Tefo Tefo

MASERU — It never rains but pours for Steven Dlamini.

The 53-year-old man accused of defrauding the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) of M2.8 million in 2004 will be facing a new charge when he appears in the High Court on Tuesday.

He is now also accused of trying to defeat the ends of justice.

Dlamini first appeared in the Maseru Magistrates’ Court in June 2005 charged with the fraud at the LHDA.

His alleged accomplice, Peggy Thakeli, an accountant at the LHDA, was last July convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison over the fraud.

She is, however, out on bail after she appealed against both conviction and sentence.

But when Dlamini appears in the High Court on Tuesday he will be facing the additional charge.

The new charge, according to court records, arose after Dlamini allegedly connived with two magistrates to falsely record on September 27 2005 that his charges had been withdrawn.

On that day he was supposed to be making his second appearance in court.

He reportedly fled the country.

Dlamini was re-arrested in Maseru on August 1, 2008, by the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences officials and has since been kept in remand prison.