ASSET declaration, a critical tool for preventing corruption and ensuring transparency, accountability, and public trust, is a legal requirement for public officials to disclose their financial assets and interests.
Asset declarations are designed to identify potential conflicts of interest and unjustified wealth, thereby deterring and detecting corruption among public servants.
They also enhance overall transparency and accountability in government. Importantly, asset disclosures help foster public trust in state institutions – a vital element in a country like Lesotho, where corruption is rampant in the civil service and other societal strata.
Yet it is deeply concerning that the vast majority of Lesotho’s government officials, including legislators and senators, have failed to comply with this crucial anti-corruption measure.
Recent data is alarming – of the 1,044 Lesotho’s public officials required to declare their assets in the 2024-2025 reporting period, only a small fraction have done so.
Even more troubling, the Minister of Law and Justice, Richard Ramoeletsi, revealed in the National Assembly last week, that out of 120 Members of Parliament and 13 Senators, a mere 12 have complied with the asset declaration law.
This dereliction of duty by government leaders is unacceptable.
The Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) must take strong, immediate action to enforce the asset declaration requirements. Failure to do so undermines the very integrity of Lesotho’s public institutions and governance.
The DCEO cannot afford to be lenient with officials who flout these critical transparency measures.
Robust enforcement, including the imposition of stiff penalties, is essential to deter future non-compliance and rebuild public faith in the fight against corruption.
The Basotho nation deserves leaders who are fully transparent about their financial interests and holdings.
Asset declarations enhance transparency and accountability of public officials by requiring them to disclose details about their income, assets, liabilities, and other interests.
In Lesotho, where corruption is particularly rampant across the public sector, asset declarations are especially vital.
The government is viewed as a “milking cow,” with political parties formed at lightning speeds and politicians scrambling to access state resources for personal gain. Once some assume office, they commit corruption with impunity and consequences are rarely harsh.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has repeatedly interrogated public servants over corruption, particularly in the awarding of government tenders – a gateway for illicit enrichment through inflated contract values and kickbacks.
Many senior officials and former ministers have suspiciously amassed inexplicable wealth, suggesting they were part of syndicates that manipulated procurement decisions.
Funds illicitly obtained from the government are often laundered or siphoned out of Lesotho, with corrupt officials splurging on lavish lifestyles in neighbouring countries like South Africa. In the 2024/25 fiscal year alone, the anti-corruption agency seized over M354 million in illicit assets and obtained forfeiture orders worth M24 million. Needless to mention that is as drop in the ocean of entrenched corruption but nonetheless helpful.
We cannot emphasise enough that asset declarations are crucial to combating the entrenched culture of graft in Lesotho’s public sector. Strengthening this transparency mechanism can partially help in restoring public trust in the government and its institutions.
This is where the DCEO plays a pivotal role.
According to the Prevention of Corruption and Economic Offences Regulations of 2021, the DCEO must publicly name and shame those who fail to declare their assets before imposing penalties.
Offenders first receive a 14-day public media reminder to comply. Failure to do so or submitting false information constitutes an offense punishable by a fine up to M20,000, up to five years imprisonment, or both.
The DCEO Director-General, Brigadier Mantšo Sello, must prove the agency’s worth by holding anyone accountable, regardless of their government status. He must enforce these measures.
It is unacceptable that legislators, senators, and other senior officials, who are paid from the public purse, have either neglected or wilfully ignored declaring their assets for the past year. The DCEO should investigate the primary reason behind this reluctance. Could it be that many of Lesotho’s absconding MPs and senior officials acquired their wealth through illicit means and are thus now scared of making the public declarations?
Brigadier Sello must look beyond any excuses proffered for the delay in asset declarations. There may be more to this issue than meets the eye.
The DCEO has a critical opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to transparency and accountability in Lesotho’s public sector by holding the offenders accountable.
We will hold the DCEO to its promise, as stated by its spokesperson ‘Matlhokomelo Senoko, that defaulters will be named and shamed if they persist. The time for reckoning is now. This country has been ruined by the never ending corruption of its public officers. The situation cannot be allowed to continue.
