Staff Reporter
MASERU — The fate of suspended Ministry of Communication principal secretary, Nokhululeko Zaly, will be decided at a disciplinary hearing on August 28. The hearing will be chaired by Professor Lebohang Moleko, Lesotho’s chief delegate to the Lesotho Highlands Water Commission. Moleko informed Zaly of the hearing in a letter on Wednesday. He said the hearing will be held in the Government Secretary Matlatsi Ramafole’s boardroom at the Government Complex.
Moleko replaces Lesotho National Development Corporation (LNDC) boss, Joshua Setipa, who had initially agreed to chair the hearing but pulled out at the last minute. Setipa had initially agreed to chair the hearing following a June 12 request by Ramafole. In his letter of acceptance to Ramafole’s request Setipa had said he wanted to move the hearing to June 21 to prepare.
But a few days before the hearing Setipa informed the government secretary that he would not be able to chair the hearing.
Setipa’s decision forced Ramafole to postpone the hearing until further notice. Initially suspended on April 22 for allegedly disobeying Communication Minister Tseliso Mokhosi’s orders, Zaly faces seven charges of:
? Unlawfully taking a car from Ultimate FM, a government-owned radio station.
? Merging the Lesotho News Agency and the department of information without approval. She is also alleged to have merged the department of Science and the department of Information Technology.
? Unlawfully promoting Ratokelo Nkoka who was the Controller of Programmes in the ministry to the position of Director of Radio Lesotho in March.
? Employing her brother as a temporary electrician at the ministry.
? Claiming M10 000 from the government for a dinner she had hosted for some VIPs in Dubai.
? Authorising a request by a ministry officer to attend a course at a school the ministry says is dubious.
? Ordering that a post office be built in Quthing, her home area, instead of Mokothlong as initially planned.
Zaly came back into office on May 23 after the High Court ordered that she be reinstated but the rift between her and the minister Mokhosi widened. On June 12 Ramafole told Zaly that she was being suspended again despite the High Court order. “Therefore, I hereby inform you that I have taken a decision to suspend you from office with immediate effect upon receipt of this letter until final determination of the disciplinary proceedings already instituted against you,” said Ramofole.
Fifteen days before that Ramafole had asked Zaly in a letter “to show cause” why she should not be suspended pending the finalisation of disciplinary proceedings against her. Zaly had responded by telling the government secretary that his request “constitutes a contempt of court in respect of an order” in her case against the ministry. Zaly’s second suspension came on the day the ministry’s tender panel was set to discuss the Digital Migration Project contract.
The M115 million tender won by Rohde & Scharz, a Germany company, seems to be the major source of the fight between Zaly and the minister. Zaly angered the minister when she went ahead to meet Rohde & Scharz despite his advice to the contrary. The minister wanted the ministry to establish a Digital Migration Unit before the contract is awarded while Zaly felt the unit was not necessary.