Energy minister defends LEC’s M2.1m salaries
TEBOHO KHATEBE MOLEFI and
MOTSAMAI MOKOTJO
MASERU – Acting energy minister, Mohlomi Moleko, has come under scrutiny for defending the controversial M2.1 million salary allocations for executives of the Lesotho Electricity Company (LEC), despite the utility’s well-documented financial and management struggles.
The decision has sparked public outrage, particularly after the LEC board suspended the entire management team and replaced it with an interim group – a move now clouded by allegations of excessive allowances for acting managers.
The LEC board’s decision to suspend the previous management team follows a pattern of instability seen in other utilities, such as Liberia’s LEC, where suspensions were tied to governance failures like undeclared assets. In Lesotho, however, the board faces accusations of approving 100 percent allowances for interim managers, exacerbating financial strain.
The crisis deepened last week when Advocate Mary Bosiu, a board member, resigned in protest, citing the company’s “wobbling finances” and questionable fiscal decisions in her resignation letter.
Minister Moleko argued in an interview with Public Eye that the salaries are necessary to attract “qualified professionals” to steer LEC through its challenges.
Yet critics highlight the irony of lavish pay-outs while the company struggles with operational inefficiencies and debt, faces public distrust over mismanagement, reminiscent of Liberia’s LEC, where suspensions aimed to restore accountability.
Analysts question whether the salaries align with LEC’s fiscal reality, noting parallels to Liberia’s strict enforcement of asset declarations for public officials. Some speculate the allowances are a tactic to secure loyalty, as seen in Liberia where suspended officials were accused of undermining anti-corruption efforts.
The disparity between executive pay and rank-and-file wages risks further demoralizing staff, an issue also observed in Liberia’s LEC during its leadership transition.
Commentators that this paper spoke to argue that the minister’s defence has done little to quell public demands for a full financial review to justify the salaries, adopting measures leading to asset declaration laws to curb graft and to create a transparent dialogue with unions and consumers.
As the LEC mirrors regional utility crises the government’s priority must be restoring fiscal discipline. Without concrete reforms, the M2.1 million salaries risk symbolizing elite privilege rather than recovery.
This while last week one of the board members, Advocate Mary ‘Mathaothe Bosiu, wrote a scathing letter in her resignation noting the “wobbling finances.”
“(The) constant GOL financial bailouts. Using the taxpayer’s money to pay for the contemplated top-notch lawyer will haunt me. Bosiu said, adding “the AG’s (Auditor General) forensic audit will be started on Tuesday, the May 20. The contemplated investigations/evaluations will be done whilst this critical audit is ongoing. I would have expected that (and I have said this) we should wait until the Office of the AG has completed its audit exercise and then do further independent investigations/evaluation, if need be, after we have considered the outcome of the AG’s forensic audit.”
However, a defiant Moleko told Public Eye this week that there’s nothing untoward about the payments made to the acting executives.
“Here’s an alternative. If you don’t do anything, the company will sink deeper… you don’t spend money to fix it. You cannot say these people need to work for free, but the policies indicate that when you act, you’ll receive an allowance,” a bold Moleko said.
He told this publication that if the investigation doesn’t yield anything of substance, it will lead to the reinstatement of compromised executives, thus the need to have acting heads.
“I proposed to the board to establish a forensic audit once and for all to resolve LEC matters to be transparent and reach an end. We had to start and even call a press conference; we were informed that the auditor general intends to conduct an audit through an instruction from axed minister, Professor Nqosa Mahao,” Moleko said.
Subsequently, according to Minister Moleko, the board and AG sat to deliberate on the scope of work and terms of references (ToRs). Moleko further said the AG refused to include the ToRs suggested by the board and asked the utility’s board to initiate their own investigations.
“Management then took a decision to source a lawyer who will advise accordingly; that was the approach since they didn’t know how long the AG would take and how wide the ToRs would be.
It’s not an investigation, and it’s a review, and it doesn’t run parallel to that one.
This was rebutted by Advocate Bosiu’s missive in which she expressed her frustration with the process of investigations or forensic audits of the company.
“I have (more than once – verbally and in writing) disagreed with the carrying out of this independent investigation/evaluation. My objection is based on the following factors: When we suspended the Members LEC EXCO, the rationale behind it was to enable us to do a forensic audit.
Now that the office of the AG (Auditor General) will be carrying out the contemplated audit (and not us), the suspended EXCO Members should be recalled so that we can turn around LEC by addressing and dealing with small and huge concerns contained in the External Auditors Management Letter and a disclaimer contained therein.
I have, with a heavy heart, also discovered that there are other huge concerns documented in the 2018 forensic investigation that was carried out at a huge cost. As the Board, we need to deal with all these concerns that are staring at us. We do not need a top-notch lawyer to investigate/evaluate them first,” she wrote.
