Asemie ‘deal’ backfires
MASERU — Former Commissioner of Refugees, Francis Sefali, appeared before Chief Magistrate ’Matankiso Nthunya to answer a charge of fraud yesterday.
Sefali is accused of fraudulently assisting businessman Eyob Asemie to get Lesotho citizenship and naturalisation papers.
Sefali, 42, who is currently the Director of Administration at the Central Bank of Lesotho, was remanded out of custody on M1 500 bail and a surety of M20 000.
He was ordered not to interfere with crown witnesses and tamper with investigations.
He will appear again before the magistrate on April 5 while his trial has been scheduled for May 13 and 14.
His lawyer Advocate Patrick Tšenoli said Sefali would not abscond because he is a Lesotho citizen, a former senior official at the Ministry of Home Affairs and currently holds a position at the Central Bank of Lesotho.
“He knew about this case a while ago and he has been cooperative with investigators and he appeared before this court,” Tšenoli said.
The prosecution alleges that Sefali “unlawfully and with intention to defraud Director of Immigration or Home Affairs Minister produced a document that said Asemie had lived for five years in Lesotho so that he qualifies to be granted Lesotho citizenship”.
The crime allegedly happened in January 2009.
The Home Affairs Ministry has repeatedly denied Asemie an opportunity to be sworn-in as a Lesotho citizen on suspicions that he acquired a passport fraudulently.
The authorities questioned how Asemie acquired the Lesotho passport even before he was sworn-in as a citizen of Lesotho.
They also argued that he was issued with the passport even before he spent five years in Lesotho as required by the law.
Asemie tried to put pressure on the government to grant him citizenship by seeking the Ombudsman’s intervention.
In December 2010 Alina Fanana, the then Ombudsman, recommended that Asemie should be sworn-in as a citizen after hearing Sefali’s evidence that he qualified to be a citizen.
Fanana found that Asemie arrived in Lesotho in 2003 and sought political asylum and after a year-long screening he was accorded refugee status.
Sefali told Fanana that in 2003 it took him about a year to investigate whether it was true that Asemie “was so politically involved and active to an extent that he had to flee his country” at such a young age.
But even after the Ombudsman’s recommendations the Home Affairs Ministry still refused to grant him citizenship, insisting that he acquired the passport fraudulently.
Asemie went to court where he lost the case at the Court of Appeal.
After Asemie lost his court battle to be granted citizenship, the Lesotho government revoked his passport and blocked his entry into Lesotho.
He is now stranded in South Africa.
Sources this week told the Lesotho Times that there are plans to have Asemie extradited to Lesotho so that he can be charged together with Sefali.
“The extradition process will start very soon,” said a source privy to the details of the case.
Last night police spokesperson, Masupha Masupha, said Asemie “has to tell how he acquired all the documents”.
Asemie has previously been linked to a human trafficking syndicate but has never been formally charged.
He denies the charges.
Last year this paper revealed that a highly confidential report alleged that Asemie was facilitating the trafficking of Ethiopian, Bangladeshi and Pakistan nationals into Lesotho.
The report was attached to a letter former government secretary Tlohang Sekhamane, now the Mokhotlong MP, wrote to the erstwhile deputy prime minister and home affairs minister Lesao Lehohla on March 12.
Sekhamane wrote the letter to explain why Asemie should not be granted citizenship.
His recommendation was based on the report of a task force commissioned to probe Asemie’s suspected criminal activities.
That report said Asemie would fetch Ethiopians, Bangladeshi and Pakistanis from Moshoeshoe I International Airport alleging that he was taking them to Meloding, a place he claimed was a guest house.
“It is now beyond the shadow of doubt that Mr Asemie’s source of income is facilitation of entry into Lesotho through Moshoeshoe I International Airport of Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals and then assists them to proceed to the Republic of South Africa”.
“He obviously charges these people for the service and it is arguable that he is at the service of some powerful forces inside and outside Lesotho to facilitate illegal entry of these people to South Africa,” the report says.
The report described Asemie as a “man always on the move”.
One of the people interviewed by the task team was a National Security Services (NSS) official (name withheld) who is alleged to have said Asemie’s activities were “a threat not only to the security of Lesotho but to that of other countries as well”.
Asemie has vehemently denied allegations linking him to human trafficking.
He said he was being victimised because he had exposed some senior government officials who were allegedly involved in human trafficking.
He said the allegations against him were part of a ploy to silence him.
Comment by sematsatsa on 7 March 2013:
viva coalition government, oa sebetsa joale ‘muso. 1 by 1 ntse re tla le bona
Comment by keizer on 7 March 2013:
the citizenship is always aproblem. congratulations to the Government . these is what we really wan becausa foreiners steal our citizeship and destroys our confidence in our passport. job well done
Comment by LEKHOARA on 7 March 2013:
Haesale kere taba tsa Asemie li sebetsoe ka tsela eo e tla hlahisa liofisiri tse behind his case.Re khathetse ke bobolu ba liofisiri tse re kenyetsang metsi ka moeli. If Sefali gets convicted that would say he won’t continue his with his present job if convicted of crime involving dishonesty, such an officer working for an institution where government “treasures” are managed and kept, we really need to root out this bad culture of corruption.
Comment by Koankoara on 7 March 2013:
Viva Coalition Viva! Bobolu bona bo tla hlahella ba bang ke hona ba tla hlahella pooaneng
Comment by cheetah on 7 March 2013:
ho setse ba ntsitseng scott chankaneng,bona neng ke neng?
Comment by rttutiik on 7 March 2013:
wsrfjkl;.;/’/’
Comment by Maddog on 7 March 2013:
Basotho are crooks especially the corrupt stupid Basotho like this Admin Director of Central Bank. This stupid idiot was highly involved in fraud and corruption, but on the other side, Central Bank intended to employ him leaving out qualified and hard working Basotho.
We have long indicated that Asemie had acquired our identity fraudlently through the assistance of stupid idiots like Francis Sefali, the whole commissioner in that ministry sell out the rights and security of his country to foreign criminals! Shame! Basotho are very wicked and GOD Almighty has rejected them due to their cruelty. Lesotho is in extreme poverty because of the idiots like Sefali who are very arrogant and corrupt in the workplace.
Central bank must also investigate this criminal called Sefali as he might also have done some fraudulent activities at Central bank as he did at Home Affairs. Basotho ba liketso li mpe tse nyonyehang, ha ho moo Basotho ba fapaneng teng le maNigeria ka bobolu. Basotho ba bolile joaloka ma-Nigeria hantle lisatane tsena tse futsanehisitseng naha ea rona. Phooooaaaaa!
Comment by Seakhi on 7 March 2013:
khilik maddog, e be uena ha u mosotho? if at all basotho ba bolile, who are these people investigating Asemie’s case are they not basotho as well please try to draw your demarcation line if o mosotho if o se eena l rest my case about malicious allegation of calling basotho batho ba ketso li nyonyehang and ba sa fapana le the Nigerians.
Comment by Scout on 7 March 2013:
ha ba tshoaroe ntjatsena, khale ba entse ha bo mmabona Lesotho mona. Le akhente nyana tsa le Ethopia lena bo Maqakachane ba tlameha ba shejoe esebe ba kentse le tsoho…
Comment by semenekane on 7 March 2013:
Sefali must learn a lesson of corruption’s consequences. That passport could have been given to one Mosotho desperately in need of passport instead of this corrupt and criminal Asemie.
Extradite him to come and give witness against Sefali so that he can be given a life sentence. I wonder if Mahaletere has no a common purpose in this corruption scandal
job well done our beloved Lesotho Mounted Police Service. Charge them one by one
Comment by Tlhase on 7 March 2013:
I wonder what our honorable Judge must be thinking! This is an indictment on her. This is telling and says a lot about her and it should be very embarrassing. She ordered our Government to swear in and grant Asemie citizenship and in a bizarre twist, the Government to never charge Asemie for past crimes. What a ridiculous Judgement, even on appeal, the Appeal Judge said it was shocking and baffling. How can the court order that all my past crimes should be forgotten without going to trial. That is really the courts now playing God. The courts should be accountable to someone. Chee! Win! Maseforo Mahase!, Win!.
Congrats to Coalition! It shows that now sober minds are now leading this Nation!
Comment by Tlhase on 7 March 2013:
Asemie should have stayed quite and non of this would have happened! He and his sponsors are now suffering the same fate as loud-mouthed, loose canon Julius “Foolius” Malema! If he had kept quite he would still have a passport and would not be facing criminal charges, exiled and unable to run his businesses although he would not have been sworn in as a citizen. Knowing when to shut-up is important and your livelihood may depend on it, especially for someone suspected of wrongdoing. The Coalition shall not be dictated to by Foreigners and misdirected Judges. Keep it up Letsema, Re le khethile re le tseba!
Comment by Lefefooane on 7 March 2013:
Sefali must face the wrath of the law. He must clear his name in court. Next Central Bank must part ways with him. It is disturbing to read in a newspaper that a serving bank official s trafficking between Moshoeshoe road and High Court. It is really disturbing. Central Bank must act quickly to protect its name and advice Sefali to resign.
Comment by Socrates on 7 March 2013:
jonnnaaaa mosebetsi oa fela weee
Comment by Lai Thekhe - Motho a oa on 7 March 2013:
“He is now stranded in South Africa”. Does SA also allow stranded criminals in their land without offloading them somewhere? Viva coalition Viva
Comment by Maphakela on 7 March 2013:
Big up to coalition and this must serve as a warning to those who tempted to do corruption in Home Affairs especially now that we are moving into the most important phase of securing and mordenising our identity system. My plea to the Minister is to ensure strict controls especially with the feeder documents and even do “intergrity check” on the Home Affairs officials in order to rid the Ministry of those who maybe vulnerable to corruption and compromise our identy like Asemie. I know this is may not be enough to but atleast we must start somewhere and built going forward.
One otherthing that needs attention is building the investigation capacity our law enforcement agencies(police,NSS etc) otherwise the criminals will keep on getting scott free and unpunished for their actions. I’m afraid torturing suspects will not get us any where in fighting the criminals but instead we “tax payers” we will be forever burdended with un ending law suits.
Comment by mohlalefi on 8 March 2013:
Holekane Ba Hesong.
Ke amohela Mtopia Heso,Motho ha a batla ho ba MOSOTHO,Ke TLOTLA ho ‘NNa,Shebanang le ba Amohetseng litjotjo.Leave that African Alone. Machaena? ” Mtopia, YOUR ARE WELCOME TO MY LAND ” Khelek!
Comment by Maddog on 8 March 2013:
@ Seakhi, kea pheta kere Basotho ba bolile haholo eseng hanyane, ‘me ba bolile hantle joalo ka ma-Nigeria. Ebe u nahana hore fraud and corruption e kale-kale ee etsahalang Lesotho moo e ea halalela ha e bapisoa lea Nigeria? Hoea ka uena batho ke Basotho feela, ma-Nigeria oona hase batho athe? Bobolu bo nyonyehang hakale Lesotho moo, hoo ebileng bo etsoang leke bana likolong ka ho kena livarsity ka mangolo a fumanoeng ka bobolu!
Hana bana ba Lesotho ba patallang fake COSC certificates ho kena varsity, ba fapane kae le bana ba Nigeria ba keneng/kenang varsity ka fake certificates? ‘Na hake foke hore na ke mosotho hakae fela nkeke ka iphoqa ka hore bobolu bo bongata hakana bo etsahalang Lesotho bo etsoa ke Basotho ba bang ba ratang lintho tsa bolotsana le bomenemene bo botle boa benya joaloka uena. Lesotho ke naha e seng e sena seriti hohang ka baka la bobolu le bomenemene bo etsahalang kahara eona, joaloka Nigeria.
Hana ha mosotho a etsa fraud ka computer ho utsoa lichelete tsa batho le ho etsa certificates tsa bolotsana, o fapane kae le mo-Nigeria ea etsang fraud ka computer ho utsoa lichelete le ho etsa mangolo a bolotsana? Hangata Basotho ke mofuta o iponang eka o betere ho feta merabe e meng lefats’eng joaloka ma-South Africa. Lesotho le Nigeria ke lia thoteng li bapile. Ke masholu a maholo mona Africa.
Comment by Mahaltreeeee!! on 8 March 2013:
While I welcome the efforts of the police and exposing the corruption in this country and bringing the culprits to book, I am apprehensive of the office of DDP, its common cause that Asemie was politically connected to some high ranking officials of the past government and his arrest is going to open a can of worms, now the office of the DPP has the tendency to sit on such cases much to the detriment of the justice and the entire Basotho nation, for example Ntsie was arrested in SA but was released on bail because the office of the DPP had not processed his extradition papers….how unfortunate. Unless drastic changes are made in that office the efforts of the police will be for nothing and this issue will soon be water under the bridge. Coalition government pls pls heed to this advice moreso because ha ele Ntate Phoofolo ena kannete ekare re ka moisa lekaleng le leng, mona o hlolehile
Comment by Lefefooane on 8 March 2013:
Atleast one can see what this Letsema thing is trying to acheive. Thumbs up coallation. But LCD must pull up its socks and stop being the weakest link in that Letsema thing because the nation is watching.
Comment by Vampire on 8 March 2013:
KHilik! ea thatafala taba ea Asemie banna jwale ,
ke bona hore pholo tse ling e li kenya maoto ketaneng
HO TLA NYEOA!
Comment by Mapaseka on 8 March 2013:
win Basotho, Lefefoane whatever happened to “innocent until proven guilty”. Sometimes we need to lock stock and barell every avenue before we draw conclusion. Lets not mislead investigation by our clouded minds please. We need to be on the qui vive lest we are derailed from the truth….
Comment by Lebo on 8 March 2013:
Baratuoa ba ka, ha motho a so fumanoe a le molato ke makhotla a molao na a ka be a se a thakhisoa ka mokhoa oo? a bile a rohakoa? Taba ena ea lipuo tse hlohlontsang litsebe, tsa lehloeo le ho ipona bobetere ka batho ba bang ha e ntle. Ka ho rialo ha ke sireletse bobe empa ha ke utloisisi hore na re tla lebella khotso le phelisano ‘moho joang lipuong tse tjena. Sefali le ba habo le metsoalle eohle ea hae ba shebane joang le beng ba lipuo tsee? Bothata ba tlohella ba filoeng boikarabello ho bo etsa ka makhethe ka moo Molimo o tlang ho ba thusa ka teng ka bofe? Asemie eena ha se sebupuoa sa Molimo? ha Molimo a re o rate oa heno joalo ka ha u ithata Asemie ha a kenyeletsoa? Oele Basotho re kopa khotso!!!!
Comment by Aunty P on 8 March 2013:
Maddog ke lehlanya le khaotseng ruri!!! Le buang ka Basotho joalo ka ha eka eena ke molata. Mohlomong ke molata ea bitter!!
Feela ntho eo ke sa e utluisiseng ke hore na extradition order e etsoa hobaneng hoba motopia eeno o thibetsoe ho kena ka boithaopo!!! Why refuse him entry only to extradite!!! Not funny, especially when Govt Funds are going to be exhausted in the process!!
Comment by Aunty P on 8 March 2013:
@Maddog re u kopela ho fola kannete… Ho hlompha batho… Haholoholo ho khutlela haeno moo u tsoang teng le ho tsoa ka hara rona Basotho!!! God Bless!!
Comment by Noko on 8 March 2013:
We have to investigate how many people were in the flights back to Ethiopia after the AFCON…..If the number in the flights to Lesotho matches the number of empty seats to Ethiopia, then ask Asemie.
Secondly if you tell me where Asemie stayed in Maseru, I might help with extra incriminating information…i talked to one Unticorruption unit official to get info from me about human trafficing sindicate. i never met the guy again…this involves an Ethiopian or Somali guy, a chinese and Zimbabwen…
I know the travel agency where i always found the guy….not that the agency is involved, but possibly used to ferry people into the country knowingly or unknowingly….
Comment by china girl on 8 March 2013:
new hao mosotho eena ke tsotsi 2 mch. nice hae eeo mosotho chance e teng eena ke oafa asemie pasport fonkong. shung fu shung shang mosotho eena ke oa tsamaea teronko nw nw. mochaena eena ha se oa rekisa libolu hohang. passport tsotsi hase nice china!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by Masego,Botswana on 8 March 2013:
Serious prejudice,collect ur facts before making judgement,newspapers are making money,n they write anythin to get their papers off the shelves,I hope the real truth wil come out one day.
Comment by Shadow on 9 March 2013:
What a Joke? Home Affairs Blocked Asemie’s entry to Lesotho, but the police is singing to extradite him.
Shame on coalition gvt.
Comment by MOHAPS Employees on 9 March 2013:
A straight formard and highly skilled person Dr. Sefali with corruption is impossible and unbeatable. Please come and ask all the employees in the ministery of Home Affairs.The public will know Dr.Sefali is a man of principle and innocent.If Dr.Sefali is linked with Asme illegally, It should not be him only to answer but also the interministerial committee, director immigtation, director passport, current refugee commissioner, Principal chief of Maseru, Police for issuance ofPolice clearance ,former PS and former DPM.These all directly involved with Asme citizenship approval.
Comment by Limeme on 9 March 2013:
Aoo banna ntate Sefali ekaba o ile oa teana le letemona lee kae? Banna helek
Comment by hlalele on 9 March 2013:
damn!, life is always like this, when you go up, people look for ways of pulling you down, life is tough.chief, take carriage, you are not alone, many did their friends favours, even worse things,but because you are a director of some stand,people look for ways of putting you down. everybody is corrupt,but yours lia pepesoa,tsa bona lia patoa.
many officials missuse their powers. just take carriage bru.
Comment by Sherry on 9 March 2013:
This thing should have an end. The man is gone and we may never know the real truth about him.
Comment by Zheng on 10 March 2013:
Public eye three weeks ago published Assme lost citizenship bid, but the court grant the entrepreneur to re enter to Lesotho as a refugee.But Masupa Masupa said LMPS will start the process to extradite Assme to answer fraud charge with Sefali.Why are you guys confusing people? Assme made urgent application to the high court to be allowed to come back to his family and business. Why police talk nonsense here?
Comment by Tsotsi on 10 March 2013:
Bohloko ke hore kahlolo e tlo ba M1000.00. Ka ‘nete ha hona thuso ho lula re bolelloa ka bobolu feela ho sena likahlolo tse bo khalemang.
Comment by Watchdog on 11 March 2013:
I always smell rat with the attitude of the police against Asmie.Asmie should know some thing about them.
Comment by LOBENGULA on 20 March 2013:
Maddog has some serious rabbis that needs some serious attention! Maddog; corruption is everywhere in the world, there are law abiding and God fearing Basotho and Nigerians, please do not paint us with one brush. As for this Asemie fiasco, it is playing like a never ending soapie with a new twist in every episode! It does sound good that the government is doing something to fight corruption, but I do not understand why Assemie was made persona non grata in the Kingdom before investigating how he acquired our passport! I therefore fear that we are just being played by the authorities as it looks like this Asemie chap is well connected. Re tla boka ha li oroha.