…as Matekane tracks towards his 62 000 employment pledge
Mohloai Mpesi
IN an ambitious bid to fulfil his long-standing public pledge of employing 62 000 youths, Prime Minister Sam Matekane’s government says it has so far employed more than 43 000 young Basotho.
The progress report on youth employment was presented before the National Assembly on Thursday by the Minister of Gender, Youth and Social Development, Pitso Lesaoana.
The report comes amid continued public concern over rising unemployment and the government’s strategy to create jobs for young people.
The concerns intensified last year when thousands of unemployed youths flocked to Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) recruitment centres in desperate attempts to secure employment opportunities.
In response, Mr Matekane pledged to create 62 000 jobs for Basotho youths and subsequently declared youth unemployment a national disaster.
Presenting the update, Mr Lesaoana said government had made significant progress, with 43 239 youths already engaged in various forms of employment, representing 69 percent of the overall target.
“43 239 youths engaged against a national target of 62 264, representing 69 percent achievement since the declaration of the Youth Employment Emergency,” Mr Lesaoana said.
He said several ministries had either met or exceeded their employment targets.
The Ministry of Energy surpassed its target of 1482 by engaging 3037 youths, translating to 205 percent achievement. Of these, 2095 are temporary workers while 941 are employed on contract.
The Ministry of Education also exceeded its target of 670 by employing 1192 people, achieving 178 percent. Among them, 111 are permanent teachers while 1071 are temporary staff members who were absorbed into the system.
Mr Lesaoana further stated that the Ministry of Defence achieved 110 percent of its target, while the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition reached 100 percent. The Ministry of Trade reached 92 percent, the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) 92 percent, Natural Resources 85 percent, Gender 67 percent, Local Government 29 percent, Public Works 33 percent, Environment 19 percent, Communications 10 percent, and Tourism one percent.
“Trade is the highest contributor in absolute numbers, with 19 938 youths engaged, accounting for 46 percent of total national engagement.
“It is also worth noting that 350 youth businesses have been registered for free during this period,” he said.
According to the report, temporary employment accounts for 46.8 percent of all jobs created, translating to 20 249 youths. Permanent employment accounts for 19.6 percent or 8461 youths, while contractual engagements stand at 17.2 percent or 7457 youths.
Private sector establishment accounts for 9.6 percent or 4147 youths, apprenticeships 3.4 percent or 1479 youths, while economic empowerment and capacity-building initiatives account for 2.3 percent or 1000 youths.
“It is the government’s wish to ensure that temporary employment and private sector opportunities improve, as we know that the youth unemployment declaration is for two years.
“This is the backbone of our employment strategy and we are going to build on this. I believe that every minister will report on a quarterly or mid-year basis on improvements in employment,” he added.
However, opposition MPs questioned the transparency of the recruitment process.
Leader of the All Basotho Convention (ABC), Nkaku Kabi, asked whether the jobs had been publicly advertised, whether interviews were conducted, and how many people applied, passed or failed during the recruitment process.
Responding, Mr Lesaoana said he could not answer questions relating to advertisements and recruitment procedures, arguing that individual ministries should appear before Parliament to explain their own processes.
“On the questions of whether advertisements were made and where they were made, I can simply answer that I do not know because it was not my role to know whether ministries made advertisements, where and when.
“Now that we have made this publication, I think it is important for every ministry to come and answer,” Mr Lesaoana said.
However, leader of HOPE-Mphatlalatsane, ’Machabana Lemphane-Letsie, challenged the minister’s response, arguing that since he tabled the report, he should be able to account for its contents.
“Minister is the one who made the report here. Now he wants us to ask each ministry. It is not each ministry making the statement, but him. He has liberty to answer or not, but he cannot tell us to ask each ministry when there are no ministries here,” she said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Relations, Limpho Tau, defended Mr Lesaoana, saying MPs should formally summon individual ministries if they wanted detailed explanations on recruitment procedures.
“The statement of the Minister of Social Development enlists more than 10 ministries and indicates the progress made by each ministry,” Mr Tau said.
“If MPs want us to scrutinise every ministry deeply, they should make a request for each ministry to come and provide answers because it is impossible for one minister to answer for every ministry.”
Popular Front for Democracy (PFD) MP, Advocate Lekhetho Rakuoane, also questioned the figures attributed to the Ministry of Trade, asking what type of jobs had been created under the ministry.
“Can the minister explain what kind of recruitment was done under the Ministry of Trade because those people are too many? What are they really doing?” Advocate Rakuoane asked.
In response, Mr Lesaoana said most of the jobs under the Ministry of Trade came through the establishment of firms, revival of cooperatives, government positions and incubation hubs.
“Opening firms is an initiative started by the Prime Minister to establish as many firms as possible. We have 4 851 jobs created through opening firms,” he said.
“We have firms such as Long River, which employs 700 people, G Clothing (200), Bisdom (300), Grabtree (300), Quantum 1 (810), and CGM (700).”
However, Democratic Congress (DC) MP, Hlalele Letšaba, raised a point of order, saying Parliament’s Economic Cluster Committee had received reports that 150 workers had been dismissed from a factory known as Quantum.
“As a member of the Economic Cluster, we have just received a report today of 150 employees who have been expelled by a factory called Quantum. Meaning what the minister is saying is not correct,” Mr Letšaba said.
Mr Tau, however, defended the government’s position, arguing that the newly received complaint did not invalidate the figures presented in Parliament.
“The minister provided the statement based on the information available while preparing the report. Now Mr Letšaba says they received a report today concerning 150 people.
“What is important is understanding sequence and timing. There is always something that comes before the other,” Mr Tau said.