Mohloai Mpesi
THE Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) says it is set to investigate alleged fraud involving 14,000 litres of yellow plant diesel worth M284,000, reportedly stolen from the Kanana Council in Berea.
The development comes a month after Mokhethoaneng constituency legislator, Mokhothu Makhalanyane, petitioned Ombudsman, Advocate Tlotliso Polaki, to investigate the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affair and Police for maladministration in the districts.
Before writing to Adv Polaki last month, Mr Makhalanyane had on 25 June 2024, penned a letter to the DCEO’s former Director General, Advocate Knorx Molelle, highlighting the lack of progress on essential roadworks in the Kanana area.
“The government’s yellow plant has been deployed to carry out essential road works in the Kanana area. However, from 2019 to 2024, the progress has been alarmingly slow,” Mr Makhalanyane wrote.
“There have been no visible improvements, and reports indicate misappropriation of crucial resources.”
He had urged the DCEO to “ascertain the accuracy of the reported disappearance of 14,000 litres of diesel, investigate the procurement and usage of funds allocated for wheel replacements and repairs, examine the progress and quality of the road works conducted from 2019 to 2024, identify any instances of fraud or mismanagement and hold the responsible parties accountable, ensure the recovery of any misused resources for the benefit of taxpayers.”
While Mr Makhalanyane did not mention the value of the alleged fuel fraud in his letter, the?Sunday Express?arrived at the M284 000 figure by multiplying the 14 000 litres by the current market value of a litre of diesel which is M20.34.
Mr Makhalanyane’s plea for the DCEO to thoroughly investigate the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs and Police’s procurement and usage of funds, as well as the reported disappearance of diesel, appeared to have fallen on deaf ears until Thursday’s inquiries by the?Sunday Express?prompted action from the anti-graft unit.
DCEO Spokesperson, Matlhokomelo Senoko, said ?the current Director General, Brigadier Mant?o Sello, had “tasked the investigations department to take action on Thursday”.
“We have just been given this task yesterday by the DG to investigate; it is yet to be placed under further investigation,” Ms Senoko said.
The outspoken Mr Makhalanyane, had on March 25 this year, escalated the matter to Ombudsman Polaki, requesting her office to investigate broader mismanagement of resources within the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs, and Police.
According to Mr Makhalanyane, despite annual government disbursements to the relevant ministry, there had been little tangible progress on access roads and other critical infrastructure development in villages.
He views this as a waste of resources and public funds, as the allocated money does not seem to translate to actual infrastructure improvements.
In his recent letter to the Ombudsman, Mr Makhalanyane said while he had already petitioned the DCEO to investigate the ministry’s fuel fraud, he had also found it prudent to reach out to Adv Polaki after deciding to “separate the criminal aspect from the broader issue of resource mismanagement”.
Mr Makhalanyane asserted that the lack of accountability and effective supervision by the Director General of Local Government (unnamed in the letter) as well as the failure of District Council Secretaries to oversee proper fund utilization, “have contributed to these gross inefficiencies”.
He argued that the continued failure to deliver essential road infrastructure not only hampered the economy but also violated the people’s right to reliable public services.
Mr Makhalanyane provided a specific example of yellow plant that had been idle at the Kanana Council in Mokhethoaneng, Berea for the past six years, with little progress made on critical road projects covering 7.5 km and 6 km in the area.
He believes this reflects broader manipulation and monopolization of government machinery by responsible ministers over the years.
“If there could be efficiency in the coordination of the yellow plant in Lesotho, the issue of bad roads would be history. That would have facilitated economic growth through access roads that easily connect all nearby villages including services like schools, clinics, et al in Lesotho,” he wrote.
Contacted for comment on Friday, Ombudsman Advocate Tlotliso Polaki, acknowledged her office’s receipt of Mr Makhalanyane’s complaint.
“We are considering the merits of the case and whether it falls within our complaints handling mechanisms or requires referral to other competent jurisdictions,” Adv Polaki told the?Sunday Express?via text, through her office’s Information Officer, stressing the complexities involved in such investigations.