…as LNWMGA chairperson is accused of directing farmers to BKB
Mohloai Mpesi
More than M13 million in farmers’ money, a criminal case, and a suspiciously well-timed job offer for his son – the Lesotho National Wool and Mohair Growers Association (LNWMGA) chairperson, Mokuenehi Thinyane, is facing fresh scrutiny over his cosy relationship with South African wool broker BKB, the Sunday Express has learnt.
At the centre of the storm are allegations that Mr Thinyane used his influential position to funnel local farmers’ wool and mohair business toward BKB – and that the broker returned the favour in 2020 by appointing his son, Christopher Thinyane, to run its Lesotho subsidiary, Lihoai Consultancy. Both BKB and Christopher strenuously deny any link between the appointment and Mr Thinyane’s influence, insisting Christopher earned the job on merit through a transparent hiring process.
The appointment landed just as the dust was settling on a bruising campaign Mr Thinyane had led against government regulations that barred farmers from selling their fibre outside Lesotho – rules that had cut off BKB’s traditional pipeline to Gqeberha, South Africa.
A fight that started in 2018
The saga began in 2018, when government moved to force wool and mohair sales through a local marketing arrangement instead of allowing farmers to export independently. That arrangement funnelled trade through the Lesotho Wool Centre at Thaba-Bosiu – a facility jointly owned by the LNWMGA and Chinese businessman Stone Shi.
Mr Thinyane fought back hard, rallying farmers to demand the regulations be scrapped, free trade restored, and their right to choose their own auctioneers and markets reinstated. The campaign made it all the way to the Court of Appeal – and lost. The then Minister of Small Business Development, Cooperatives and Marketing, Chalane Phori, held firm that Lesotho’s wool and mohair had to be sold from within the country, to keep transport costs down and tax compliance up. BKB responded by setting up shop locally through Lihoai Consultancy.
The missing millions
But it’s the money trail that raises the most uncomfortable questions. Under the Agricultural Marketing Regulations of 1974, farmers are required to pay a dipping levy – roughly four percent of sales – to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition, money meant to keep livestock medicine flowing during outbreaks like the current Foot and Mouth Disease crisis.
Instead, a source alleges, that money went straight into the LNWMGA’s own account, on Mr Thinyane’s instruction – allegedly justified by claims that government was too slow to secure medication and that the Association would step in and buy it for farmers. It never did. According to the source, the funds were instead shared out among Mr Thinyane’s inner circle on the Association’s executive committee.
The fallout was a criminal charge: in December 2019, Mr Thinyane appeared before the Maseru Magistrates’ Court and was released on M1,000 bail. The charge sheet alleges that between 2012 and 2017, he conspired to divert dipping fees owed to the Ministry of Agriculture into LNWMGA coffers instead – a diversion prosecutors have priced at a staggering M13,649,411.76, and which they say amounts to the theft, misappropriation and conversion of government property.
BKB and a string of LNWMGA figures – Teboho Leleka, Tšeliso Setho, Fako Monyatsi, Mothibeli Makhetha, Arone Moketa, Retšelisitose Mafeto, Ntsoebe Sankoela, Telang Mohapi and Morapeli Lekorotsoane – were also expected to be dragged into the case. Instead, it was quietly kicked back for further investigation, where it has sat with Police Headquarters ever since.
Police spokesperson, Superintendent Thabo Mohai, promised to look into the case’s status and respond by Friday. He never did – and follow-up calls to his mobile phone went unanswered.
Reached for comment, Christopher deflected questions to BKB’s human resources department.
“I work for Lihoai Consultancy, a BKB company. I think you should investigate that matter through our HR office – whether due process was followed and whether I qualify for the position,” he said.
“I was appointed in 2020, while the case (dipping levy) you’re referring to happened in 2018. I know nothing about that case. What I can assure you is that we are paying the dipping levy.”
BKB General Manager, Isak Staats, was equally emphatic that the appointment was no reward for his father’s loyalty.
“BKB was never charged in the first place, and the case was dismissed by the High Court. We went through a recruitment process, and he was the best candidate we could find at the time. We are paying the dipping levy and give the Lesotho authorities a reconciliation each season,” Mr Staats said.
Mr Thinyane himself proved harder to pin down. Reached on Friday, he said he was walking into Police Headquarters and couldn’t talk. He promised to call back. He hadn’t, by time of publication.