By Caswell Tlali
MASERU — Agriculture minister Ralechate ’Mokose has set up a six-member task team to deal with clashes between dairy farmers and the Lesotho Dairy Products (LDP) over non-payment.
The dairy farmers and the LDP will appoint two representatives each to the team that will investigate allegations by farmers that the LDP had not paid for milk supplied.
The Ministry of Agriculture will also appoint two accountants to the
task team to help with the investigations.
Dairy farmers have alleged that the LDP has not been paying them for the past two years.
’Mokose set up the task team at a crisis meeting with the leaders of dairy farmers and the LDP management on Friday morning.
The minister hastily organised the meeting to avoid a protest that farmers had planned against the LDP on the same day.
’Mokose is tomorrow expected to brief the task team that will work until Wednesday next week when it presents its findings.
“I want this issue dealt with immediately,” ’Mokose said.
“It appears as if I am not doing anything about the concerns of the dairy farmers and I’m sure people have begun to ask questions,” he said.
’Mokose’s move comes after the dairy farmers’ lawyer, Tankiso Hlaoli, wrote a letter of demand to the LDP.
Hlaoli had given the LDP, the company that sells Maluti Maid bottled fresh and sour milk brands, until last Friday to pay the farmers.
He warned that if the company failed to pay up the farmers he would apply to the High Court for a sequestration order.
The LDP buys milk from farmers on credit, package it and then supply local shops.
Farmers are only paid when the shops have paid LDP.
The farmers however say for the past two years LDP has not been paying its dues.
The company’s plant manager, Malefetsane Samosamo, denied this allegation during the meeting with ’Mokose.
Samosamo said it was only during the past month of June that he did not pay farmers for the milk he collected from 21st to the 30th.
“However, I have paid them the monies due to them when I paid for July. “I have included those 10 days in the July payment,” he said.
The LDP board member, Tumane Thabane, who is also a dairy farmer apologised for the company’s failure to inform the farmers that there is a new paying arrangement.
“I want to take the blame for not communicating this with all farmers who sell their milk to the LDP” he
said.
However, the dairy farmers were adamant that the LDP was in arrears. The Matsibolo Dairy Farmers Association chairman, Thabang Buti, said unless the LDP produces statements that will be compared with farmers’ individual notes he would not be satisfied that the company was not in arrears.
“This company has always been refusing to print statements and I do not understand why it is afraid to do so,” he said. ’Mokose said the task team should bring together all statements from both the LDP and the farmers to establish the truth.
’Mokose’s intervention comes two weeks after several dairy farmers associations marched to the Lesotho National Dairy Board (LNDB), LDP offices and the Ministry of Agriculture protesting that the company had failed to pay them.
Following the protest march, the LDP had promised that it would pay all outstanding debts on Friday.
At the time when ’Mokose was holding the crisis meeting with representatives of dairy farmers and the LDP, hundreds of farmers had gathered outside the LDP offices waiting to be paid.