…as MPs question practicality and timeline of salary plan
Mohloai Mpesi
THE government’s plan to move civil servants’ salaries up by two grades has sparked confusion in Parliament, with Members of Parliament (MPs) demanding clarity on how the proposed salary structure will work and when it will be implemented.
The legislators questioned the practicality of the plan after Minister of Public Service, Moeketsi Motšoane, told the National Assembly on Friday that employees earning Grade A salaries would receive the salary equivalent of Grade C, while those on Grade C would move to the Grade E salary level.
However, Mr Motšoane’s explanation left MPs seeking clarity on how the changes would affect other grades, with some questioning whether the government intended to double salaries or simply adjust the salary scales.
The proposed changes come amid longstanding calls for a comprehensive review of the civil service salary structure, which was last revised in April 2013, more than 13 years ago.
In February, the Coalition of Lesotho Public Employees (COLEPE), which represents unions in the health, education, security and general public service sectors, urged the government to prioritise the review and move Grade A salaries to Grade C in the 2026/27 budget.
COLEPE Secretary General Motebang Leboela said the existing structure was outdated.
However, when presenting the 2026/27 budget estimates, Minister of Finance and Development Planning Dr Retšelisitsoe Matlanyane announced a uniform two percent salary increase across all grades. COLEPE and the Lesotho Police Staff Association (LEPOSA) rejected the adjustment as inadequate.
The issue was brought before Parliament by Democratic Congress (DC) MP, ‘Mabafokeng Mpobole, who asked Mr Motšoane when the salary structure was last reviewed, how many civil servants fell within Grades A to M, and when the government intended to abolish Grade A to ensure that new recruits started at Grade B.
She also sought to establish when the next salary structure would be developed.
Mr Motšoane told the House that the civil service had 17,185 employees, distributed across the 13 grades as follows: Grade A had 3,940 employees, Grade B 1,126, Grade C 1,545, Grade D 1,525, Grade E 1,565, Grade F 4,185, Grade G 1,512, Grade H 627, Grade I 593, Grade J 335, Grade K 130, Grade L 54 and Grade M 38.
He said Grade A would not be abolished, but employees in that grade would earn salaries equivalent to those in Grade C.
“Grade A will not be terminated, but the Ministry of Public Service has prepared that salaries of public servants on Grade A must start from the Grade C salary. This means we want Grade C to be elevated to Grade E,” he said.
Mr Motšoane said the proposed salary structure had been completed and submitted to the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, which had yet to provide a definitive response.
“This review of the salary structure has been completed and the proposal has already been submitted to the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning. We have followed up on these issues and the ministry is still to give us a clear answer,” he said.
Leader of the Basotho National Party (BNP), Machesetsa Mofomobe, pressed the minister to provide a timeline for implementation.
“What the minister is saying is good, but we want to know the timeline. From which financial year should we expect to see people on Grade A moved to Grade C? I know you sit in Cabinet and there is concurrence from the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning,” he said.
Mr Motšoane said negotiations had taken place during the current financial year, with implementation targeted for the 2027/28 financial year.
“These issues started being revised in the last financial year and were negotiated during this financial year. The aim is that the structure should start being implemented in 2027/2028,” he said.
But Ms Mpobole remained dissatisfied, arguing that the minister had failed to explain how the proposed adjustments would affect Grades B and D, among others.
“The minister said people on Grade C will be elevated to Grade E, but he does not explain where Grade D will go when Grade C moves to E. What will also happen to Grades B and D?” she asked.
Mr Motšoane responded that he was “doubling” the grades, moving employees from Grade A to C, and from C to E.
“Since we have been negotiating, these issues are at the last stage where they are going to receive approval from the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning. I am doubling, A to C, C to E,” he said.
His explanation prompted Deputy Speaker Tšepang Tšita-Mosena to seek clarification on whether the plan involved moving employees two grades up the salary scale.
“I think what the minister is trying to say is that those on Grade A go to Grade C, Grade B to Grade D and Grade C to Grade E. Are you adding two grades at a time?” she asked.
Mr Motšoane replied in the affirmative.
However, leader of HOPE-Mphatlalatsane, ‘Machabana Lemphane-Letsie, said the minister’s explanation remained unclear and warned that unclear statements from ministers risked undermining public confidence in the government.
She cited the Minister of Home Affairs and Police, Voeswa Tsheka, whom she accused of failing to provide a satisfactory explanation after undertaking to return 28 retired police officers to service.
“The questions and statements made in Parliament need to be clarified so that we can continue to trust ministers. For example, the Minister of Home Affairs and Police said she was going to return 28 retired police officers, but that did not happen. She added more than that and we are still waiting for her to come back and explain,” Ms Lemphane-Letsie said.
She said the same lack of clarity was emerging from Mr Motšoane’s explanation of the salary proposal.
“Now I hear Mr Motšoane speaking about a very difficult issue which people are keen on, but it is not clear. He says A will go to C, at some point he says he is doubling. May the minister clarify so that we do not misquote him. Is he saying that next year he is doubling the salaries of public servants, and from where to where? It is important for the answer to be clear,” she said.
Mr Motšoane subsequently clarified that the government was not proposing to double salaries, but to adjust the salary levels attached to the grades.
“The issue of doubling emerged from Ms Mpobole. I was saying that if we move from A to C and skip B, that is what I meant by double. We do not double salaries; we are doubling the grades from A to C and from C to E.
“The plan is that a person on Grade A should earn the salary of Grade C, even though they remain on Grade A,” he said.
He added that negotiations had been lengthy and that the proposed changes were intended to address the declining purchasing power of civil servants amid rising living costs.
“The negotiations were lengthy. Public servants are earning little when everything else is increasing. We have agreed on this structure and we have submitted the agreements of the relevant stakeholders to the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning,” he said.
Mr Motšoane further said the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning had participated in the negotiations and was expected to finalise the process.
Ms Mpobole, however, questioned why the minister had not recently followed up on the proposal, saying his last follow-up had been on 28 May 2026.
“Mr Motšoane last followed up on these matters on 28 May 2026, five months ago. Did he not see it fit to follow up recently so that he could tell the House what is accurate, instead of coming with something that last happened in May?” she asked.
She also questioned how the proposed changes would affect salary notches, through which employees progress within their respective grades, arguing that the minister had not explained how the system would work under the new arrangement.
“What is not clear is that he does not explain that in other grades a person will earn the salary of two grades ahead. There is something called a notch, where every public servant moves up until the last one and waits for Parliament to decide whether to increase salaries by two percent,” she said.
Ms Tšita-Mosena directed Mr Motšoane to prepare a comprehensive statement clarifying the proposed salary structure and present it to Parliament before the Christmas break.