By Caswell Tlali
MASERU — The chief executive of the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA), Peter Makuta, has launched a massive ‘witch-hunt’ to trace the source of an anonymous email accusing him of corruption.
Makuta told the Sunday Express that the board and the Lesotho Highlands Water Commission (LHWC), which oversees the authority, have launched investigations to find the person who emailed 250 LHDA employees the letter that accused him of bribery and having bogus engineering certificates.
The email, which was also copied to this paper, was written by one Matsete Liotloana on July 25.
It is not clear whether Matsete Liotloana is a pseudonym or not.
Liotloana used a gmail address to send the email but Makuta says he believes that the writer is an LHDA employee.
Liotloana accuses Makuta of receiving a Toyota Fortuner vehicle (registration number A8233) as bribery from a South African car dealer who supplied vehicles to the LHDA.
Liotloana’s email also alleges that another LHDA senior official, one Botha, was also bribed with a similar car.
“If that is so it is clear that this is bribery. You have received bribery,” says Liotloana in the email that sources say has shaken the LHDA, an organisation whose history is littered with corruption.
“Remember that in 2009 at a meeting held at Victoria Hotel you insulted us saying you had heard such rumours and you did not care,” the writer said.
“We believe that you remember vividly because you stopped explaining where the cars came from but chose to insult us saying we, the authority’s workers who have not studied engineering, were useless and whenever you beat the bush someone who has not studied engineering comes out of it (sic).”
“This is surprising because the majority of the authority’s workers have not studied engineering, including your managers.”
Liotloana went further to challenge Makuta to produce certificates for “all to see them and satisfy that they were not phony”.
“Word from reliable sources is that if you have such certificates they are spurious,” Liotloana alleged.
Liotloana also implies that because Makuta allegedly has fake engineering certificates he refused when “experts, people with engineering certificates, advised you that the mini-hydro should be repaired when it broke in 2004.”
Liotloana said as a result of his “stubbornness” Makuta refused to buy proper equipment to fix the problem.
The result, Liotloana claims, was that water penetrated the Katse Dam wall and the LHDA had to hire a white South African to suck it out at a cost of about M30 million.
“Even if it is only M10 million, why can’t you be charged with intention to destroy property — gross negligence — because you were advised but you chose to be stubborn?”
Liotloana said Makuta ended up making one ’Mota “a scapegoat and suspended him despite that ’Mota kept on making reports and sending Makuta recommendations of what should be done.”
“It might be he was a threat to you because he is a qualified engineer unlike you,(sic).”
Liotloana also said he suspected that Makuta was trying to misuse his position in the LHDA by trying to be a shareholder in a company that is planning to farm trout fish at Katse Dam.
“You are seen frequently holding secret meetings with them at Ha-Katse,” he said.
Liotloana suggested that a commission of inquiry should be set up to probe Makuta’s alleged corruption and in the mean time he should be suspended pending the investigations.
Liotloana also challenged Makuta to hold a press conference on July 29 to deal with the allegations in the e-mail.
He threatened that if Makuta does not call a press conference the workers would organise one.
The writer also said LHDA workers would take matters to the Directorate of Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) and the Transformation Resource Centre, an ecumenical civil society promoting democracy and transparency in public offices.
The Sunday Express could not independently verify whether the allegations against Makuta are true or not.
We however asked him to respond.
He confirmed that he had received Liotloana’s letter and that the LHDA was now investigating its source.
Makuta said the board is inviting IT experts who could trace the origins of the e-mail that he describes as a “threat” to the LHDA.
“We have started investigations and I want to assure you that this organisation will not hesitate to sue anybody who is behind this attack and anybody who is furthering it,” Makuta said.
“This attack is not directed to me alone but it is meant to harm the LHDA as a whole. It is the malicious attack at the leadership of this organisation and the board is not going to take it lying down.”
Makuta said the matter involving his Toyota Fortuner was already being dealt with by the DCEO.
“It is a long story that can be traced from one and a half years ago. It is being handled by the DCEO,” Makuta said.
“I give you the permission to ask the DCEO about it. One of its investigators is Likotsi Mohapi. You can ask him,” he said.
The DCEO’s spokesperson, Litelu Ramokhoro, said he was not aware of the case.
He however said the Sunday Express should wait until Monday so that he can check the DCEO files.
Regarding the other allegations in Liotloana’s email, Makuta said he would not “respond to nameless letters containing unsubstantiated allegations.”
“However, all we can say is that investigations have started to find who the writer of this letter is.”
This paper tried in vain to find who Liotloana is.
Questions sent to the email used to make the allegations against Makuta were not answered.