Staff Reporter
MASERU — In a dramatic somersault, the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offenses (DCEO) has decided to temporarily suspend charges against Waters Affair Minister, Timothy Thahane.
The DCEO told Thahane last week that he was going to be charged for fraud, conflict of interest and abuse of office in relation to the block farming scandal.
After his three and half hour interrogation on Tuesday Thahane was told that he will be charged on Thursday.
He however requested more time to look for a lawyer.
The anti-corruption unit then told him that he should be prepared to face the charges on Monday (tomorrow).
Thahane had confirmed the impending charges and the arrangement he had with the DCEO in an interview with the Lesotho Times on Wednesday night.
But now the DCEO has made a U-turn, telling Thahane that the charges won’t be laid on Monday.
Thahane told the Sunday Express on Saturday that the DCEO had called him on Thursday afternoon to inform him that the charges were being suspended until further notice.
“On Friday I went to the DCEO and asked them what they meant when they said the charges had been suspended until further notice but they couldn’t answer that question,” Thahane said.
“Instead they said it means what it means.”
He said the DCEO refused to give him the reasons for suspending the charges.
By the time of going to press last night it had not been possible to establish the reasons for the DCEO’s abrupt about-turn.
The move could have been a tacit retreat by the DCEO after coming under political pressure.
It could also be because the DCEO does not think that it has a strong chance of securing a conviction.
Thahane said during the interrogation on Tuesday the DCEO officers accused him of having illegally benefited from the M74 million loan scheme that was supposed to help poor households boost their food security.
Under the scheme launched in the 2006 farming season farmers were supposed to get government guaranteed loans from Standard Lesotho Bank.
Thahane, who was finance minister at that time, was one of the MPs and ministers who were appointed as mentors for the farmers that got the loans.
Others were the then and forestry minister Ralechate Mokose who is now the secretary general Democratic Congress party and Ramootsi Lehata who was the deputy minister of agriculture.
The block farming scandal started unravelling in 2010 when former trade minister and Lesotho Congress for Democracy stalwart, Mpho Malie, wrote to Standard Lesotho Bank complaining that some of mentors had illegally benefited from the loans meant for farmers.
He said instead of helping farmers the mentors had ended up being the main creditors of the scheme and they had failed to repay their loans.
Malie, who is political adviser to Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing, also alleged that the mentors could have laundered some of the money.
Sekara Mafisa, the then ombudsman, investigated Malie’s claims.
His report puts Thahane’s alleged liability at M17 531 851 before interest, meaning that for the 2006/2007 farming season Thahane borrowed 66 percent of the annual block farming national budget.
Mokose denied that he had benefited from the scheme but Lehata admitted that he had borrowed some money for his farming project.