In the investigative series published by Lesotho Tribune starting 28 January 2024, it was alleged by people that are close to the matter, that Cadiant Partners Consultants & Actuaries Lesotho and Mr. Monaheng Mahlatsi, as the Principal Officer of the National University of Lesotho (NUL) pension fund, awarded Akani Pension Fund Administrators the business of administering the NUL Pension Fund in a manner contrary to the best practices of procurement, lacking transparency and integrity in the appointment.
CBL Orders Investigation into NUL Pension Fund’s Corrupt Practices
Well-placed sources told Lesotho Tribune that the Central Bank of Lesotho (CBL), as the regulator of pension funds, has ruled against this appointment of Akani by NUL due to the compromised selection processes and has ordered a full investigation into the matter.
Our source said CBL informed the NUL pension fund through a directive that it does not recognize any appointments (including that of Akani) because the majority of trustees serving on the board of trustees have not passed the ‘fit and proper’ assessment as prescribed by the CBL.
“What this directive means is that Metropolitan is still recognized as our [NUL pension fund] administrator, and whatever Akani has been doing is null and void,” our source said.
Trustees Accused of Bribery and Mismanagement in Akani Appointment
Another source, who is a member of the NUL pension, confirmed that a meeting was called three weeks ago after another member wrote to the CBL requesting its intervention on the claims made by *Lesotho Tribune* investigations regarding the capture of Lesotho’s pension funds by Mergence, Cadiant, and Akani.
Our source, who was in attendance at the above meeting, said the meeting was heated, and shocking discoveries were made about the scale of corruption enabled mainly by the NUL Pension Fund Principal Officer, Mr. Monaheng Mahlatsi, and a few trustees.
“We only discovered that the current board was only approved in July (2024) and before then, the board has been running its affairs without a quorum!” said our source.
Our source added, “Central Bank didn’t approve the majority of these trustees, but ntate (Mr.) Mahlatsi decided to appoint Akani, knowing very well that what he was doing is illegal and to our prejudice as members of this fund.”
Responding to Lesotho Tribune’s questions, Akani Retirement Fund Administrators Chief Executive Officer, Zemani Letjane, confirmed that Akani still continues to offer fund administration services to the NUL Pension Fund.
An NUL pension fund member, who spoke to Lesotho Tribune on condition of anonymity, was in shock that almost three weeks later, Akani continues to offer services to the NUL pension fund.
“Mahlatsi was told to reverse Akani’s appointment and reinstate Metropolitan! Maybe it is true that Akani bribed them (trustees),” the member said.
Lesotho Tribune reported earlier this year that Monaheng Mahlatsi and other unnamed trustees took a fully sponsored trip by Akani to their offices in Kempton Park, South Africa. This trip happened during the tender evaluation period.
According to members of the NUL pension fund, Monaheng Mahlatsi said they visited all service providers who had tendered for administration services.
Lesotho Tribune failed to establish whether Monaheng Mahlatsi and other trustees visited the two other bidders, Metropolitan Lesotho and Alliance Insurance Company, as our questions were unanswered until the publishing of this article.
Exclusive: Inside the Heated NUL Pension Meeting and Shocking Corruption Revelations
Lesotho Tribune also reported earlier this year that Monaheng Mahlatsi, who corruptly appointed Mergence Lesotho as an asset manager at the Public Officers’ Defined Contribution Pension Fund (PODCPF), appointed unlicensed Cadiant to the NUL Pension Fund.
“All this was not a coincidence. Akani, Mergence, and Cadiant almost pulled off the greatest capture of Lesotho’s biggest pension funds. They failed to remove NBC (Lesotho) at PODCPF in favor of Akani but managed to remove Metropolitan at NUL and appointed Akani. The final move was going to be moving NUL assets to Mergence,” one industry expert, who requested to remain anonymous due to the nature of their work, said.
According to a worried trustee, who pointed out that, without a public and transparent tender process, Cadiant Lesotho was appointed as the Employee Benefits Consultant for the Fund on the 1st of April 2023.
Cadiant is licensed by the Central Bank of Lesotho to provide investment advice to pension funds. However, it is not licensed to provide advice on pension fund intermediary services. Despite this limitation, Cadiant advised the National University of Lesotho Pension Fund on appointing a fund administrator (Akani Financial Services).
This pattern is consistent with what happened in 2017 at PODCPF, where Cadiant was appointed as an investment consultant.
These developments do not only confirm the allegations of corrupt dealings involving Mr. Mahlatsi, Cadiant, Mergence, and Akani, but further illuminate the depth of capture of Lesotho’s pension fund industry by these few individuals and companies.
In our next publication, we will reveal damning revelations made during the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearings two weeks ago, where Mr. Mahlatsi and other PODCPF trustees confessed to multiple counts of corruption, incompetence, and complete governance failures of the largest pension fund in the country.
