Storm over judges’ pay
MASERU — Another storm is brewing in the troubled judiciary over huge allowances being paid to Court of Appeal judges, the Lesotho Times can reveal.
At a time when High Court judges and other judicial officers are struggling to make ends meet Court of Appeal judges are being handsomely rewarded for the short time they spend in the court and the few cases they hear.
This is also happening at a time when High Court and magistrates’ courts are facing serious financial problems.
So high are the allowances that in October last year two Court of Appeal judges returned a significant portion of their earnings, saying the huge pay cheques did not justify the work they had done in that session.
A High Court judge earns about M300 000 per year which translates to around M195 000 after tax.
Most judges say they are living hand-to-mouth.
Yet Court of Appeal judges who work an average 12 weeks per year are earning just under M700 000.
Highly confidential pay schedules seen by the Lesotho Times show that in 2012 the six Court of Appeal judges shared a whopping M8.7 million for the work they did in four sessions.
The total duration of those four sessions was around 12 weeks.
The schedules show that Court of Appeal President Justice Michael Ramodibedi earned a massive M1.9 million last year.
After a 35 percent tax was deducted Justice Ramodibedi earned M1 235 000, making him an instant millionaire.
Each of his judges in the Court of Appeal earned about M900 000 which came down to around M675 000 after a 25 percent tax.
Documents seen by this paper show that for last year’s October session which lasted about three weeks the Court of Appeal President earned M430 114.
For a pre-session allowance which he said lasted 15 days he got M82 866.
His allowance per day was M5 524.
Pre-session is the time he spent “reading all the records in both the interlocutory and the substantive rolls and preparation”.
The judge claimed per diem for 40 days at a rate of M8 681 per day.
That brought his total amount of per diems to M347 248. Out of the total of M430 114 the judge paid M150 540 in tax, leaving him with M279 574 in the pocket.
That is way more than the annual net pay of Chief Justice Mahapela Lehohla who heads the High Court and other subordinate courts.
The chief justice earned about M400 000 last year.
That figure came down to about around M260 000 after tax.
Justice John Smalberger was paid M173 427 for 12 days of pre-session work and 19 for per diems.
Justice Graig Howie, Justice Douglas Scott and Lionel Justice Melunsky got the same mounts.
Documents show that after being told that they were going to earn M173 427 each Justice Howie and Justice Scott requested that their amounts be reduced.
A highly placed source in the Court of Appeal told the Lesotho Times that Justice Howie was disturbed that he had received almost the same amount for the January session which was way shorter than the October session.
The January session normally lasts one week while the October one lasts three weeks.
What worried the judge was that the amount paid for the two sessions was almost the same, the source said.
“He said it did not make sense that he would get the same amount of money for sessions whose lengths are substantially different,” the source said.
The document shows that the judge then refunded the government the amount he felt he did not deserve for the January session.
He gave back M93 502 which was classified in the payment schedule as “January 2012 over payment”.
Justice Scott felt he had been overpaid for the August session and returned M103 582 to the government.
The other judges, including Justice Ramodibedi, did not return a cent to the treasury.
While the Court of Appeal president and his judges were going home with hundreds of thousands of maloti High Court judges who had been invited to help with cases in the apex court earned tens of thousands.
Acting Justice Motiea Teele who resigned last week earned a gross of M39 460 and took home M25 649 after tax.
Justice Kananelo Mosito earned M59 190 but took home M38 473 after tax.
Last week Justice Ramodibedi said his allowance and that Court of Appeal judges is justified.
He said the rates that he uses to pay the allowances are in the government gazette.
“The truth is that I don’t create the rates. They are clearly stipulated in the government gazette,” Justice Ramodibedi said.
He said those comparing the earnings of High Court judges and Court of Appeal judges “are missing the point”.
“High Court judges earn salaries and Court of Appeal judges earn allowances.
“The two are incomparable,” said Justice Ramodibedi who is also the Chief Justice of Swaziland.
“This noise about what judges in the Court of Appeal earn is about money. It’s about people who think that Court of Appeal judges are earning too much money. I must be remunerated and so should judges in the Court of Appeal.”
Another source in the High Court said there is a belief among judiciary officers that the financial problems in the judiciary are a result of the Court of Appeal “getting the lion’s share of the resources”.
“The Court of Appeal is an ad hoc court but it has permanent staff.
“The judges are earning huge salaries for working about 12 weeks per year,” the source said.
“While the judges in the Court of Appeal get huge allowances the subordinate courts are broke”.
“At most, the Court of Appeal deals with 30 cases per year while the High Court deals with hundreds of cases.
“The lower courts deal with thousands of cases every year.
“It therefore cannot be fair that the Court of Appeal has a lion’s share of the budget.”
While Court of Appeal judges earn handsomely the junior officers at the Palace of Justice and subordinate courts are literally starving.
For instance a judge’s clerk earns a gross salary of M10 000.
The lowest paid employee in the judiciary earns a paltry M1 500 per month.
In other words the lowest paid employee in the judiciary will have to work for just under 24 years to earn what Justice Ramodibedi earned during the three weeks he spent working on the Court of Appeal’s October session last year.
If you consider that the president earned M1.8 million last year it would mean that the same employee will have to work for 100 years.
Comment by semenekane on 31 January 2013:
Ke Ha ‘Manyafeng na Makhotleng a molao moo batho ba nyetleletsoang chelete e ngata hakana feela hona backlog ea linyeoe tse sa sejoetsoeng.
Khiliki! Hona ke mehlolo hase feela ba loants’anang tjena. Naha e futsanehileng tje e be e bapalisa li-judge ka chelete. Nxa!
Comment by Sandile on 31 January 2013:
And the government do not want to pay engineers and other scientists the same money so that they can develop techniques to manufacture, heal the sick, explore minerals, harness water, market and export our product. We will never liberate this country from porvety…We are pathetic!! Our children will spew on our graves..
Comment by mamoqato on 31 January 2013:
Basotho this is day light robbery
Comment by shh on 31 January 2013:
What about Engineers, Medical Doctors and Researchers who real make a meaningful difference on daily basis? This is sickness indeed
Comment by LEKHOARA on 31 January 2013:
haele hantle ntho e thibelang hore rebe le li-judge tsa basotho Court of Appeal le hore linyeoe kaofela li bu’oe ke liakhente tsa basotho ke eng?
hee ntho ere qetile ena ea ho lumela ho makhooa. Joale lere re tla tlohela bobolu hontse ho bapaloa ka khafa tsa rona tjee…
Comment by Nana on 31 January 2013:
Ho bonahala hore bofuma bona ba Basotho ba bangata kahlakoreng le leng bo totisoa ke hore senyethe sa `muso se ea ho ba ka holimo litulong ha ba fokolang ba phela ka mafoforetsane a oelang beng ba leqelitse.khilik.I see widening income inequality.Those at the top of socioeconomic pile benefit most from state resources while majority of Basotho are wallowing in abject poverty.Gini coefficient indicative of income inequality in Lesotho is above 0.59 threshold.Papahali e kaale e ea ho beng ka ho se sebetse li nyeoe.ache Lesotho,Molimo a k`u re pholose
Comment by Maru-mats'o on 31 January 2013:
It’s pathetic when people who are entrused to positions of responsibility lack moral conscience. My hat goes off to the two foreign judges who listened to their consciences and returned the money they deemed to be an excessive overpayment. But I’m really appalled by the deep level of greed exhibited by our own Mosotho judge who justifies the unjustifiable. It’s morally wrong to be paid unwarranted salaries or allowances when most of our people go on empty stomachs daily. The judge talks as if we are kids or we have never seen the inside of a classroom. Money, whether called salary or allowance is money at the end of the day! To the person who earns it, it is an income like any other incomes. Ijob ijob (mosebetsi ke mosebetsi, ha ho na o betere ho feta e meng). Why does the learned judge seem to have such excessive power and sense of self-importance that he feels whatever he says goes? Why does he question the decision of the majority and suggest that he is infallible? Why does he single-handledly nominates judge candidates for the Court of Appeal? What happened to our wise Sesotho saying that “bohlale ha bo hahe ntlong e le ngoe (roughly meaning, wisdom is not owned by a single individual)?” I think the President Judge should take cue from the foreign judges who returned the excessive payment to the public coffers. By this, he will be demonstrating that he is a mere mortal, and a servant of the people, the majority of whom wallow in abject poverty on a daily basis. Why this never-ending childish brawl and competition for seniority with the Chief Justice if you are not salaried as you claim, but are only paid allowances, implying that your job is ad hoc? Common sense is not so common!
Comment by Oa likoetseng on 31 January 2013:
Lintho tsee tsa lona le eabe le re bolella tsona hore re etse joang?
Re utloe bohloko?
Comment by Mojela on 31 January 2013:
that is why honang le nthoena ee hothoenthoe ke curuption.fela eka fela joang batho ba molimo ha babang bona ba fua libillon empa babang bona ba fua e nyane, Tonakholo pls lokisa litaba pele lintho li senyeha ho feta mona.Doctors, Engineers,Nurses,Architect…etc earn penuts…cheee heee!
Comment by Tonkana on 31 January 2013:
This confirms what those that work with Ramodibedi say about him, he doesn’t see himself as a Mosotho but rather as one of those foreigners he sits on the CA with. The justification he is giving of the difference in salary between himself and his local colleagues is shockingly stupid to say the least!!!
Being immoral as he is, Ramodibedi has brought the Swazi judiciary to its knees in ensuring that at all costs that Mswati continues to oppress Swazis, he helped Mccd and Mahaltere to get their way through the courts, and how can I forget this great milestone; Ramodibed’s helped them kick themselves out of power by aiding the split of DC from LCD.
Joale ke enoa o batla ho bitsa bo-mateae e tl’o ba li-judge tsa Court of Appeal, hakere maholi a phuntse seolo ho melata ka Appeal Court ka moo?
Comment by 'Mathabo on 31 January 2013:
I commend the two foreign judges who realized that the word justice is not just a title appearing before their name, but that they have to act it too!
Comment by Sopete on 31 January 2013:
Ha u ja lefa u thole, joale bona Nt Ramodibedi o entse lerata bona ntho e mo hlahelang. O bua joang o momme mothamo oa lijo. This revelation is shocking, hona le banna ba etsang chelete e ngata hakaale ka nako e nyane hakale? Indeed robbery in day light. Nt Ramodibedi must set an example and start by cutting his own remuneration and tell his cronies that they can go to H*ll and back if they dont accept the cuts, then appoint Basotho as judges of the court of appeal. Khele batho ba re momona mali re shebile. Haeee tau ho jeoe ho lekane.
Comment by Shadow on 31 January 2013:
Mr. President you are always after money.How much did you collect when you reversed the judgement of High court Just to attack former DPM (brather of CJ) to sacrifice the poor young boy from Ethiopia?
Comment by lion tau on 31 January 2013:
We always say that our professionals leave lesotho for greener pastures! So I think THose judges deserve even more than that because the decided not to leave this country for greenest pastures.
Comment by Senannapo on 31 January 2013:
U ipuela masepa uena Tau lion. ntatao Ramolibeli is already a Chief Justice in swatsing. he is having 2 jobs and living large. for ur point to hold water, all judges and magistrates should at least be paid decent salaries like him.
Comment by Ntate on 31 January 2013:
when I grow up, I want to be Justice Ramodibeli.
He is also earning ridiculously huge amount of money in the broke Kingdom of Swaziland. When Swaziland was struggling to pay its civil servants and chowing its national reserves, Ramolibeli was literally rolling in gold!
Comment by Sandile on 31 January 2013:
I thought there is no money to pay skilled people in lesotho but i was wrong. There is plenty. Guys at the top of the government are the ones that do not want this country going forward by paying skilled scientists who are welcomed in SA with two hands and used accordingly to develop that country..
Comment by Ribolla on 31 January 2013:
I see nothing wrong with Ramodibeli for not returning the money, lenna nka se e khutlise. What needs to be revised ke rules concerning allawances and wages, akere batho ba ha ba ipatale, kapo jwang? motho a tsebang ha a ka nhlakisetse
Comment by Tamati on 31 January 2013:
He is a classical thief to say the least!
Comment by kereke on 1 February 2013:
Malume Basotho, Banna le re chelete eee e ea ho motho a le mong? nka tlohela mosebetsi ka itsebetsa kamora selemo feela….ha kea lapaaaa…!
Comment by baba on 1 February 2013:
Motlotlehi le tonakhlo salary tsa bona li kopane ha li etsa ea Ramolibeli the guy is gready 1.2M net pay,haa soabe le ha a bona bo mphato ba botsa botho
Comment by tbz on 1 February 2013:
Ladies and gentlemen let’s not miss the point yes baja chelete e ngata ho feta tekanyo.
1.Feela ke tsebong eaka Ramolibeli ha etse salary structure ea mmuso kapa yona allowance structure. So blame those who do. We have put a new gov. To write the wrongs tsa the other government so let’s not blame pple who don’t make laws.
2. Re hirile ramolibeli re ntse re tseba hore wa sebetsa.
3. If chelete ele siko for the highest court in the land for pple who have to administer justice we won’t have pple who are skilled who will be willin to serve in those positions.
Likhomo basotho.
Learn do not just read
Comment by Lefefooane on 4 February 2013:
Leqe leqe leqe Ramodibideli. Leqe Ramodibeli leqe. Hee a leqetsa mapotoana bo Ramodibedi kea cho. Khele. Ntate Ntate Tom must bring this stup and recless spending to a halt otherwise we will have no business calling ourselves the government of “change”. We need to change a whole lot of things. Infact Tom must set up the commisssion to releive Ramodibedi of his duties. He has brought our justice system into disrepute. Even the now brother cheif justice Lehohla must go. We need to clea that mess at our judiciary. Judge Maseforo Mahase should be given a long leave. A number of reforms are needed up there otherwise we will remain a mockery.
Comment by Kamohelo on 5 February 2013:
this is really ridiculous, our parents struggle to earn a living yet, yet somebody earns so much? then one claims that our country is poor, i don’t think so the only problem is resource management, it is very poor. this is bizarre!!!
Comment by Kelepi on 5 February 2013:
Separation of Power(s) demands that the judiciary be independent from the executive, so that it administers justice without fear or favour. Judges are getting what they are entitled to nothing more or less, because that’s appear from government gazette so nothing illegal.
Comment by Toka on 6 February 2013:
According to the information I have these inflated allowances for Court of Appeal judges were Gazetted upon Ramodibedi’s recommendation. He also increased the number of sessions per year from two to four. He has enriched himself substantially in the process.If this is not looting state coffers then I don’t know what is.
Comment by MJ on 7 February 2013:
Nxa! This is exacly how people become terrorists!! Our country is letting us down.
Comment by Joooo on 9 February 2013:
Masterata nnake…ba tsamaea ka maoto,ba lula malaeneng:then hothoe ba bue li robbery ,rapes,lithunya…ke mohlolo feeeela hore bongata habo corrupt…ba khola bo li 6 thousand…lesotho o le tsabe..one year high court ea qete 6 cases per year…a magistrate does that in two days..
Comment by Joooo on 9 February 2013:
High court.ba bua nyeoe tsa banna ba bolaeaneng ka melau..magistratesc ourt ba bua tsa ntja tse mpe..ak47 tsa ho sheba machina ka mahloong…..muso rememeber magistrates…without them this country would be on its knees
Comment by phokojoe on 4 March 2013:
Na lesotho le tla tsoa tlaleng haeka le tetebetsoa ke batho baa bao re ba ts`epetseng ho re abela toka?Na ruri naha e tla ba le batho ba sa tla e utloela bohloko?Na le bona mohlala oo le u bonts`ang bana baa bao le reng lea ba rata ke ba lona,le rata kamoso ba be ba phela hamonate ele bontate le bomme ba phetahetseng naheng e itakanetseng ka oona maemo aa?Ruri hoja la ka la fetoha,ha hona mosebetsi o bohlokoa ho feta e meng,kaofela mesebetsi e bohlokoa!