…as PM’s controversial advisor remains in office despite repeatedly “embarrassing” the highest office
Mohloai Mpesi
PRIME MINISTER Sam Matekane’s controversial political advisor, Janki Joseph Setšabi, remains firmly ensconced in the highest office in the land despite a growing catalogue of serious allegations that have repeatedly dragged the Prime Minister’s Office into disrepute.
Mr Matekane’s office is now considering whether to suspend Mr Setšabi while police investigate allegations that he sexually assaulted a Maseru clergywoman and civil society activist at State House.
The allegations have thrust State House back into the spotlight only months after another explosive incident involving Mr Setšabi where he was accused of coercing a senior Lesotho Electricity Company (LEC) official into resigning at gunpoint inside the Prime Minister’s official residence.
Yet, despite the gravity of the allegations surrounding his conduct, Mr Setšabi remains in his position while the latest sexual assault matter is being “considered” by the very office he serves.
The latest allegations concern a local priest, Relebohile Tuoane, who reportedly went to State House on 15 June 2026 to present Mr Matekane with a proposal for a Gender-Based Violence (GBV) initiative requiring about M1 million in funding.
According to a source close to the investigation, Mr Matekane was impressed by the proposal and told Ms Tuoane that one of his advisors would engage with her further. She was subsequently invited back to State House the following day, 16 June, to meet the advisor.
It was during that meeting that the alleged sexual harassment occurred.
According to the source, the meeting over the GBV project allegedly turned into a confrontation over unwanted sexual advances, with Ms Tuoane allegedly having to physically resist the advisor.
An audio recording, apparently intended for private circulation among friends but later leaked on social media, contains Ms Tuoane’s account of the alleged encounter. She alleges that the official touched her breasts, thighs and other parts of her body despite her protests.
The recording also contains an alleged statement by the official: “Your intelligence arouses me.”
The encounter allegedly continued beyond State House after Ms Tuoane, fearing the situation might escalate, told the advisor she would sleep with him but not at State House.
According to the source, the advisor then allegedly suggested that they leave the State House for a more private place. Ms Tuoane is said to have reluctantly agreed, after which they travelled in his official vehicle while her own vehicle followed behind, driven by a State House driver.
The alleged convoy went to her home in Khubetsoana. There, the advisor allegedly became angry after discovering that her elderly housekeeper was present.
He allegedly then suggested that they go to her workplace, apparently believing they would be alone there.
That plan allegedly also failed when they found her secretary at the office. The advisor allegedly tried to persuade Ms Tuoane to send the secretary away, but she refused.
“He was already angry and, after realising that he was not going to get Ms Tuoane alone, he left,” a source said.
Ms Tuoane subsequently reported the matter to the State House official who had initially facilitated her meeting with the advisor.
According to the source, she waited for several weeks for action, eventually seeking advice from a friend in the police service on 6 July 2026 on how to formally report the matter.
The complaint was eventually brought to Mr Matekane’s attention, resulting in a meeting on or around 4 August involving Ms Tuoane, the advisor and Chief of Staff, Sofonea Shale.
The meeting reportedly raised concerns for Mr Shale, who brought the matter to the attention of then Chief of Police Advocate Borotho Matsoso. A high-level police investigation was subsequently launched.
The government has since confirmed that the complaint was referred to the police and said it took the allegation seriously, particularly because of the vulnerability that can accompany reports of sexual harassment and GBV.
It has stopped short of pronouncing on the merits of the allegations or suggesting that Mr Setšabi is guilty.
But while the police investigation proceeds, the question of what happens to the Prime Minister’s advisor has remained unresolved.
Director of Public Relations Cabinet, Lucy Borotho, told the Sunday Express on Friday that Mr Matekane’s office was still deliberating on whether Mr Setšabi should be suspended.
She said the government was proceeding cautiously to avoid exposing itself to legal action.
“Mr Setšabi’s issue is with the police, and the Office of the Prime Minister is aware that when someone is alleged to have committed misconduct, they are put on suspension. However, he cannot just be suspended immediately without legal advice, so that the decision taken does not come back to expose the government to lawsuits,” Ms Borotho said.
She said a decision would be communicated once the process had been finalised.
Mr Shale separately confirmed to this publication that the matter remained under consideration.
“The Office of the Prime Minister is still working through this matter in different phases,” he said.
Mr Shale said the office had first sought to establish what had happened before the matter was referred to the police.
“When I say the office is still looking into this matter, you must understand that it is not something that started only recently. There was a time when the office was dealing with the complaint, and there was a stage where it tried to understand what had really happened.
“At another stage, based on the explanation given, it was decided that the matter should be referred to the police.
“The office is still looking into this matter,” he said.
Previous State House controversy
The latest controversy is not the first time Mr Setšabi’s conduct at State House has come under serious scrutiny.
In November 2025, former LEC Procurement Manager Peo Mputsoe alleged that Mr Setšabi, presenting himself as a Prime Minister’s advisor, summoned him to State House and forced him to sign a pre-drafted resignation letter under threats to his life and liberty.
The allegations were contained in a 2 December 2025 letter from Mputsoe’s lawyers, Tšabeha and Associates, to the LEC Board seeking his reinstatement.
According to the lawyers, Mr Setšabi had been introduced to Mr Mputsoe after the latter sought assistance over what he described as persistent political pressure, harassment, sabotage and interference with his duties at LEC.
Mr Setšabi allegedly presented himself as someone who could take Mr Mputsoe’s grievances to the Prime Minister for resolution.
Instead, the lawyers alleged, the encounter turned into an ordeal in which Mr Mputsoe was threatened with being shot, killed or imprisoned if he refused to resign.
The lawyers said Mr Setšabi picked Mr Mputsoe up from LEC premises in a government-registered Toyota Fortuner and took him to the State House.
There, they alleged, Mr Mputsoe was forced to sign a resignation letter at gunpoint.
“In fear for his life, and under the barrel of a gun, our client signed a resignation letter against his will,” the lawyers wrote.
The lawyers further alleged that Mr Setšabi personally delivered the resignation letter to then acting LEC Managing Director, Tšeliso ‘Mokela, effectively taking over the process through which Mr Mputsoe’s employment was terminated.
They argued that Mr Mputsoe’s purported resignation was invalid because he had neither voluntarily communicated an intention to resign nor followed LEC’s normal resignation procedures.
The lawyers said the incident left Mputsoe without his salary from November 2025, financially stranded and traumatised, while the alleged threats had also made him fear for his safety. The threats were subsequently reported to police.
The allegations were serious enough to raise questions about how a government advisor could allegedly use the authority and physical setting of the State House to intervene in the employment affairs of a senior parastatal official. Yet Mr Setšabi remained in the Prime Minister’s orbit.
Now, less than a year later, his name has again become synonymous with allegations of misconduct at State House — this time involving a woman who had gone there seeking government support for a GBV project.
The government itself has acknowledged that appropriate administrative measures may be necessary to safeguard the integrity of the police investigation and the wellbeing of those involved.
The central question now is whether that principle will finally be applied to the Prime Minister’s advisor.
Mr Setšabi has not been formally charged in either matter and remains presumed innocent unless and until proven otherwise.
But the accumulation of allegations against him has placed Mr Matekane’s administration under increasing pressure to explain why an advisor repeatedly linked to serious controversies at State House continues to occupy a position of influence at the heart of government.
Gender activists have also called for his suspension, saying it was only prudent that he be removed from office pending investigations to protect the decorum of the “highest office”.