Maseru
The Lesotho Electricity Company (LEC) has confirmed the appointment of Tšeliso ’Mokela as Acting Managing Director, a move that has stirred disbelief and outrage among majority of Basotho who see it as yet another chapter in the revolving door of controversial state appointments.
The announcement, made through an official notice on Friday, comes just a day after the abrupt removal of Acting MD Nathaniel Maphathe. Sources within the utility say Maphathe’s exit followed internal tensions with the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Board over disciplinary processes and governance failures.
But the replacement has raised more eyebrows than the dismissal itself.
’Tšeliso ’Mokela, who currently heads the Lesotho Electricity Company Communications (LECC), will now hold two critical leadership posts within the country’s power sector, a concentration of authority that analysts describe as bizarre and reckless, particularly in an environment already marred by governance scandals and public distrust.
What further complicates the appointment is the political proximity. ’Mokela’s wife, Teboho Mokela, is the current Government Secretary, the most powerful civil service position in Lesotho. The pair now effectively straddle both the bureaucratic and operational arms of the state, a situation critics say represents the very definition of conflict of interest.
This is not the first time Tšeliso ’Mokela’s name has appeared in controversy. Records show that in September 2020, as Chief Executive Officer of the Lesotho Communications Authority (LCA), he was charged alongside several board members for abusing the functions of their offices. The charges related to his failure to disclose personal interests during meetings where his own remuneration was discussed.
Investigations at the time revealed that under his leadership, the LCA Board approved a 57 percent bonus for him without any performance assessment, in violation of internal policy that capped bonuses at 20 percent. As a result, he pocketed over M889,000 in bonuses and salary adjustments for the 2016 to 2018 financial years, an act later flagged as irregular and corrupt.
A senior governance expert who spoke to Lesotho Tribune described the LEC Board’s decision as a slap in the face to accountability.
“It is almost surreal,” he said. “You have a man who was charged for corruption now heading two of the country’s most strategic state-owned enterprises, while his wife sits as the Government Secretary. It makes a mockery of the government’s own anti-corruption rhetoric.”
At LEC, insiders say morale has plummeted as staff view the appointment as politically motivated rather than based on merit. One employee, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the decision “feels like punishment for those who believed reform was finally possible.”
’Mokela’s dual role will also stretch the corporate governance boundaries between LEC and its subsidiary LECC, both of which are integral to Lesotho’s energy infrastructure and already under scrutiny for inefficiencies, procurement irregularities, and mismanagement of public funds.
What remains unclear is whether the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which has recently been investigating SOE governance failures, will summon the new Acting MD to explain his past conduct and potential conflict of interest.
For now, the lights at LEC may stay on, but the moral circuit seems dimmer than ever.
