Axed DC youth leader implicates PS

Bongiwe Zihlangu MASERU
— Democratic Congress (DC) youth league chairman Thuso Litjobo, axed on
Wednesday from his job as a driver in the energy ministry, has implicated
acting Principal Secretary Emmanuel Lesoma “as my accomplice”. Lesoma
fired Litjobo on Wednesday from his job as a public officer at the Ministry of
Energy, Meteorology and Water Affair’s department of Lowlands Water Supply
Unit, for appearing at political rallies before and after elections “using a
government vehicle”. Lesoma,
in a letter dated August 1, terminated Litjobo’s contract at the ministry for
also making political statements on radio during the same period. However,
Litjobo has shot back, claiming that Lesoma was the one who gave him access to
a government vehicle “to use after hours and on weekends”.

Litjobo
said if there was anybody deserving to be charged for misconduct, it was Lesoma
it was his plan “that I used for a government vehicle”.

According
to the fired up Litjobo on Wednesday night and later on Friday while addressing
a press conference at the DC headquarters, Lesoma allowed him unlimited access
to a government vehicle. “I
am surprised that Ntate Lesoma has fired me when he was actually the one who
gave me unlimited access to the government vehicle,” Litjobo said. “We
were parked outside the premises of our offices on the parking lot one day when
Ntate Lesoma said I should have access to a government vehicle on weekends and
after hours.” Litjobo
further alleged that during that meeting, Lesoma cautioned him to drive the
ministry’s Toyota Yaris in the day and a van on weekends and after hours “as a
disguise”. “He
said if I used the Yaris during the day and the van after hours and on
weekends, it would confuse people as they’d be more used to me in the smaller
car during the day,” Litjobo said. Litjobo
also claimed that Lesoma would also allow him to use his yellow master tag for
activating all government cars, for the exclusive use of PSs, so that he could
have ease of movement “anywhere in the country”.

“For
me to work beyond normal hours, Ntate Lesoma would sometimes give me his master
tag to activate that car so that I could go anywhere in the country,” Litjobo
said.

“If
he couldn’t give me his yellow tag to use, he’d have my blue tag for ordinary
drivers, temporarily deregistered from the computer of the Avis Fleet control
box just so that I could drive the car.” Asked
what interest Lesoma could have had in allowing him to “misuse” a government
vehicle, the DC youth leader alleged that the acting PS wanted for him to give
him reports of both DC and the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) election
campaign rallies. “If
I didn’t use that vehicle to go to a DC rally, I’d be seen in it at an LCD
rally. Ntate Lesoma would demand that I give him reports on Monday mornings,”
Litjobo alleged. Asked
what could have turned Lesoma against him, Litjobo said the acting PS was under
pressure to please his boss Minister Timothy Thahane and “secure conformation
as PS”. “As
acting PS, he’s trying to show his loyalty to Thahane and secure confirmation
by attacking me,” Litjobo said. “We
wish him success and hope he gets the confirmation because that will go a long
way in proving that he’s a loyal member of the coalition government.” When
contacted for comment on Saturday, Lesoma told this paper that Litjobo’s
allegations “are just not accurate”. According
to Lesoma, Litjobo should produce the logbook he signed every time he used the
vehicle to prove who gave him the authority to drive the car. “Every
government vehicle has a logbook which requires a signature from the immediate
supervisor. He should produce it so that we can see who signed it,” Lesoma
said.

Asked
to comment on the allegation that he let Litjobo use his yellow master tag for
ease of access to the vehicle, Lesoma said getting one’s hands on the tags “is
not that difficult”. “It’s possible for one
to have access to a tag that’s not theirs, maybe by stealing it,” Lesoma said.