office,” Mr Thaele said.
Thaele said the laws establishing the LNDC and did not allow the minister to meddle in the day to day running of the parastatal, adding Mr Setipa had allegedly given instructions on how the LNDC should carry out its work and even award some of its contracts.
“This decision to remove us was done by a minister who saw us as a stumbling block to his intrusive actions in the affairs of the LNDC.
“Upon our appointment into the board, he instructed us to reinstate his friend who had been fired form the LNDC.
“He also demanded his terminal benefits claiming he was unfairly treated during his time as LNDC’s Chief Executive and he did not receive his terminal benefits.”
Thaele also claimed Mr Setipa demanded that the LNDC bear costs of refurbishing his ministerial office to the tune of M4 million and he further demanded that the tender for the job be awarded to his friend.
This was despite the fact that an independent consultant had shortlisted three bidders for the job.
Mr Thaele further alleged that Mr Setipa ordered the board to disregard an audit report recently released by Ernest and Young which focused on the time the minister was at the helm of the LNDC.
He also alleged Mr Setipa demanded that his international trips be funded from the LNDC’s coffers and not from the ministry’s budget as stipulated by law.
“He has forced the LNDC disregard its laws and policies and compromised the organisation in many ways.
He came up with a deal with textile company Ning-Shing where LNDC land was transferred without following due processes. This has created a loophole for anyone to sell LNDC’s property without the organisation’s approval,” Mr Thaele said.
He said the board members suspect the last straw came as result of their efforts to investigate suspicions that the minister had given a certain company for free the Race Course field worth M300 million free of charge.
“We believe that our inquiry could have hit a raw nerve as we were now working on the possible return of the property as the minister was among the people who transferred it without following due processes although his signature was not appended to the transfer documents.
“We suspect that we touched something that we should have not touched, especially because the Chief Executive was fired over the same piece of land,” Mr Thaele said.
He said the minister’s accusations could be a ploy to divert attention away from a case in which the board had approached the court to interdict him from meddling in its operations.
