Massive looting unearthed
MASERU — A vehicle hire company with strong links to Public Works Principal Secretary Lebohang Phooko and his wealthy relative, These Phooko, is accused of ripping off millions of maloti from the government.
A study conducted by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation consultant Mahtab Zolghadri last June revealed that Avis Fleet Services has been cheating and running rings around the government ever since it won a tender to manage the government’s vehicle fleet in 2007.
Avis Fleet Services is a subsidiary of Seahlolo Transport Logistics (Pty) Ltd, in which These Phooko owns 334 shares while Lebohang Phooko and little-known Lerato Litabe have 333 shares each.
As the principal secretary of the public service ministry, Lebohang Phooko is in charge of transport, construction of government-owned buildings and all civil works.
These Phooko, owner of These Construction, is known for winning several road and government building construction tenders.
Amongst the three shareholders, These Phooko is the only director of Seahlolo.
At the time the agreement to manage the government fleet was signed, the shareholders’ other relative Motloheloa Phooko, who is currently the public service minister, was a minister in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Pakalitha Mosisili, the then prime minister, is related to the Phookos.
The agreement to manage the government fleet was signed with Seahlolo in October 2007 after a tender process that was managed by the government’s transaction adviser PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
After the deal Seahlolo managed the government vehicles under an Avis franchise.
Zolghadri’s report says the agreement was riddled with legal loopholes, practical weaknesses and implementation challenges that were not favourable to the government.
“The detailed review of the existing contract showed poor performance on the part of PriceWaterhouseCoopers in establishing the most effective and efficient fleet management contract for the GoL (Government of Lesotho),” reads Zolghadri’s report.
“The contract at first glance looks like it has the required elements that are beneficial to the government,” she said.
“However, a closer review shows that for implementation purposes, the contract terms benefiting the GoL have been nullified with other corresponding terms that favour the service provider (Avis) at high costs to GoL.”
The report says with the money the government spends on Avis it can buy 900 to 1 000 vehicles every year.
Zolghadri found that the contract furnishes a multi-layered and highly complex pricing structure with multifaceted price escalations every three months.
The monthly costs include fees for each full maintenance leased and managed maintenance vehicles, which are 2 658 in all.
Zolghadri says the analysis of the “detailed GoL Customer Report” of May 15 last year submitted by Avis shows that “the accuracy of the data is at best questionable and there were a large number of duplicate and triple entries for the same vehicles with monthly charges for each line”.
“Another serious difference was in the actual number of vehicles under lease,” says the report.
Zolghadri says only 289 vehicles were under lease in June last year when she released the report and the rest of the vehicles, 1 269, were owned by the government.
She says Avis has reported that from November 2007 to April 2012 it increased the full maintenance leased vehicles from 389 to 990 and reduced monthly billing from M20.3 million in 2008 to M12.5 million in 2012.
“These numbers are contrary to the detailed data submitted earlier by Avis,” she says.
She says instead the monthly costs to the government increased by 176 percent from January 2008 to February 2012.
The high cost to the government also include the actual maintenance costs per managed maintenance vehicle, monthly fees for each accessory used in the vehicles, fleet management function, fleet management information, a further monthly fee for providing maintenance information per each car.
Zolghadri also found that the full maintenance leased vehicles are offered practically devoid of any accessories and the government’s requirements are not taken into account when Avis orders the requested vehicles.
“As an example, in cases where GoL vehicles are required to have dark tinted windows for protection, the tinted windows are considered as accessories and each vehicle is charged an additional fee for the tinted windows,” she says.
“Even items such as rubber mats and seat covers are considered accessories and have monthly rental fees for each vehicle.”
The consultant also found that Avis ignored vehicle manufacturers’ warrantees.
The vehicle warrantees usually run for five years or 96 000 kilometres during which period all vehicle service costs are covered under the manufacturers’ warrantees.
“Yet, this important benefit is not addressed or accounted for in the contract and maintenance charges start immediately on each new vehicle that is included in the contract. This is a serious loss of benefits to the GoL with high costs.”
She also revealed that the contract is silent on Avis’ personnel and their required expertise.
“Lack of this requirement resulted in Avis assigning a service manager with military background for management of the GoL fleet,” although that officer was changed in September 2011.
Avis further reduced the number of mechanical experts in the workshops from over 25 in 2007 to less than 10 in 2012.
She also found that the contract provides for Avis to manage its own contract and it has therefore given it “a free hand to do as it pleases with the contract and even misinform” government ministries on its requirements.
“Consequently, Avis has ignored all key service requirements under the contract and their actions have left the GoL with soaring transport costs for highly poor quality services from Avis.”
All government ministries complained of very high monthly costs for their transport services, Zalghadri has found.
“In some cases, high monthly payments resulted in shortage of the ministry’s transport budget with the impact that the officers were left without transport for long periods of time.”
Avis, she said, is obliged to pay penalties if it delays to provide replacement of vehicles when their maintenance or repair services exceed the stipulated time in the contract.
However, in almost all cases Avis refused to provide any replacement vehicles and has required government to either pay for short-term rental or stay without transport.
This has negatively impacted the police, ministries of health, agriculture, local government and other regional based ministries’ operations, Zalghadri said.
This has had a number of negative impacts because where a ministry is left with no transport Avis has effectively transferred all of its penalty costs for delayed and lack of services to the government.
She said Avis “has charged the government double payments through continued monthly charges for the in-service vehicles and new charges for the lease of the short-term hire vehicles”.
The report says government departments were also forced to pay “erroneous bills/overcharges by Avis with the promise that the errors would be fixed in the next monthly cycle”.
But when the departments followed up to recover the extra monies they would have paid their queries were “consistently ignored by Avis”.
“In cases where the users refused to pay the over-charges, Avis have used its higher management contacts in the government to force payment directly from the Treasury.”
Zalghadri advised the government not to renew Avis’s contract, which expired in October last year.
However, the government extended the contract by a further one year.
Government Secretary Motlatsi Ramafole said the decision to extend the contract was taken after consideration that the government still had to calculate how much it would claim from Avis.
“We were supposed to have started the process in September last year but we realised that there were some important things we would never achieve and so it was resolved that the contract should be extended,” Ramafole said.
Avis CEO, Clive Else, said he could not comment because the consultant did not give the company enough time to tell its side of the story.
“We were not properly consulted. The consultant gave us only half an hour,” Else said.
Zalghadri, on the other hand, said: “The Avis team while defiant at times, did not refute any of the review’s key findings and took note of the list as presented to them.”
“Avis, however, requested that GoL consider giving them a chance to fix their errors through a one year extension of the contract.”
Comment by Scorpion on 20 March 2013:
Ntho e ngoe le engoe e na le qalo le qetelo. Moekelesia a re ntho e nngoe le e nngoe e na le nako!
Comment by Tabola on 21 March 2013:
Halala, ekare bobolu boya bitoloha joale,these Phoko family hv been misusing GOL funds and its high time they reap what they saw
Comment by Mabuketsa on 21 March 2013:
Li-Boy tsena tsa ha phooko lia leqetsa man. Khiliki!
Comment by semenekane on 21 March 2013:
There is a hidden rat behind this Phooko’s family ramphat corruption. Very soon he will be exposed and the law has to take its course against him. I am convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that he has a common purpose with Phooko’s family to alleged corruption scandal.
I urge government to terminate Avis contract in order to allow forensic investigation to take place against Phooko’s family and Avis.
As far as I am concerned, I would advice government to run its own fleet service in order to avoid ripping of millions of Maluti from government by corrupt Phooko’s family and Avis fleet services.
Comment by Hlaba le kene on 21 March 2013:
Aetheoha e ntse matha motho ea bitsoang Ts’ele Chakela a bona hore mona honkha teronko feela.
Comment by mahase on 21 March 2013:
He banna Lebo Phooko ke motho ea joang?O hirile koloi ea hae ea quantum lekaleng la traffic .o re batho ba se e sebelise ele hore e etse chelete e ngata e ntse e eme moo jareteng.
Comment by Mmalifatjana on 21 March 2013:
And you wonder why we are not going anywhere as a nation? these are the types of things which are led to slide all to often… and its complained that the government doesnt have money, if the little that is available is managed well then we would understand when it is said there is no money, now right now when the little is being abused like this, how can we believe there is no money???? Kick backs are one thing, but this??? Lekhale Majara!
Comment by FOSE on 21 March 2013:
PREVENTION OF CORRUPTION AND ECONOMIC OFFENCES (AMENDMENT) ACT 2006.
SECTION 24 PROVIDES; where a person has been convicted of corruption or cheating public revenue, the Court may, in addition to the sentence imposed and upon application by prosecution, order forfeiture to the State of all assets accrued to the convict or held on his or her behalf.
WHEN THE ABOVE SECTION WILL BE IMPLEMENTED?
Comment by mohlalefi on 21 March 2013:
Ba ikhabi ha ba hopolele Chaba sa ka moso, The coming Generation
Mohlatla Khoiti. {emotional}
Comment by 'malere on 21 March 2013:
CHEHE, TSOTSI TSEE TSA PHOOKO!
BONYANE MOHL. MOCHOBOROANE O ITSE BATLA SEBETSA KA LEBOHANG PHOOKO E LE KOMITI EA LCD.
EMPA REA IPOTSA NA JOANG HA E LE FEELA Dr. MOTLOHELOA ENTSE ELE KAROLO EA KOMITI EO?
COALISSION GOV. ERE E EA LEKA BUT MA-LCD HAA STOPE KA HO UTSOA CHELETE TSA SECHABA!!!
SEBETSA MOCHOBOROA RE U TSEPILE LETHULA!!!
Comment by lofo on 21 March 2013:
They say “give adog a bad name and hang him. Lebo Phooko owns share at Avis. Avis wins tender that is not within his Ministry. Fleet is managed by Ministry of Finance. Government enters into a stupid contract. Who is to blame? The Ministry of Finance of course. You make Lebo a PS, knowing well that he is business man, you never said his affiliated companies should not tender for government jobs, now you say Lebo is corrupt. Your regulations are stupid. Train your officers well on negotiations and packaging and this pathetic moaning. Bunch of imbeciles. A business person sees an opportunity, he takes it This is no kindergarten school here its real world. Wake up and smell the coffee. If I was Lebo, I would sue your tattered pants off for libel. Get the officials and the minister who failed to read the small print. Pathetic losers.
Comment by lofo on 21 March 2013:
“…and stop this pathetic moaning” correction on line 5.
Comment by mutapa on 21 March 2013:
Oe Batho ba molimo….hae man….Im speechless
Comment by Liaoa on 21 March 2013:
Hore na mang o sitiloe ho bala kae ha se hona moo e leng taba. Ke mang ea entseng mohlomphehi LP principal Secretary? O ne a shebile eng hoba joalokaha ho boleloa, rakhoebo ha a bona monyetla oa ho leqetsa, o hlile o etsa joalo? Na joale ha u le rakhoebo ea nang le kelello, u ithuisa ka tsela tse fosahetseng? U ke ke oa ba le company, e be oa tendara, e be e be uena ea etsang qeto hore na ke mang ea tla fumana mosebetsi ebe u ntse u re u business man. Let him sue for libel. Hoo ke ho tsebang ke hore molotsana ha a phele halelele
Comment by Batho on 21 March 2013:
@Tabola, “Halala, ekare bobolu boya bitoloha joale,these Phoko family hv been misusing GOL funds and its high time they reap what they saw”
Actually, they have been misusing your money, a taxpayer!
Comment by Batho on 21 March 2013:
Spot on Liaoa, lofo is a lunatic ! There is a conflict of interest here!
Comment by Sbegdene on 21 March 2013:
E ‘ngoe ea li challenge tsa ‘muso oa lilapa ke hore joale e tloba bothata to take action against one of your own! Avis’ contract is going to be renewed in yearly increments until 2017. Watch this space
Comment by Batho on 21 March 2013:
I like the headline, “MASSIVE LOOTING UNEARTHED”
Comment by Scorpion on 21 March 2013:
Motho ea fileng Quantum mosebetsi ahle a arabe. Joale ha e sa sebetse ho sebetsa life e etse chelete joang e sa tsamaee? u tlameha a ntsa utosa ho ea pele. Mohoboko u tlmeha ho stopuoa…..@Lofo athe contract e saennoe ke mang haeka u batla ho sireletsa bobolu ba moreno?
Comment by Scorpion on 21 March 2013:
Sbegden ha ba ka ba renewer licence ena ba tla be ba entse sona sebgdene hantle!
Comment by Lefefooane on 21 March 2013:
Avis Fleet Services is a subsidiary of Seahlolo Transport Logistics (Pty) Ltd, in which These Phooko owns 334 shares while Lebohang Phooko and little-known Lerato Litabe have 333 shares each.
Comment by Lefefooane on 21 March 2013:
“Even items such as rubber mats and seat covers are considered accessories and have monthly rental fees for each vehicle.”
Comment by Lefefooane on 21 March 2013:
The report says government departments were also forced to pay “erroneous bills/overcharges by Avis with the promise that the errors would be fixed in the next monthly cycle”.
But when the departments followed up to recover the extra monies they would have paid their queries were “consistently ignored by Avis”.
Comment by Thakabanna on 21 March 2013:
This is just a tip of the ice bag,even the previous fleet management company,Imperial Fleet Services had day-robbed the government madc a ntse a shebile. I implore the PCG to take serious steps against the culprits. The consultant did not check what was happenning with the parts,I have first hand knowledge of what is happening ‘cos I use to work for Imperial. Hee company tsa RSA tsa re qeta ho ntse hothoe ha ho chelete e tla patal bahlanka.
Comment by Lefefooane on 21 March 2013:
As far as I am concerned the LCD is the extension or branch of DC. In fact in as as far as corruption is concerned LCD and DC are the same. Much as we in in this marriage of conviniance with them, it is pity that we are in bed with such a corrupted and tainted party like LCD. No wonder they refused when we wanted to reshufle the PS including Lebohang Phooko. This is shameful and disgusting. Ma LCD sechaba se le shebile me le tla ahloloa. LCD seems to be clique/cartel/lequloana la a few while the rest of the LCD guys are just trained on ho haila. Ke hore ma LCd a mang hoa bona ke ho bina ha bo morena ba eja ke phetho ke tu. I do not see LCD(Leribe Congress for Democracy) coming back in 2017. Ra lubeha ke liboli eh!!!
Comment by Joe Lekau on 21 March 2013:
Having read “The Africans” by David Lamb and “The animal farm” by George Owell I am not surprised at all.
Its a pity that when the poorest of the poor ba haila libokeng tsa mekha ea lipolotiki, the leaders smile and say “look at these fools”.
Ho jeoa ho se ho hlokoa le lihlong but as usual, the very same poor will continue singing praises to the very same corrupt elements. This is just a tip of an iceberg. There is still more to surface. Bang ba li car wash tsa bomenemene bang linyatsi li phela sophisticated lives. Ho hobe nketjoane o shoetse mohloling.
Inspite of being viewed as “stupid” fools, the poor should not lose hope.
Remember that “You can fool people most of the time but you cannot fool people all the time.”
La ho tsoaroa le leng
Comment by Mokoko oa Lihlaba on 21 March 2013:
Ke hore i am speechless ,ha ke bona taba tsena ,pelo eaka e bohloko ,ha ke nahana hore ka hara naha ena hona le batho ba sena le haele sente,batho babang bona motho a khola chelete e ngata ,a na le libenefits khoeli le khoeli , a tsamaea ka koloi ea petrol tsa rona ,ebe o sehloho sa ho looter chelete ea sechaba ha kana.Chee morena Molimo ea matla ohle ,o mametse thapelo tsa rona.
Comment by lIETA on 21 March 2013:
jONNANA WEEEE! Banna, Thabane ka nnete o ntse o sa thotse…!Hee lebo Phooko ke moleko ke o joetse.Na o hlokometse hore litsela tsee tsa lesotho keena mo-consultant wa tsona ka o feela… hela le eena e lebang temong e entsoe ke Mafube.Banna Motho a le mong a ja ra thola! kapa Lesotho ke eena feela ngoana teng batho ba-moimo, sheba tsela e na ea mafeteng,eathaba-tseka,semonkong,mokhotlong…letseling tse ngata-ngata.hao banna,whts wrong with Phooko’s family? Joale ke avis..he banna, maoba o ne a le ka khotla ka baka la tsela ea roma.We need scopione ke le joetse se ke se tlo phahlolla Public Works.
Comment by cantryman on 21 March 2013:
Joale mona re hloaea banna bashanyaneng, Tom shud make sure tt le ha a ka tsoha shoele, a siea his beloved country e le free from jaws of these corrupt bandits! Whther one is in gov or not, rotten minds knocks our economy to its knees. A piece of advice to LCD members, if u need to see 2017 elections as a party nt as individuals like others, u better clean n clear off urselves this mess if nt shit!
Comment by Moroetsana on 21 March 2013:
It is sad how far people can go for self enrichment purposes, this is not greed its gluttony! may more of these inhumane practices be unearthed. I am hoping against hope that the current government will not be lured into doing the same. We know African apple trees and the apples that fall from them…Molimo o those Lesotho le Basotho and. Kudos to the Government for initiating the assessment!
Comment by Thapelo on 21 March 2013:
This country has gone to the dogs. The present government has a lot of work on its hands. They must be careful or else this whole saga will end up tainting their own image and portray them as a weak government that failed to deal adequately with corruption. We are a rotten country, right to the core.
Comment by wendeni on 21 March 2013:
Lofo has lost his mind. CORRUPTION IS CORRUPTION!!!!Lebohang Phooko was deployed for exactly to facilitate corruption to benefit his family and friends. He knew why he was deployed to the post of public works PS. He did his job with flying colours. A good civil engineer turned criminal!!!!
Comment by Tsotsi on 21 March 2013:
Ke bona Mosisili a kene ka hare le ena haufinyana. Mashodu a a ha Phoko ba ne ba Nahana hore naha ee ea Basotho kea bo ‘mabona! Ka nnete hoja ‘muso oa hira litsibi ho tla nts’a bobolu ka metso ka hara naha ena. Ka nnete ho hlokahala batho ba ka ikopanyang ba akhela Mosisili ka khotla, a qosoe ka ho tsoa kano ea ofisi ea tonaakholo tlaase. Ha ho moo a nkileng kano ea ho theha puso ea bobolu. Ore lelapa le fetolake surname hore le tsebe ho leqetsa.
Comment by fili on 21 March 2013:
ba ha Phooko
Comment by LEO-TY on 21 March 2013:
I was the first person to be worried about our marriage with LCD . I was not stupid but i knew very well that all congress parties are full of both corrupt and rogue elements .
Under these circumstances , it is up to Metsing to show leadership , take trastic steps against those elements within his party whose names appear on that report or the nation will judge him come 2017 . What happened to mccd will happen to him , come 2017 .
Comment by Masumo on 21 March 2013:
Phooko ha akheloe makhotleng joaloka Moleleki. Hana joale LCD e entse selekane le Makopo ha a na etsoa letho? Ha hoka buuoa ka Moleleki mona lirota tsena ha li ome mathe ke eo Phooko hee buang lirota ting tsa coalition.
Comment by Mosikong oa Thaba on 21 March 2013:
hona ke mathata ruri. ka hara naha ee.
Comment by Kamanga Malawi on 21 March 2013:
HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAH ke mekhoa ea Melele moo e fihlileng teng ke liboko hohle.
Khale uena PS Phooko re ntse re re litaba tsa hao le ngoana enoa oa ‘m’ao li tla hlahella, wa hopola mane Maqhaka one a entse tsela e kang sekepe sa mohau, o thotse kapa one o batla re shoe. hahahahahahahahaha helelele lona!
Comment by Goduka on 21 March 2013:
All these lootings boils down to one thing- we have to upskill our Civil Service and increase thier capacity. that way we can prevent these atrocities even before they take place. Maybe thats where the PM focus should be, educating and empowering the civil service so that the ignorant and corrupt politicians will find it hard to commit these blanders.
Comment by Jackie Selebi on 21 March 2013:
Lona le ne le re ‘Muso oa Mosisili ha o hlahisitse re o tlohele?
Comment by ELEMENTS on 21 March 2013:
our coalition goverment is infected with virus, the virus this time is LCD, father of the corrupt DC. Hope you have changed your wicked ways and realize this is the new government that is here for the benefit of Basotho. LEAVE YOUR SHINANIGANS WITH DC(DEATH CERTIFICATE).
Comment by Bofuma-tsoene on 21 March 2013:
Thabane ought to take legal measures against LCD corrupt depots sooner than we think or else his imagage will be tainted.
Comment by lofo on 21 March 2013:
All I am saying is you are myopic because you don’t want to see beyond the name Lebohang. If systems are lax, tighten the systems and refrain from slandering other people. If the man has broken the law, leave it to the law-makers to bring him to book. When you enter into a contract with anyone, you make clear what is expected and what is not expected. There is no magic wand that will do miracles. By saying that does not mean I am condoning corruption. All I am saying is that with silly regulations or lack of regulations thereof, corruption is hard to curb. I cannot stand on my head and start shouting that Lebo or someone else is corrupt without facts. If I charge you for something that you are not supposed to be charged for, why pay me? Make a query and request clarification, eventually demand the renegotiation of the contract. That’s how business go.
You talk as if you are in heaven or somewhere else, this reality, human beings behavior is monitored through clear guidelines. All human beings are amenable to unacceptable levels of behavior given a chance.
There is talk that as we speak, some members of a ruling party’s league have taken all the school feeding contracts and gave them to their cronies. Fact is, there will always be cronyism, and if uncurbed, it escalates to levels of corruption that are hard to eradicate because all systems, including legal, get tainted. It is a challenge to tighten the regulatory framework. And I repeat, unless you have evidence that Lebo Phooko has committed crime, you better close your mouth, otherwise take the evidence and give it to the police. We are tired of people who like to bad-mouth others without full facts. Look at the embarrassing episodes concerning the alleged millions stashed by Mokola Moleleki. Others were adamant that the gentleman from Machache had close to 20 million maloti belonging to government in various accounts in Lesotho and elsewhere. I am not going to climb the bandwagon and start calling people names without hard evidence.
The real criminals that usurped Basotho’s money through ponzi schemes are let loose and are enjoying freedom. My very close friend died of cardiac arrest because he could not get his money back from MKM. There is evidence of wrong-doing and the perpetrators are still enjoying good life.
South Africa has a similar problem to Lesotho whereby civil servants allocated themselves lavish tenders, since there were no regulations in place to curb this, it became a cancer. Now the government has made a ruling that no civil servant will tenders from the government.
Funny thing is that politicians (ministers) are left out. Politicians must never tender for government jobs. It is not smart to try and label the other members of the coalition as corrupt because you really do not know the full story of human greed, it permeates all levels and parties. They say; “those who live in glass houses should not throw stones”. I fully stand by these wise words.
Comment by Thakanyane on 21 March 2013:
Kese ke itse ho bona Coaliton,ke bona eka hotla photholoa batho pusong ena ea ntate Thabane.Leha bakeke ba tsoaroa feela sechaba setlbe se tseba nete.Nete ke tutulu hae bole
Comment by Lefefooane on 21 March 2013:
Joale leihlo leo la PS Phooko le entse joang? Kapa ke bojoalo. Leihlo leno lea mpelaetsa. How come you appoint a one eyed man for such a huge responsibility? Batho ba maihlo a mabeli ba ne ba le kae ha ho tla fuoa motho ea leihloana eo mosebetsi? Che ke potso. Ma LCD nkarabeng kea kopa.
Comment by Lefefooane on 21 March 2013:
@Lofo, I think you missed the point here. Unless you are able to identify what really is wrong you will keep on scribling that long literature justifying the Phooko and LCD/DC corruption while trying to make all of us here to beleive that the Phooko’s “took opportunity” while we sat and watched. This is exactly what let to the downfall of the DC and its tenderpreuners most of whom never survived even a month after the fall of the DC regime. Remember a fool and his money are soon parted. That thing which the Phookos and LCD/DC are doing to this nation is a shameful injustice and in no way should we keep quite. We condemn this in all strongest terms. This is corruption. Fortunately this is what really separates them(LCD?DC) from us ABC. LCD condones corruption while ABC shuns corruption. LCD is being run to benefit a few guys among them the Phookos. No wonder I am told one of the LCD MPs is heading for ambassadorship in China. This is pathetic and disgusting. ABC e kene lenyalono le litsila. Lenyalo lena la ABC le LCD ha lena molimo ka hare because the interests of LCD and ABC are different hence this marriage of convenience will surely not succeed. Unfortunately the Leribe Congress for Democracy is gradually loosing grip on the ground. Wake up LCD wake up!!!
Comment by Oa Maputsoe on 21 March 2013:
Lefefooane le bo mmate aooo LCD hase ntho ea ho oa bashana ba hesooo…jst bcoz we have da corrupt imbeciles like L.Phooko et al doesn’t necessarily mean all of us r corrupt….yes if dey r corrupt deal wit them accordingly tlohellang ho hula lekhotla la heso seretseng sa bashanyana banooo…LCD entse tla ka Leribe kaofela …le ha ukaba rata ABC ekese hlole e nka Leribe…masholu haa ts’oaroe LCD eona e leseloe!
Comment by china girl on 21 March 2013:
ching hua, oa fofa nonyana nice eteng, dc nice haeeo. dc bona ke tsotsi e ngata too mch.
Comment by lofo on 21 March 2013:
@Lefefooane, you are not saying anything about the regulatory systems that need to be put in place. You are just attacking personalities, forgetting that even a lot of those in your party are part of the rot that took place in previous governments. Your party is cobbled up of those individuals coming from various parties. Truth of the matter is that there is absolutely nothing you can do about the present coalition, you guys need one another. Your lifeline depends on being together and solving problems together, otherwise DC will be government any day. It needs just a few seats to make a stable government. That is reality, so you better “o boje o ntse o bots’oha” buti. I really wonder who fooled you into believing that your party is full of angels. You are living in a dreamland my friend.
What happened to dual citizenship? What happened to Ministers and MPs that have to declare their assets? When do we get the national IDs? etc. Politicians are the same brother, others only know how to hide their tracks better and most of them are in your party. It is just a matter of time before we know who killed Machakela, who shot Souru and who wanted to assassinate the MP for Motimposo.
What is needed is to accept that you all went into this union tainted with this or that. At least the leader of LCD accepted that a lot of bad things took place in his party, hence he called it “a new” LCD during his campaigns. A very humble leader indeed. As Basotho say, “sholu ke le ts’oeroeng”. Meaning, le masholu kaofela empa ba bang le eso ts’oaroe.
Remember that you need LCD to be government. That is reality. Suck it up, buttercup.
Comment by Bobete on 21 March 2013:
Enoa moshanyana o se a le taba li ngata haholo, o tlameha ho tebeloa ka public interest. Hothoe phokojoe e lebele linku?
Comment by Nkhono on 21 March 2013:
Che re bohloko ke justice system ea naha ena. Well known criminals are roaming free! That is the most disgusting thing about the current coalition led measures to unearth corruption. Why bother, if you are not going to make perpertrators pay! As for the LCD MP going to china, Ntate Metsing, for your sake, I pray that this is a lie, or else u will loose us, dedicated followers who have up to this moment, refused to be shaken or separated from you. Bo Phooko, Moleleki, Mosisili le ba bang, its high time they face the music. Hopolang hore Mosisili was even implicated lefung la mora oa hae. What became of that case? Fed up!
Comment by Nkhono on 21 March 2013:
Lofo, ur last comment, u opile khomo lenaka! Suck it up Lefefooane!
Comment by Tlhase on 21 March 2013:
Sodom and Gomorrah! The LCD/DC have made our country a Sodom and Gomorrah! Only GOD can save us. What nonsense is this that a blatant crime will be dealt with by a party! It’s ingenious, ke ho qosa thokolosi khotleng la moloi! We know that those that are close to the powers that be are granted a sort of immunity! We have seen this even in our neighbouring country with Julius Malema. It is only now that he has fallen out of favour that he is loosing everything. SARS new all along, the Public Protector, etc but did not act because he was serving Zuma at the time!
Comment by DC ea ka Bolu ba ka on 21 March 2013:
These Construction Services, ekare is now a spectator for construction of Maseru City Council roads, that had to be completed long time ago, and none has been completed to-date. Ekare Matekane e se e le eena ea qetelang mosebetsi! Hee la re leka Lepantiti lena la Phooko!
Comment by believe on 21 March 2013:
@ Lefefooane, which one of your leaders was alleged to have smuggled mandrax and also sold passports to chinese at his daughter’s office near bureau of statistics? Were the allegations ever investigated? I really wonder if they are as squeaky clean as you hope. Lofo is right to advise you to take deep breath and introspect. Each and everyone representing us there screwed at some point. Others did so deliberately while others through ignorance. Some made Agric and Lesotho Bank their party’s spaza shops. All these parties’ representatives in one way or the other, have skeletons which rattle loudly once you point fingers.
Comment by tapdancer47 on 21 March 2013:
Che banna! Meleko ena ea ha Phooko e hama naha ena ea Moshoeshoe hore e sale e le letsoatlara. Joale ke eo e ntse e le letona, ha ho na moo re eang Basotho!
Comment by tito on 21 March 2013:
ha hona thuso leha repoto e tsuile! taba tsa naha ena rea tseba li iphella fella, ‘me le tsena ntse li tla iphella feeeela!!
Comment by Ramanyalo on 21 March 2013:
Ho bona lekhoakhoa,, nako e ya lumela molimo o tla u thusa a o fe matla, ba hlatse baji bana.
Comment by Lekaota on 21 March 2013:
Litaba tsa naha ena li thata ruri. @tito, you are right, re se re li tloaetse tsa marata ha ho hlahelletse tse neng li ipatile, but ultimately it all goes quiet. ABC needs LCD to form a non DC government, Phooko if ele PS, ha re hle re bone ka eena. Thabane le ba mo potileng ba tlohele ho etsa marata feela mona, what we need now is a drastic action. I think this crap ya li accusation is starting to get to my nerves. Lintho li ngata tse shoelelletseng feela mona! E kae chelete yane ya lekala la temo eo ba bang ba matona ba lumetseng hore ba ikalimme yona? Ba nahana hore re lebetse? Hell no! re ntse re hopola straight! Feela u tle u shebe, mmuso ona wa makipikipi o lerata joalo ka li colour tsa bona (colour blocking), fashion li ee li fihli and li fete. This is just a beginning. Lipolotiki ke ntho tsa liheleng!!!!!!!!!
Comment by mohlalefi on 22 March 2013:
Ke itse Ra ka felisa Tlala ea Boja liKate within 3yrs. Na Hale nkholooe?
Comment by khathatso on 22 March 2013:
Yah,hahothoe ho Leqetsa ke hona hona hee,eseng banne baphare Mokola ka baseless allegations,taba etshoarehang ke ena,’me reka ngolla hae ka eona,
Comment by 'malere on 22 March 2013:
@ Mohlalefi
Se lahle tsepo ngoaneso hle, batho bana ba ha PHOOKO Dr. THABANE o ntsa e lokisa taba ea hore na ba ntsoe joang hanyane ka hanyane. Le Mr. Metsing o ea a ba hlokomela joale. Ho tla loka hle ngoaneso.
BOBULU BO FELE MORUO O HOLE TLALA E FELE HOBA SERA SA MOTHO KE TLALA.
Comment by Makhenefa on 22 March 2013:
Hei ba jele bana ba ha Phooko, ba nyonyobetse! Ho hana monono feela. Tsela ke eane e-ea peperana ka Katlehong, ho tsoa lekhalong la Mpilo; ka temong ho ea Maqalika, athe Hlotse mane, metsi a tsamaea a ema hohle mona, Maseru Mall teng ha ke sa bua; li-paving brick li ntse li tetebela feela. PTC, ke circle e manyoka. Ha e le tsela ea ho tloha Maseru ho ea Mafeteng eona ke malumela feela. Tsereoane culvert motho oa hehlemela ha o feta teng. Maseru City Counticl litsela li hanne ho fela, Matekane e se e bile a thusetsa, Phooko eona e nyonyobetse! Li-amature tseee! E mong ke lapantiti le khutlang, ha e mong e le le sebeletsang ho ea teng. @’malere, be careful. Ho na le supply company esale e ngolisoa. E ka ‘na ea ba ke hona e tla sebetsa
Comment by Lefefooane on 22 March 2013:
@lofo, hele monna! I will take some effort to respond to some of your accussations/allagations/claims etc etc etc.
1. Who said that the Phookos should loot the national treasury simply because there is no regulatory framework. Does the absence of a regulatory framework make the Phookos to loot. The answer is no. Looting is wrong. Le leshano lena la hore ha hona regulatory framework is just a misconception. There is a regulatory framework. It is strange that AVIS charged the tax payers for the service of vehicles under the motor plan. That is very strange indeed.
2. I never said my part is full of angels as you claim. But comparatively the level of corruption that existed under the previous regime was the worst that I had experienced in my lifetime. I will not forget a case wherby the then PM managed to buy a litre of liqui fruit for M74.00, a can of coke for M50.00 etc etc. Le ena Thabane a ka ‘makatsa ha nka utloa hore bobolu bo bokaalo bo etsahala under his watch.
3. Dual citizenship—- I will not respond on issues of dual citizenship laws as that is the business of government. I am not sure when they will pass that bill in parliament or when they will call us the popullace to vote on it. Besides ha ke sebetse musong. Rather I am I am one of the advocates of dual citizenship. Taba ea hore na neng, che e tla ntlola feela eona rea e hloka.
4. Ministers declaring interests —– again on this one really I am not a spokesperson for the government. However I am told that the LCD component in the chakalaka thing ke eona borike. Lets wait and see.
5. You claim that politicians are the same. This a myth. Otherwise why do we go for elections if politicians are the same. I would be worried if Thabane is deemed to be the same as mccd. They are totally different. Zuma is not the same as Mbeki. I would choose Mbeki to Zuma because I hated corrupt tendencies, he also hated corruption. La chaba!!!
Comment by kokona on 22 March 2013:
This is nothing but DC’s strategy of punishing Phooko for refusing to cross the floor to their side. They started with what was called forensic audit, that failed and spotlight turned to Moleleki. Now those who are Phooko’s business competitors want cronyism to favour them and are hell-bent on finding any excuse that can move Phooko out of the way. They are not any different from Phooko in ambitions.
DC are having a field day because what they wanted to happen may just happen if coalition is not smart enough to see.
Funny situation – business competitors and political opponents ganging up on Phooko. Leys see how it pans out. Politics is a dog eat dog game. Bloody game.
Comment by tlotlisang on 22 March 2013:
nt. Thabane a tlohele ho bolella matoala a molimo a senang tsebo hore Mokola o utsoitsoe chelete ea metsi a lihlaba. Ha a epe seboka sa matoala hape a a bolelle hore ke eo Phoko o jele lichelete tsa naha ena ka bobolu. We want to see Phooko being investigated and charged for the millions of money he is alleged to have stolen rather than spending our taxes on a desperate case against Mokola for allegedly awarding a prospecting licence to a Mosotho national contrary to the Mines and Minerals Act. No wonder why PM chose to tell his supporters a lie that Mokola stole the royalties from LHWP and avoided to say much on the charge on Moleleki. It is because there is no case there. Just like the other cases that Mokola won with costs from government, he will win these one also.
Comment by mr chinese on 22 March 2013:
selkol Moosa got so much shit with the LRA for fruading 7-8 milion in 10 years.
what will These and Lebohang Phooko get for frauding 7-8 milion a month? or its just they are Basothos so they wont be pinalized?
o, no , we still want to go to times….he
Comment by mr chinese on 22 March 2013:
now , i want to see some figures , how much does Gol pay Avis a month??
lets see where our tax payer money ends up.
Comment by Lefefooane on 22 March 2013:
You see, all of you guys who say ABC needs LCD in order to form a government then you miss the point. As far as I am concerned, ABC is better without being in government than being in government with fraudsters and looters. This is my opinion though. It defeats the whole struggle if at the end of the day we (ABC) have to sort of protect the looters and fraudsters solely for the sake of “staying in government”. ABC has to make a hard choice indeed, because we can not go on protecting or atleast be seen to be protecting corrupt guys who looted the treasury and the poor taxpayers. What’s the point really? Nka map ka lula ke sa nyala ho ena le ho ba in an “abusive” marriage. As far as I am concerned, ABC is in an abusive marriage in which the husband (LCD). LCD must come up clean.
Comment by mr chinese on 22 March 2013:
@ lefefooane
a african political party to be clean?
its like looking for a virgin @Times @23:00
impossible
Comment by Lefefooane on 22 March 2013:
@believe, ha ke lepolesa hence I may not know what happened to the docket allerging some guy is selling mandrax. To me the issue of selling and/or buying mandrax is a personal choice that one makes without looting the treasury and the poor tax man. It matters less to be the issue of some idiot selling madrax to another. What matters to me is my tax being used to fund the lavish lifestyles of the few individuals of a certain family. You see, the money that buys mandrax is not my tax hence I care less. Le batho ba li tsubang ke taba ea bona. Nka ba le bothata if the said mandrax are purchased using my tax. Ntsa li mandrax tabeng tsa bobolu le tax tsa sechaba sa Basotho. Re bua bobolu uena u inahanetsa ho tsubba li mandrax. Nxa.
Comment by nandos on 22 March 2013:
basotho’s are pussy’s
weak and soft
this company has been exposed, and yet no arrest has been made. Avis still in business.
Tc still living large and clubing in his own club.
shame on basothos
all they know is targeting chinese and indians , pakis, when it comes to their own boys no one has the balls to jump out and blow whistle.
its basothos who corrupt the worse, yet chinese and indians always the escape goat. shame
Comment by lofo on 22 March 2013:
@ Lefefooane, lets check the facts: Phooko is not the PS for Public Service as the reporter says. Phooko is not in charge of the management of the government fleet, PS Finance is the one who is in charge of the fleet management. Seahlolo and Avis are South African companies. Phooko did not bill the Government. Phooko does not represent Avis or Seahlolo, he is just a shareholder just like me having bought shares in one of the retail properties here in Maseru. The government is fully aware of the report, having been completed in 2012. The government decided to extend the contract in order that the monies owed to it can be recouped. The government did not have a budget to buy new fleet and to manage it.
The way that this paper has reported on the issue regarding the status of Phooko is sensational, the tabloid way, made to sell because the name Phooko is bankable and has a political cloud. The paper has cunningly piggybaged on the name in order to sell. Phooko as an individual has done nothing wrong here. I REPEAT, Phooko has done nothing wrong here!!! Get your top secret agents / private investigators to sniff and they will corrobrate my assertion. No one is going to be sued because the two parties in the contract have agreed to look into the irregularities. Do not read between the lines. What is important is to check whetther those issues that have been agreed upon are being met to the letter.
What comes up clearly is that those who are supposed to have done the job did not do it, these are government officers in charge of the management of the transport fleet. These are the ones who advise Principal Secretaries in all ministries. Ministry of Finance has full responsibility here to have seen to it that the contractual relations between government and Avis are not to the detriment of either party.
The vitriol metted against Phooko more than meets the eye. It is perpertuated by jealousy, political agenda and probably personal ( mohlomong bophelong ba lona o kile a nkela emong kharebe).
You do make a lot of sense in most cases, but you are blinded by serious political fanatism and furious hatred, especially against the congress parties and anyone that seem to be closer to them. All of us hate corruption, but facts must not be hidden away in a crusade to vilify Phooko, a relative to a congress man, the deputy leader of LCD.
In this story that is in three different heading, the obvious failure is the Ministry of Finance, who were thumb sucking when it comes to contracts management. They are not alone in this predicament. Most contracts are not managed well due to mostly lack of training and large business coniving with political parties and having undue influence on how government runs its affairs. The huge campaign monies given to policial parties by the private sector are the source of rampant corruption. Their companies run to cabinet ministers when they are requested to perform by officers, and there is in most cases, interference from corporate world. How many Lesotho companies perform beyond reproach when they have to provide goods and services to government? Most are characterised by utter incompetence and whining.
Having said the above, I urge you my friend Lefefooane, to remove the political party blinkers when analysing facts, or best still, go back to school and learn how to objectively analyse facts. Its political party fanatics who are a liability to this country, you included of course.
Comment by sisili on 22 March 2013:
@lofo
bs, bs, bs
conflict of interest, Gol officials has major share in company that tenders Gol tender? do you have no sense that this is conflict of interest?
If there is no Phooko, Tescon can get all this jobs and rental business? are you what 3yrs old?
try to talk for phooko, his got 200mil in his bank account. he is good. he will retire happy.
Comment by Lefefooane on 22 March 2013:
@Lofo, stop preaching and bombarding me with this long list of factless literature. Go straight to the point. Next time I will not respond. Having said that, do you say Phooko is not corrupt? If so then you must be living in mars. Basotho boohle ba tseba ka bobolu ba Phooko. You naively and narrowly preach to us that Avis is a South African company, hence, it should in no way be associated with the Phoooko’s. This is the most stupid reasoning I have come across in business circles. U bua joalo ka ngoana. Grow up my man. Simply because KFC is an American company is enough to say a KFC at Maseru bus stop is not Mosotho owned it is American? Hona ke mopoto. Next you shift the blame to the PS of finance, yet you fail to disclose that he is equally corrupt as the Phooko’s. PS Khethisa is another corrupt PS just like PS Khetsi of home affairs. The three ps’ (Finance, public works and Home affairs) top the list of the most corrupt ps’s and they are the ones who played a vital role in making sure mccd does not get back to power. LCD should continue to associate with these guys at own peril but I bet they are the weakest link in LCD.
Ke pheta hape: ‘NA LE BA NTLO EA KA RE NENA BOBOLU KA LITSELA TSOOOOHLE TSA BONA.
Comment by Tlhase on 22 March 2013:
This country is going to the Dogs. I have never in my life seen such gross and blatant corruption as I am seeing now with the LCD/DC. Please Ntate Thabane, be our messiah and save us from this evil that has engulfed us. It matters not whether Lebohang made the decision on the contract. The fact that the vehicles are also rented to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport where he calls the shots is a clear conflict of interest! He will maximise incidents of so-called service and abuse the vehicles so that he makes more money for himself and his family who own AVIS. Essentially as PS, he can also instruct drivers to request extra car mats and approve the requests so that he pays his own company in the end. Remember as Chief Accounting Officer, he also signs off and pays all funds to his OWN company. To me that is enough to be called blatant corruption. Why is Mr/Miss/Mrs Lofo trying to justify corruption? I really wonder?
Comment by Tlhase on 22 March 2013:
I have never heard of rented car mats and paying of service for a car on a service plan or motorplan. This country is sick and mark my words, It is going to the dogs unless something very drastic happens soon.
Comment by Tlhase on 22 March 2013:
This guy has been given a blank cheque to pay his own company any amount he wants. He can always say they rented more cars, mats or something like that!
Comment by mohlalefi on 23 March 2013:
Helang!
Dual, Ha se ea hao Feela.Le lla ka machaena,Le Bona, ba batla Dual ea Lesotho. Free movement and work for Basotho in S.A. Does not need Dual.South Afrika Ke habo Basotho.Ke phetho.Tsomo Ka mathetho.
METSI? Metsi ke Bophelo!Rea philisana.Ache!
Comment by kokona on 23 March 2013:
@ Lefefooane, you confuse franchise with buying shares in a company. Lofo is right. When you have bought shares you do not own business. The mistakes that are made by a firm where one bought shares cannot be attributed to you just by association. Your example of KFC is not correct in this instance. You also sound angry and you insult others.
Comment by Ts'ets'e on 23 March 2013:
Khilik! Basotho re ka be re le hole ka bophelo, joale bo LEQE ba ntse ba le teng ka hara ‘muso oa rona oo re o ratang. Ke ba ts’oants’a le toeba e phunyang sesiu kamorao, e be e ea ja ha monga lijo a re o ntse a bokella. Monga lijo o se a bona ha sesiu se oela hore Oa ‘Matoeba khaaaaaale a inyakalatsa ka lijo. Seeeee!
Comment by Ts'ets'e on 23 March 2013:
Hee rea phoqoa hle!
Comment by lofo on 23 March 2013:
@ Lefefoone you sound like a typical political groopie who holds a grudge and a list of People who have to go just because you do like them for not belonging to your party. Mamalente days are back to haunt us, but in a different guise. You cannot tell me what to do when responding to your childish whinging. The article is about the lack of expertise by government in the fleet management contract. And the advantage that AVIS took. Phooko happens to own shares in AVIS. There are many people who own shares in AVIS and Seahlolo, what shares Phooko owns is just a drop in the ocean. That is a fact.
The PSs that you have now fielded and wearing your political colours, would you say they are angels? What of the ministers? I really pity your “innocence”. I know better, but typically I give people second chances to prove themselves, until they screw up again.
@ Tlhase, Like your twin brother Lefefooane, you have twisted logic. You take the concept of conflict of interest to grazy levels and confuse yourself in the process. One recuses themselves from taking decisions and becoming a member of tender panel or decision making body if their company or firm that carry their interests has tendered. However, once that firm has won a particular tender, nothing stops them from being a signatory in the payment of the bills that accrue therefrom. No one has a magic wand that will determine which tender wins. A tender that will comply with the terms of reference and is lower wins. But if the one that wins is highest, it is negotiated downwards. If you are a CEO and you have to get paid, you will still cosign your own check. PSs like CEOs have a team that advises them, a PS that ignores advise and screws up usually lends into trouble.
It is the job of the team to scrutinise the invoices before they recommend them for payment. If they do not do that, they get themselves and the PS into serious trouble. Payments get queried at many levels, from managers, directors, financial controllers/accountants to the PS. A financial controller has powers to refuse to pay a fraudulent bill, even if instructed by the PS. Accountants belong to the Accountant General, just like law officers belong to Attorney General. Your ignorance make you believe that PSs are some demi gods. Yes they are powerful politically (not all of them though), but they have limited powers when it comes to money matters.
Comment by pit on 23 March 2013:
Can someone please explain to me how an individual stealing money has anything to do with LCD being rotten. The fact remains the Phookos felt protected by their connection with MCCD and they did not steal money because they were LCD but because they were all in it from the top man.
I wouldn’t be suprissed that ba pimpuoe ke MCCD since the family fell out.
The day someone comes and tells me the leader of LCD is rotten and Involved in fraudulent money stealing activities I will gladly stop defending LCD but as for now LCD remains cleaner than ABC and DC .
The troubles of Lesotho recently have been between DC leadership and ABC leadership and they have a lot to answer to with corruption and instability in Lesotho.
It’s high time people leave Metsing alone, yes he is being used by some of these dirty characters but he has nothing to answer to with all the corruption mentioned here…
Comment by windows on 24 March 2013:
I ask myself why you people get worked up by an old report that has been taken care of? The government is being repaid by AVIS as we speak. Nothing is lost. What remains to be done is a disciplinary action against the following: Transport officers, managers, DPSs, PSs and all the ministers who fell victim to AVIS overcharging gimmicks. This is more of an embarrassment, gross negligence, and lack of leadership than an individual being corrupt as alleged by all or some of you. It is equally surprising that the very same group that you say is incompetent, is getting huge salary increases as I read from public eye. It is a shame. It is high time you Basotho have your priorities right.
Comment by Halakasha on 24 March 2013:
Esale These Phoolo a etsa mocha oa tsela mane pela high court likhoeli tse fetang 10 le hona joale o ntse a sa bonahale eka a ka e qetela,who is monitoring this guy?
Comment by Bohobe on 24 March 2013:
@ Lofo…u seem to be directly or indirectly benefiting in this corruption scheme or process. The manner in which you address yourself gives me a platform to say you are encouraging the illegal benefit schemes by our leaders. If our leaders priorities are money, they must venture into business like other business men and women and leave politics and the public service to the educated civilians who will serve us with pride.
Comment by Maddog on 25 March 2013:
Hee motho u eabe u fihlile naheng ena e tletseng bobolu. Motho u ea nyekeloa ha u utloa litaba tse nyonyehang hakana tsa basotho ba bolileng, basotho ba ikemiselitseng ho futsanehisa Lesotho ho fihlela lea liheleng. ‘Muso oa Lesotho ha o ke o tsamaee o ee Rwanda ba tsebe ho ithuta hore na tsamaiso e nepahetseng ke e joang. Rwanda e felisitse likoloi tsa ‘muso ka baka la ts’ebeliso e mpe ea tsona. Basebetsi ba teng ba sebelisa likoloi tsa bona, moo ho pataloang mileage eo le eona ‘muso o laolang ts’ebeliso ea teng.
Re khathetse ke ho utloa ka litaba tsa lelapa lena la ha Phooko le bolileng habohloko kahara naha ena ea Lesotho. Lelapa le malimabe le etsang liketso tse soto tsa bobolu molemong oa ho ithuisa ka likhafa tsa mafutsana ana a Lesotho. Ke neng lelapa lee le bolileng hakale le tlang ho qosoa le ee teronkong? Re khathetse ho utloa ka lapa lena le khopo. Motho ha u itsoela naheng eo batho ba sebetsang ka bots’epehi ho tloha holimo matoneng hoea tlaase ho ea fielang, u utloa u nyonya ha u ntse u utloa litaba tse khopo tsa lelapa la ha Phooko ba ikemiselitseng ho bolaea sechaba sa Lesotho ka bobolu ba bona. Phooooaaaaa! Basotho ba khopo le ho feta satane!!!
Comment by Maddog on 25 March 2013:
@windows, Taba ea pele ke hore na AVIS eo ea hau e ne e nkelang lichelete tsa Lesotho ka bolotsana? Hore na ba patetse kapa che, hase moo taba eleng teng, taba ke hore ke masholu, ‘me ‘muso o tlameha ho sebetsana le eona AVIS eo ea bobolu.
Comment by Lefefooane on 25 March 2013:
@Lofo, you never cease to ammuse me. First of all you claim this article is about “Lack of expertise in government”. Ke ipotsa hore na u phela hantle kapa che. This article is not about your so-called “lack of expertise in government”. Even the title tells a different story. The title reads: “Massive Looting Unearthed”. The three words(MASSIVE, LOOTING, UNEARTHED) in no way refer to some lack of expertise as you claim. Rather the journalist is merely drawing our attention to something MASSIVE. That MASSIVE THING which the journalist draws our attention to is LOOTING. I am really surprised that you divert the purpose of the “Massive Looting unearhed” article to mean lack of expertise in government. Again you claim Phooko and Avis “took advantage of the loopholes”. Mona teng ke ipotsa hore na u motho ea nkang hantle kapa che. First of all I even wonder if you noticed that the forensic audit that unearthed the “massive looting” was done by world bank. Those looting activities included the following:
1. Avis charged the poor Lesotho tax payer by renting out things like rubber mats and tint on the windows. So every month a tint on the AVIS car was fetching some rental amount as per AVIS claim.
Now you want to call this a loophole in the contract. You must be the only person on of the worlds 6 billion people who would rent a tint on the window of a car. Let alone renting rubber mats. Hao Molimo oa khotso, ha u ka mpa lata motho eo oa hau ea bitsoang Lofo?
From now on, I will call you Mr. Tint. Please accept this name for atleast the duration of this discussion. As far as I know Tint is a once off thing.
Comment by lofo on 25 March 2013:
@ Lefefooane, the report by the World Bank exposes the glaring inefficiencies in government’s machinery and lack thereof by departments to interrogate bills that are sent for payment. The report by IFC does not have headlines “Massive looting”. This is your reporter’s interpretation. He is free to give it interpretation from what he understood when reading. My headlines would read “MASSIVE INERTIA IN GOVERNMENT”. This is because the article and report exposes serious lapses in the government machinery.
Look at it this way: You are sent bills to settle, you settle without scrutinizing them. You pay for tints, mats and all. You do this for 5 or so years. You pay someone from Washington to come and tell you that you have been screwed because you have been paying for things that you should not pay for. That is dumb brother.
You are now red faced and looking for a scapegoat, damnnnn, that rich guy Lebo, he must be taking the money to enrich himself from the mats and tints. Why? Because he owns shares in the company that I overpaid, he is the root of all this, yes he must be…. I say BOLLOCKS!!! Grow up. Own up to your stupidity!!!
The problem with you Lefefooane, you think what only passes is your half baked analyses (I am elevating you , should be gossips ea li rally tsena tseo u li tsamaeang), your otherwise fertile minds is compromised by your myopic party political collar that you are wearing on your neck. Some of us like politics, but we are not slaves to brainwashing. Mokhoa oa motho ea kang uena, ea ipompang (running tantrums) ka ho nahana hore what he says is gospel truth, u bonahala u rata ha batho ba bang ka nkuoa ke Koe-eoko, euphemism for Molimo.
@ Bohobe, ha ke tsebe hore na o lofo kapa half lofo, no one is encouraging leaders to do anything, but this article or report by world bank exposes the type of people you emply to look after our taxes. Nepotism, patronage, cronysm, are all coming back to bite your ass. You are now exposed, naked. He he he he he, li directara, li ps, diplomatic posts, dps ba tlameha ho sapota phathi e litulong, blah blah blah liealemoheng mona. Le tla kutula seo le sejalang. Ba tla li patala li mmete hee batho bao ba lona ba mebala ea lipolotiki. Joale e se e le nyoefenyoefe Lebohang. Tsa mo likelang Maqalika koana.
@Maddog, ehlile ke bona eka bohlanya-ntja u khabile ka bona. Ha ho moo u fapaneng le libupuoa tsena bo Bohobe le Lefefoone (bitso lebe ke seromo, enoa ena o fafoloa ke maikutlo). Go back to school and learn how to analyse articles. Le uena u tlameha u nkiloe ke sekhahla sa liboka tsa weekend. Ha ke raliboka nna. Ha ke rate (I detest) bobolu ka pelo ea ka kaofela, feela ha ke rate ha batho (babali) ba sothoa maikutlo ka ho tlisa hidden agendas, to attack individuals and singling them out for that matter, on an issue that claerly implicates so many actors. Tlhotlhelletso kea e nyonya. Play the ball and not the person. Ha ke thabisoe ke bo phephelletsane hloba-se-nkotong.
Comment by Lefefooane on 25 March 2013:
@Lofo, The article claims that there was a Massive looting by the Phooko brothers. And instead of telling us that there was no looting you decide to tell us that the loot happened because our civil servants are inept. Interestingly you never deny that there was looting but what you disagree is if we blame the looter(Phooko) instead you say we should blame the victim of the loot because of being inept. That is the difference between you and me. For Avis to charge the taxpayer rental fee for tint and mats was the most unfortunate thing any noble man can do to his fellow citizens/taxpayers. It even stattles me how the looter cam to think of charging the tax payers to rent mats and metallic paint. Imagine paying for a metallic paint for the entire duration of the lease period. Oooee batho ba molimo. Chehe ba ne ba entse sentele sa bobolu ‘musong o fetileng. E tjena taba ke qala ho e utloa. A client being asked to rent tint and rubber mats? Good people. But ke mpa ke makala because not so long ago the then prime minister was paying M74.00 for a litre of liqui fruit and M55.00 for a can of coke. No wonder he made the taxpayers rent rubber mats and tint paint from Avis and Phooko Brothers.
Comment by Tlhase on 25 March 2013:
Lofo, we are not so ignorant that we don’t know how government works. We know how Financial Controllers work as well as their dual reporting to Accountant-General as Head of Treasury and Directors at their resident departments. What you are saying is completely irrelevant and impractical. Recently our driver expressed the need to install a tow bar for a car. All he did was make a request and the request was signed by Director and then PS. The Financial Controller has NO PART in dictating the needs but just checks whether there is a budget and processes this in the IFMIS system. What would stop the PS from colluding with people down in the hierarchy and a driver for that matter. Nothing at all Mr Lofo. Lebohang is paying cheques to his own company and signing off these cheques himself. This is wrong Mr Lofo. As far as I’m concerned, any Code of Conduct worth its salt or an individual of integrity should not have a company in which he owns shares being contracted by the company he/she works in more so, if they have influence at the level of PS, regardless of whether they signed the deal or another PS – note at the same level signs off the deal. This means to me, that Lebohang even if they declared and recused themselves from the procurement process, should not have bid in the first place. By any standards, from any country, this is CONFLICT OF INTEREST Sir! It is called double dipping and is unethical. It may not be a crime but it is unethical and subject to question. It fails this test of integrity which deals by people at his level must be subjected to. From your twisted sense of logic, you are trying to say public officers should get lucrative contracts from Government, the same thing the South African government is trying to eradicate because it is problematic and unethical. Lebohang must quit the civil service to become a businessman who can do business with Government. It is people like you, who show wanting moral judgement that make this country worse.
If I was CEO of a public company or state owned enterprise, is it right that I become a supplier of the the company or entity I am entrusted to protect the interests of in a balanced manner without favouring anyone! It does not work that way Mr Lofo. The gross conflict of interest is clear. If AVIS does not perform, will he censor or protect his own interests? And secondly as PS, he had access to internal and probably confidential information that may disadvantage other bidders. The other bidders should have challenged this. The World Bank, IMF or other organizations in their procurement rules disallow such practices! Is it because they are idiots Sir?
Comment by Tlhase on 25 March 2013:
“One recuses themselves from taking decisions and becoming a member of tender panel or decision making body if their company or firm that carry their interests has tendered. However, once that firm has won a particular tender, nothing stops them from being a signatory in the payment of the bills that accrue therefrom. No one has a magic wand that will determine which tender wins. A tender that will comply with the terms of reference and is lower wins. But if the one that wins is highest, it is negotiated downwards. If you are a CEO and you have to get paid, you will still cosign your own check. PSs like CEOs have a team that advises them, a PS that ignores advise and screws up usually lends into trouble.”
If you are saying it is right and you see nothing wrong to sign a cheque of Government to yourself just because you co-sign then your warped and up-side-down sense of logic beats me! Fortunately you will not become Prime Minister of this country!
Secondly, your two statements are fundamentally flawed Sir, to say that the lowest, compliant tender wins. The Public Procurement Regulations 2007 do not say this. This is true for organizations such as World Bank, MCA and NOT Government. This is the discretion of the evaluation panel which then passes it to Tender panel – chaired by PS in that Ministry to award contract. Your statement that if highest is chosen, the price is negotiated downwards is wrong as well. this is not necessarily the case unless it may be a recommendation from tender panel or Tender Committee or PS (who by the way has the authority to overrule the evaluation panel).
There are more incorrect statements you make I will correct.
Comment by Tlhase on 25 March 2013:
” If you are a CEO and you have to get paid, you will still cosign your own check.” – It is only by your standards Mr Lofo where this happens. As far as I know, from the companies I have worked for, the CEO gets the board to have a special resolution to be allowed to sign any items as it is clearly stated in that this specific authority is not delegated if the CEO has an interest. It is called Good Governance, Mr Lofo and you may want to consult King III Codes of Good Governance for confirmation.
Comment by Tlhase on 25 March 2013:
Public service has their own standards and I am sure they do not prescribe Chief Accounting Officers, or PS’es signing their own cheques!
Comment by Tlhase on 25 March 2013:
Mr Lofo, What do you mean they are limited when it comes to money matters. They are the ones that actually control Ministry budget. The Financial Controllers only make sure that what they are buying is budgeted for. Unless I do not understand the meaning of LIMITED. How can someone be the Chief Accounting Officer and the only individual empowered in terms of the Constitution (establishment of office of PS) and Public Service Act No 1 of 2005 – subsection 1 that states “The PS is the CAO and overall supervisor of the Ministry”. The Minister cannot sign a contract but PS can! How do you say their powers are limited? We are not ignorant fools Mr Lofo. In your effort to defend your beloved Lebohang through other means. I can tell you one thing for sure, if the PS wants a contract today, it can be done and signed tomorrow. Go and read the Public Service Act No. of 2005 as well as the Public Financial Management and Accountability Act of 2008 that replaced the Finance Order of 1988. Bob Marley said, “You can fool some people sometimes, but you can’t fool all the people all the time”! Cheers bro
Comment by Tlhase on 25 March 2013:
I meant, Public Financial Management and Accountability Act of 2011.
Comment by Tlhase on 25 March 2013:
Now that Lebo Phooko’s has over 200 million in his bank account from looting the state, maybe Lofo will get a share for being their loyal spin doctor.
It is unfortunate that the looting has now enriched these corrupt individuals for life and they are set as well as theri children, grand children and next six generations of Phooko’s. Hona ke bomalimabe bo hlollang especially as it is from looting state resources.
Comment by Tlhase on 25 March 2013:
Lofo, did you care to know that Phooko is in court for another case involving such practices?
Comment by molomo mosehlanyana on 25 March 2013:
bashana bana ba Qacha baeja baimameletse eona chelete ena ea sechaba banna mh! Athe naha etletse litsila tse tjee?
Homakatsang kehore lehona Qacha koana hoteng ho limpana hothoe ke admin le ho hlooho e mokhamo tjena bona baeja ka hopatalisa ‘muso hararo kokstat ha Eurocar ha likoloi li e ea tokisong ebe ba pataloa ha morao ke deal e bileng ea tsoarisa likoloi tsa ‘muso kalereng liea kolota hona ka koana hapuso e fetoha tseling lilahluoe moo hothoeng liqaleng limetse joang,hee bokhopo! Hlaphoha LCD mapotoana atsohile matla a o shebisa sechaba hampe.
Comment by lofo on 25 March 2013:
@Thlase, ke bona le ho utloa u ntso itlatlarietsa u pheta lifela. Ha ho moo u fapaneng le lefahla Lefefooane. You make inferences and you want them to be reality. There is no where it is said Lebo has defrauded government. Nowhere. I have a hunch you paid this reporter to say things that would suit your perspective of things. I have a hunch that you must be one of the small boys that come from this particular institution that brow beats officers into implicating others in an effort to get conviction. You sound extremely frustrated. What is clear is that you are part of this corrupt crusade that supports nepotism, favours and rewards for party followers, especially those who got whacked in the past elections. You are now looking to areas where you can place them and you vilify those whom you think stand in your plans. I said you have to deal with systems first before you can effectively deal with corruption. For as long as you put people in positions of influence just because they belong to your party, you perpetuate the very same problems that bedevil this nation. Meritocracy wins the day, but for you it is different, ba hailang ke bona libosso. Praise singing and flag waiving are your preferred methods of filling in posts. Ke tseo he ka molekeng.
Tlhase, you said a similar claim over the radio and other medium about a certain former minister, that you were sure he had 4 accounts that had at least 6 million maloti each. What happened when the accounts were frozen and looked into? Not even 4 million was found in all the accounts put together. Lies, gossip and speculation was bandied as reality. This is what you are doing now. You are fishing about and in the process you want speculation to be a fact.
When I say PSs are limited I really mean that. When you are the Chief Accounting Officer you work through others. Accountability permeates the whole strata. The kind of people that you take from your political parties (cadre deployment) to become PSs are limited in knowledge in most cases, you are just rewarding them for being your guys. They mostly cannot even spell the word “ethics”. Ke balisana ba letsoku. They make a lot of silly mistakes like using savingram to write to their counterparts in South Africa. Now you are surprised when they pay for rubber mats and tint hire. I am not. The minutes these posts are filled in through merit, by people who understand government procedures and public service regulations, that is the time when this nation will rest in peace. Lefefooane and you play double standards. You claim to hate corruption but you promote it through your fraudulent political party practices. Now you cry foul, Lebohang is a political appointee, he is not there through merit. Any mistakes that he makes are a result of your preferred methods of hiring – a corrupt method. “Don’t cry for me Argentina”. I am having a whale of a time because ntja e ja ntjanyana, joale u re re u ts’ehetse ha u batla ho kenya another political appointee, u nts’a bao u reng ba jele joale ke nako ea hore ba bang ba je…then complain afterwards. Get lost. I am not that gullible. I do not waste my sympathy on corrupt practices that are hatched at the weekend political rallies and linakeli in the dark of night.
One thing I give you credit for is your preoccupation with Lebo, you know his bank balances, that he has other issues to answer for. Now if you know so much about the man and his fraudulent acts, why don’t you go to the police, and stop fishing around canvassing support for half baked theories.
You mention IFMIS. A very useless system that is vulnerable and very unreliable. We will soon hear embarrassing stories about it, similar to the AVIS story. Money disappears from that system without having been spent. Anyone with the so called rights could manipulate NYIFMIS eno ea hau. For your information, Financial Controllers give advice to PSs.
You are busy reading from the acts about what is supposed to be. I am talking about reality on the ground. Uena u moihloe hara lifofu, but you act like a “starring”.
You talk about PSs colluding with drivers, that is the kind of PSs you prefer, those who know nothing about the civil service. Where I work, the driver would never buy a tow bar like you mentioned, it will be through the procurement, they are the ones who will be getting quotations and paying for the lowest. PS comes in when he has to authorise order book. It is surely not between 3 people as you mentioned. There are more checks and balances than you have in your example mfo wethu.
Lefefooane you pay for those things that you mentioned because you are stupid. Plain and simple, now you are embarrassed by your stupidity and you want someone to wipe you moronic tendencies away. I would definitely fire your black butt. You are a disgrace. A total failure…”I have been cheated, I have been cheated”. You are just not worth the space that you are occupying. How on earth do you justify paying for those silly items without questioning them? Ignoramus – pea brain…arg sis maan. Lucky you are being reimbursed.
Comment by mohlalefi on 26 March 2013:
HA E LALE!Ba Hesong! Bakoena,Bafokeng,Bataung,Baphuthi,Batlokoa,Basia,Makholokooe,Batlokoa,Baroa,Bathapi,Matebele.Ba ke ba sieleng,Ha se lehloeo.Khotso ho bo Bohle le Bo ‘Mene.Ke sesotho seo…Molimo a be le Rona.
Comment by Lefefooane on 26 March 2013:
@Lofo, please re-read that last peace of literature then you will surely agree it does not makes sense. Even, Mr. Lebohang Phooko would be disgusted if his self appointed defendant can just run out of logic and stuff like you did. First of all, I have never worked or contracted any service for the Lesotho government. I do not even see myself working for the Lesotho government. Again I never call on radios to express my opinions rather I devote a lot of my time reading and advising fellow country men how they can root out Corruption, Nepotism and Looting. You never replied to Tlhase when he said the King III code of corporate governance does not allow for a CEO the execute the powers that were not given to him by the board. Instead of you asking and or lamenting about your lack of knowledge about the King III you decide to digress and bit about the bush and insult us. My worry though, is that the Lesotho government is still stuck with the King I code of practice and most corporates in Lesotho are still stuck with King II codes and none is implementing king III. But that does not give them the license to loot the treasury.
My final warning to Lofo, LOOTING IS BAD, REGARDLESS OF WHO DOES IT. Please advise Mr. Lebohang Phooko that it was obscene of him to LOOT the treasury using his company called Seahlolo. It is wrong to LOOT the poor tax payers of this land by making them rent a tint on car. Please my man, get your senses correct. From now on I will refer you as Mr. Tint or Mr. Rubber mats.
Comment by Puleng on 26 March 2013:
@Tlhase, le Lefefooane, ke kopela ngoana enoa emong mohau hle. Holekane Bakuena. Lofo o utloile hleng. Please guys stop harassing Lofo. It is enough. Lofo le uena a ko thole ha u sa tsebe. Tlohella ho tsireletsa bobolu khaitseli ea ka.
Lefefooane, Tlhase please stop harassing Lofo. Kea kopa. Lofo le uena a ku thole u tlohele ho itlontlolla.
Comment by believe on 26 March 2013:
@Lefefooane, how many public agencies in Lesotho understand corporate governance? How many of the PSs understand even simple regulations of government? What about directors and everybody else in government? To reduce corruption, it is better to advertise the positions of PSs. The best man or woman must get the job. Training in corporate governance must be essential for any one from level of directors. Ministers must not be left out. The agencies report to ministers through boards. However, corporate governance in government departments? Its a bit far-fetched. Departments are loath to make even simple business plans. Lofo is right, the main culprit is appointing people on political colors. I think that is where your theory about governance fails. This is because even in the boards, quality of the members is crucial. But the problem is that the boards interface with pss and ministers who are big on political expediency . This manifests corruption.
Comment by Blackwadada on 26 March 2013:
“The report says with the money the government spends on Avis it can buy 900 to 1 000 vehicles every year”
Comment by Lefefooane on 26 March 2013:
@believe, to answer your question my brother I can say 1% of the Lesotho corporate world partly understands corporate governance. Most of the 1% are the South African based companies which are listed in the JSE. For example, Standard Bank, Nedbank etc. This could largely be attributed to the fact that since 2009 it became mandatory that a listed company implements the King III code and principles. One thing you can applaud our big four banks is the Chapter 9 of the King III Code on Integrated Reporting and Disclosure. Most Companies are still found lacking on the implementation of Chapter 4 (RisK Governance and mitigation thereof) of King III Code. On Chapter 7 (Internal Audit) then our local companies do have such departments but more often they never fully understand their role hence the companies are forever exposed to high levels of risks and non compliance.
Most Corporates do have board of directors the majority of whom are either irrelevant to the core business of the corporate or are either friends or members of one grouping or family. In most parastatals one becomes a board member by virtue of being a PS in some ministry. In other words he accounts to himself. Strange isn’t it. For instance, it is not surprising to find PS communications to be a board member of LCA (A regulator funded by government). In other words that board member assumes dual responsibilities. O itja sekhababa. As for GOL there is purely no corporate governance at all. At all. That is why the GOL can’t even publish its books of accounts. In fact the last time I checked with them they could not even say how much their assets are. The GOL assets registrar is in such shambles hence the minister will always dish out money every February under the so-called budge without telling the nation how the previous allocations were used.
Comment by lofo on 27 March 2013:
@Lefefooane and @Tlhase, sorry guys for ruffling your feathers. The intention was to draw a commonality between you and the one you are erroneously accusing of overcharging by Avis. You see my brethren, you are cut from the same cloth with the accused. You are apparatchiks, i.e., belong to political parties, and are rivals in the political and business environment – similar dna. I do not belong to any political party, I support good policies irrespective of colour of the flag. I am disillusioned with Lesotho politics, but I am not naive.
I brought up the issue of the problem that exists in public sector which is a lack of regulatory framework and incessant party political interest and that interest is highjacked for personal gain. I also indicated that most of those who are put in positions of influence in the sector, are there because they are party functionaries.
I decried the over-billing of the government by Avis/Seahlolo, but adamant that it is not the fault of Lebo. I averred that both Avis and government are to blame for the situation.
You guys pointed the issue of importance of ethics, which you say Lebo lacks, and I differed with you bu saying that the company from which he bought shares is the one that is implicated in the situation. Had both parties resolved their differences early on time, i.e., at the commencement of the contract, there would be no story that made headlines. If officers diligently did their job, the overcharging would not have happened. I went to say, the important fact is that the monies are being recouped as we speak by extended contract by 1 year. Granted, I made mockery of the whole thing by saying yes, if you see a loophole, you use it, while this is true in many situations, especially in law and business, my intention was draw your attention to human behavior, not that I support the overcharging.
You brought the issue of conflict of interest. The trouble with Lesotho being a small country, population equal to a village in Nigeria or China, we are relatives in so many ways. I may not be surprised that you and I are actually cousins. We belong to similar church denominations, we are neighbours, we are rivals of this or that sort. It does make it almost impossible for a Mosotho not to be conflicted in their daily business. Worse still, the government has shares in many ventures, it is also conflicted, when competing with the private sector.
Motive – Now this is where I have a problem with you guys. The paper uses the name Phooko to sell its paper because the name is bankable. There are many more shareholders, because they are less known, they never make any attractive headlines, hence Phooko. For you, it is a bonus because it gives you a chance to bring your business and political rival to his knees. The fact that you declared yourself a member of a rival political party, makes your statements about Lebo questionable. The fact that you are a struggling businessman frantically selling your consultancy to the government without success, makes your utterances suspect. I raised the spectre of serious conflict of interest by one of your party’s League that has removed all school feeding tenders from their political rivals to give them to themselves. This is an attrition war of economic survival and greed by politically connected and it comes to the media disguised as scholarly and objective discourse – Nigger Please!!!
As your parting shot, you eloquently (PULENG A BA A LILIETSA), pontificated the attributes of corporate governance, forgetting that if the regulatory environment is weak, it will have no effect. You went at length to catalogue the powers of PSs as they are detailed in laws of Lesotho and I told you that in reality,PS alone cannot override the Tender Panel decision. You position yourself as an expert in government and corporate governance. I tell you that I am a practitioner of both and I know better. I do not rely on text book knowledge only. If the company in question belonged to Lebo, I would have a different opinion, but it does not belong to him. That is why I aver that Lebo has been unfairly treated by the newspaper because of greed in selling higher numbers, and by yourselves because of business and political rivalry.
As my parting shot, check the scandalous story of Enron my friend, about the corporate governance effectiveness. The world is in this economic mess because of greed and poor regulation or lack thereof. Many countries have their own governance codes. We probably need our own code, you have well said RSA has King Code. It does not matter whether they are now on chapter or version 3 of it, what is important is that we must start first by questioning our motives and actions. How do we adapt these codes, South African, British, American to suit our own unique situation where everyone is a relative of everybody and or political opportunist/s. Here in Lesotho, Political power overrides all niceties of corporate governance – check what happened with Lesotho Telecommunication Authority. What the then minister did and lived to regret when he was on the other side of the political spectrum.
Lefeooane and Tlhase, as political activists, whatever good things you may say, they really must be taken with a large pinch of salt because you are self-serving political apparatchiks.
Dare I say I really enjoyed sparring with you guys.
Kea bothela. Nxaa…ntjeng banna.
Comment by Tlhase on 27 March 2013:
I still disagree with you on many points Lofo. Bad practices, low moral ethics and non-adherence to good corporate governance breeds corruption and serves only the mighty and powerful to the detriment of the poor and disadvantaged. NKANDLA is a typical example or raw abuse and looting of state resources. Blaming the system just doesn’t cut it. As public office bearers (which by the way, i am one) we are expected to exercise good judgement and pass all the tests. Lebohang Phooko has failed to pass the critical test to the extent that his questionable business dealings, specifically with Government, his employer are not beyond reproach. If I wanted to be a business man getting lucrative tenders from Government, it would only be fair that I quit Government and become a full-time businessman. This is the only way, my business dealings with Government will be beyond reproach and pass the crucial test of being above board! It is sad how Mosisili et al have destroyed our beautiful Kingdom through his nepotistic (Son at embassies and Deputy PS, Daughter – Postmaster-General, Son-in-Law – One at embassy, another dubiously appointed to head LDTC, etc, and the list goes on), corrupt tendencies. Never again shall this man rule this beautiful country again. As Thabane fixes systems and 14 years of entrenched corruption to benefit a few, let us also take action against the likes of the Phooko’s who have already amassed wealth in these immoral and corrupt ways. This is where we disagree because you are saying Ntate Thabane should focus on fixing systems and at the same time grant a sort of immunity for previous wrong acts to those as powerful as Lebohang Phooko. Will the same justice be meted out to a poor man who is not so prominent? What’s good for the goose must be good for the gander. We are all Basotho and we all deserve a share of the country’s resources not just the Phooko’s and Mosisili’s.
Comment by Tlhase on 27 March 2013:
Let’s face it. Lebohang Phooko owns a third of the company. That kind of shareholding is significant. Another third owned by his brother Theses Phooko. And the last third owned by their friend. Recipe for corruption as Lebohang Phooko is CEO or controls a Ministry that uses the same services his company delivers to the Government. This is horribly wrong but I have faith that Ntate Tom will deal with these practices once and for all. We need to uproot them, fire those found guilty, and take steps to recover taxpayer’s monies. We are sick and tired of this. Chee a tla re leka Monyinyili ka puso ea bobolu!
Comment by wendeni on 27 March 2013:
Lofo and Lebohang are one thing. Lebohang one Sunday asked his pastor and congregation to pray for him because he now makes a turn-over of M1,000,000.00 a month. Just imagine the amount of money has stolen from us! Just throw them to jail like the Soles, Molapos, Mochebeleles etc and those who have been sentenced in abstantia.
LCD is still CD in disguise, we see and hear speeches in gatherings and funerals. Those proclametions happen in daylight! We want these clowns prosecuted quickly.
Comment by lofo on 29 March 2013:
@ Tlhase, you are rambling on aimlessly because you have no logical approach to debates. You touch here and there without rhyme. You villify Phooko without evidence. You are simply suggesting that since Phooko has been in government employ for a long time. He should move out and you and your peeps should move in. You are no different from all those who are fleecing the tax payer because of their political connections.
I see no difference between what you want and what the Mosisili’s and company did. You are a fox in sheep’s clothing. Same formula – using political connections to get ahad of the competition. The more you talk, the more pathetic you sound. You think we are gullible, we can see right through you. Go to your linakeli and political rallies and report that you can not fool Basotho. All your PSs are there because of being members of a political party. You cleverly avoided the school feeding tender scandal, because what is happening in government now, is removing yesterday’s parasites and replacing them with the more vernomous once who can quote King III. God save Basotho.
Comment by lofo on 29 March 2013:
“…vernomous ones who can quote King III…” Wanted to say that. Sorry.
Comment by par s?ker dame on 19 April 2013:
Mange damer bare venter på at du melder deg på så du burde ikke la dem vente noe lenger.
Registrer deg nå og arranger et knulletreff for i kveld.
Ikke tabu, bare veldig, veldig fremmed – og til dels fullstendig usexy.