Storm over Zambia games allowances
LUSAKA — The Ministry of Sports awarded hefty allowances to 17 officials who arrived in Lusaka three days before the end of the Supreme Council of Sports in Africa (SCSA) Zone VI Games last month.
The officials were awarded M26 000 each as per diems.
The total cost was a whopping M442 000.
The decision to give the sports organisers the lavish allowances has now triggered an uproar within sports associations who accuse the ministry of profligacy.
While senior officials pocketed M26 000, participants at the games only got M5 400 in per diems for the 16 days they spent on national duty.
Officials in sporting associations told the Lesotho Times the team was put under unnecessary pressure adding the money could have been better spent buying air tickets for Team Lesotho.
The Lesotho delegation, which picked a record 15 medals at the games, was subjected to a grueling road trip to Lusaka. The team spent three days and two nights on the road.
“The sports organisers are each pocketing M26 000 despite arriving here just days before the end of the games. This is a clear indication they have come here for fun not to work,” one official said during the games last month.
“They can’t claim to have come here to work because if that was the case they would have been here ahead of the start of the games. I even wonder what kind of a report they are going to present given that they only managed to watch about three activities,” he said.
Another official said the M442 000 spent on the 17 sports organisers should have been used to buy plane tickets for the athletes.
“Look, these kids have been exposed to harsh travelling conditions while the so-called sports organisers are each enjoying M26 000 as per diem,” he said.
According to one travelling agency in Maseru, a return ticket to Lusaka cost a maximum of M9 050.
“The total of their per diems, plus the money spent on petrol, paying these six drivers as well as feeding the athletes and officials for three days should have been used to buy plane tickets for these children.”
Sports ministry chief information officer, Maqalika Matsepe, told the Lesotho Times on Wednesday the M26 000 allowances had nothing to do with SCSA Zone VI budget.
He said the sports ministry had budgeted for these allowances and did not affect Team Lesotho’s budget in any way.
The organisers’ allowances were budgeted separately from the athletes’, he said.
Matsepe said the M26 000 paid to each organiser was part of their annual budget as employees of the sports ministry.
“It was within their rights to receive such per diems as they have been included in their budget for the whole year.”
He said sports organisers, as part of their mandate, submit their annual detailed work plan along with their budgets and their allowances have got nothing to do with the athletes’ travelling conditions.
“Each year the ministry draws up its budget and all departments, including Lesotho Sports and Recreation Commission and its member associations, submit their departmental budgets and if approved, workers like sports organisers will enjoy benefits like this one,” Matsepe said.
“These sports associations must not confuse the ministry’s workers’ allowances with a special budget for SCSA Games,” he said.
He said the sports associations’ demands that sports organisers be stripped off their work benefits just because the athletes were exposed to harsh travelling conditions were uncalled for.
“Look, we also travelled by road and it was not a nice experience at all but surely these people can’t expect sports organisers to neglect their duties and sacrifice their allowances for better travelling conditions.”
He said the sports organisers had gone to Zambia purely to study how each athlete recruited in different districts had performed.
“These sports organisers are based in different districts and they spend time working hand-in-hand with schools and clubs to nurture athlete’s talent,” Matsepe said.
“Their work is simply a feeder programme to different sports associations and such sports associations must stop complaining and appreciate the good work sports organisers are doing,” he said.
He said, athletes like Keneuoe Foloko, who won two silver medals from SCSA Games and the golden girl ’Mamoroallo Tjoka are products of sports organisers in different districts.
Comment by Sampo on 4 January 2013:
So other animals are more equal than others? Hmmm…
Comment by Boliba on 4 January 2013:
Ke bohlanay feela ntho eo u ntseng u e bua uena Matsepe. Haele moo ho banahala hore le ee le hle le tsebe ka li-event tse esale nako le be le ibudgetele, le hloloa keng ho kenyeletsa chelete e tla top-upa libapali cheleteng eo ba e fuoang ke SCSA ee. Hona hona ke ho se nahanele batho ba bang. Bobolu e tla lula e le bobolu, haholo hobane ha hona le ntho eo le e tsang ho developa libapali, ba lula ba ikhoantlella ka lianko tsohle. Ebile ho ne ho sa hlokahale le hore ebe le ile moo haeba le hlotsoe ho tloha le libapali ho ba le bona ka nako tsohle e le hore le’ne le ba thuse throughout the games. U bolela hore le ne le etse ho ea bona hore na libapali li sebelitse joang – what shit is this? Shame on you people.
Comment by Marathon on 4 January 2013:
Compliments of the new Year!
There is a need to separate issues here.
The per diem given to sports organisers who are the employees of the Ministry has got nothing to do with how much has been given to athletes and how they travelled to Zambia. Per diem calculations for all government officials are based on the provisions of circular no. 8 issued May 26th, 2009 referenced MPS/ALL/2.
What remains a gray area even today is how much allowance per day should be given to participating athletes. There is need to have something written down as a guide on this. If the issue is that M5,400 given to atlethes is too little based on that guide then, the issue would be to review the guideline and not mix that with what the organisers have received…the two allowances come from different budgets altogether.
The travelling agency in question just shows how desparate it is for business. The allowances for organisers has got nothing to do with how athletes travelled to Zambia. Why not show your social responsibility towards community and sponsor the trip for free..
The media stop putting off fire with petrol; it is inappropriate of you to call the organisers’ allowance as lavish or hefty; based on what – these people have not been paid anything above the norm, they were simply given their entitlment based on this trip. Your comparison of the whole issue is ill-informed.
Comment by shh on 4 January 2013:
bomalimabe ba meharo..see
Comment by Kamanga Malawi on 5 January 2013:
Lona le je chelete ena le le bang, bana bana ba rona bona ba seke ba eja. Le qalile ka meleko e moo ea lona! Ka tsatsi le leng chelete eo e tla itseka ene motho o tla makala. Matsepe eena ke bona a bua le rona ka hore boqha, matla a joalo a ea taea.
Comment by LERATO on 6 January 2013:
Hele! Ba tsamaile faats’e ho ea Zambia! Shame!
Nnete e’a sala per diem has nothing to do with allowances tsa libapali. E bile e ‘nyane hobane ba ile nako e khuts’oanyane.e se e le bona botho, eseng molao, hore some people are juxtaposing the two issues.
Comment by Boliba on 7 January 2013:
THERE IS NO MIXING OF ISSUES HERE. Re utloa hantle seo Morena Matsepe a se buang. The issue here ke hore ‘muso ona oa lona ha u na litlhong le bona boikarabello. O ka ts’episa bana ba basotho balichaba joang – SCSA eo ba tlohetsoeng mohaung oa eona is a foreign body and ke utloisisa hore ba ne ba sa lebella hore naha eo ebang e ea itlhompha e ke ke ea betsetsa bana ba eona lephola feela.BONNETENG KE HORE “PERDIEM OR NO PERDIEM FOR THE ORGANIZERS” LIBAPALI LI NE LI TLAMEHA HORE E BE LI FUOE BONYANENYANA KE NAHA. LA TLA LA ITLONTLOLLA LESOTHO.
Comment by Apole on 7 January 2013:
Ha libapali li khotsofetse ‘na hakena taba. Ba bang ba batla ho loaneloa hore ka moso kapa ebe ba fumane chelete ba tsebe ho leqetsa. Lea pota ba sa tsoasang khale le tsoasa.
Comment by Sampo on 8 January 2013:
Morena Matsepe ak’u hlalose mona : li-organisers li ne li ilo etsang hantle moo, haele moo ba fihla ho setse matsatsi a mararo pele lipapali le feela? Libapali tse nkileng karolo ho tloha ha lipapali li qala li ile tsa hlahlojoa ke bo mang?
Comment by Jomalet on 8 January 2013:
Ka nete zambia ka koloi eseng airbus this is not fair