Maseru – Lesotho Communications Authority (LCA) former Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Mamarame Matela, has denied allegations of stealing LCA’s gadgets.
Ms. Matela left office on 3 June 2021 after being suspended by then Minister of Communications, Science, and Technology, Hon. Keketso Sello.
Hon. Sello suspended her on allegations of corruptly influencing the awarding of a M531 million tender to Global Voices Group South Africa (GVG) for the supply of a Compliance Monitoring and Revenue Assurance system.
Ms. Matela denied these allegations and filed for reinstatement, claiming she was being victimized for refusing to solicit a M3 million bribe from GVG on behalf of Hon. Sello to approve the tender. She further accused Mr. Hon. Sello of punishing her for refusing his “sexual advances” and accused then Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro of shielding Sello.
Ms. Matela instead accused her successor, Mr. Nizam Goolam, and Chief Regulatory Officer, Mr. Thato Ponya, of framing her for the theft. Matela made these claims through her lawyer, Advocate Manthatisi Khesue, during a case in which the LCA is seeking an order compelling her to return the Authority’s assets, including an iPad, laptop, and voice recorders, which she allegedly kept despite leaving the Authority at the end of her contract on 31 March 2022.
After her suspension, a tribunal was set up to probe her fitness to remain in office, but this was revoked by Hon. Sello’s successor, Hon. Sam Rapapa, who decided in January 2022 that she should go on leave pending the expiry of her contract on 31 March 2022.
Since the expiry of her contract, the LCA has sued Ms. Matela to return the iPad, laptop, and voice recorder, which they claim she took with her when she left office. Mr. Ponya testified that when Ms. Matela left her office upon her suspension, she took with her the said laptop, iPad, and voice recorder. However, Adv Khesue argued during cross-examination that it was impossible for Ms. Matela to have taken the gadgets when she left her office, as she had done so under the escort of security officers.
“My client received her dismissal letter the same day she was told to vacate her office immediately with an escort of two security officers. She did not even have time to pack her own things. She has always denied taking those gadgets and informed the Authority that the only thing in her possession was the motor vehicle, which she kept because LCA had not paid her dues. My client alleges that you and Goolam are framing her for taking those gadgets,” said Adv Khesue.
Another LCA witness, Keneue Mohale, who is an LCA board member, reiterated that those gadgets were with Ms. Matela, “the iPad and the laptop are part of the benefits she received as the LCA chief executive officer, but she knew that when her tenure ended, she would have to return them to the Authority. The voice recorder was used by the board secretary, but since the board secretary’s resignation, the voice recorder had been with her until her suspension. She never returned any of those things. The voice recorder was used to record the proceedings of the board meetings, including the meeting in which she was suspended after Minister Sello informed the board of irregularities in the awarding of the tender to GVG. Minister Sello ordered that we look into the matter, and the board did,” said Ms. Mohale.
Ms. Matela is currently serving at the Lesotho consulate in Durban, South Africa, and according to sources with knowledge, says she awaiting her appointment as the chief of the mission in Lesotho’s embassy in Japan.
