MASERU-The management and a worker at Blessing Khomojoo’s Fruits and Vegetables Store have been released on bail after being charged with selling rotten meat and unlawfully locking Maseru City Council inspectors inside a cold room.
According to a statement issued by the Maseru City Council (MCC), the incident occurred on 13 December 2025, when health and environmental inspectors were carrying out their routine food safety inspections at the shop along Kingsway Road.
During the inspection, inspectors allegedly discovered beef that was unfit for human consumption. The meat was seized because it did not meet hygiene and safety standards, including concerns over how and where it had been slaughtered.
When inspectors entered the cold room to continue with their work, shop employees allegedly locked them inside. The inspectors were later rescued by the Lesotho Mounted Police Service.
Following the incident, Maseru City Council opened a criminal case against the shop’s management and staff.
They are charged under Section 47(1) of the Penal Code Act of 2012, which criminalises unlawful detention. The Council says this section applies because inspectors were allegedly locked inside the cold room against their will.
They are also charged under the Public Health Order of 1970, read together with Section 70, which makes it an offence to sell or expose food that is dangerous or unfit for human consumption. This charge arises from allegations that the shop was selling rotten meat.
In addition, the accused are charged under the Abattoir Regulations of 1972 (Legal Notice No. 27, Section 6(1)), which require that meat sold to the public must come from approved slaughter facilities and be handled in a hygienic manner. Authorities say the meat found at the shop did not meet these legal requirements.
The accused appeared before the Maseru Magistrate’s Court on 14 January 2026, where a manager and one employee were formally charged.
They were each granted bail of M2, 000 and are expected to return to court on 27 January 2026.
Maseru City Council further stated that the same shop had previously been cautioned over a similar health-related incident.
This followed a social media post allegedly inviting members of the public to collect free chicken that had started going bad after a freezer malfunctioned. The post reportedly advised people to wash the chicken and use strong spices to remove the smell, a move MCC says posed a serious risk to public health.
