Caswell Tlali
MASERU — The Limkokwing University of Creative Technology could be sponsoring the Democratic Congress (DC)’s political campaign by offering it space on a billboard it has rented until the end of this year. The Sunday Express can reveal that a billboard that the university had rented from Continental Outdoor Advertising until the end of the year was given to the DC last Friday.
The billboard on Bonhomme House along Main North 1 was being used by the university to advertise the honorary doctorate degree it gave to Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili last May.
It was one of the many billboards around Maseru that the university had hired to announce that it had conferred a degree on the prime minister.
On April 18 the university’s advert at Bonhomme House was suddenly replaced by the DC’s mpaign advert. The change would not have been suspicious had it not been that a month earlier a Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) official had inquired about the same space and was told that it has been rented by the university until December. On March 20 Khasane Ramolefe who is campaigning for the LCD called Continental Outdoor’s marketing manager, Kefuoe Mashopha, asking if the LCD could hire the billboard. He was told that the billboard had been hired by the university for the rest of the year.
But on April 18 he realised that the space had now been given to the DC. When he asked Continental Outdoor he was told that the space still belonged to the university. He says the advertising company told him that it did not have a contract with DC and “if the billboard was now being occupied by the DC then it would be an arrangement between the party and the university”. Ramolefe said this triggered his suspicion that Limkokwing could have given the space to the DC. On April 20 Ramolefe wrote to Mashopha asking why the billboard she said had been hired by Limkokwing was now being used by the DC.
“You say you did not hire the billboard out to the DC, this is an arrangement between DC and Limkokwing, is that not so?” Ramolefe asked Mashopha. Limkokwing’s registrar, Moroke Hoohlo, told this paper through a switch operator that he was not aware that the university’s advert at Bonhomme House had been replaced by the DC’s advert. Hoohlo also said the university had never had any agreement with the DC to use one of its billboards. DC secretary general, Ralechate ’Mokose said he was not aware that the party had a billboard at Bonhomme House. Ramolefe told the Sunday Express he believed that either Limkokwing or Continental Outdoor was sponsoring the DC’s election campaign.
“I understand that the billboard has been hired out to Limkokwing but I don’t understand why Continental Outdoor deemed it good to give the billboard to DC to the detriment of its customer, the Limkokwing,”Ramolefe said.“This happened after I made enquiries on availability of the billboard and it shows that according to Continental Outdoor I do not qualify to hire it while it is in use by Limkokwing but the DC qualifies,” he said. On Friday Mashopha declined to comment saying she was on leave. A Continental Outdoor official who refused to be named said the “company does not affiliate itself to any political party.”
“This is all I can say,” said the official who claimed to be the acting managing director when pressed for a comment. The advert was removed after this paper’s enquiries.