Jobs lost, pensions in peril, and market disrupted as Zenith Horizon is accused of presiding over Mamoth’s demise
A regulated financial institution under the direct supervision of the Central Bank of Lesotho (CBL) has allegedly gone rogue, acquiring a majority stake in an unregulated company and presiding over its collapse, yet the regulator appears unwilling, or unable, to intervene.
Zenith Horizon Insurance Company Limited, which is on the CBL’s list of licensed insurers, reportedly acquired about 70 percent of Mamoth Insurance/Medical Aid around 2023–2024 and took over its management.
Instead of rescuing the struggling health insurer, multiple insiders allege that Zenith’s actions accelerated Mamoth’s downfall.
Commitments were ignored, operations were allowed to deteriorate, and staff went unpaid for months, forcing many to resign in order to access their pensions. Some employees even faced frozen bank accounts or the risk of losing property.
Allegations also point to a potential conflict of interest, with Zenith’s ties to another medical aid business raising concerns about collusion and the deliberate weakening of competition in Lesotho’s medical aid sector.
Efforts by the Ministry of Trade to intervene were reportedly blocked by Zenith, which promised to rescue Mamoth itself, a promise that, according to sources, never materialised, leaving the company insolvent and employees stranded.
“I believe the public deserves to know how a major local institution was deliberately brought down,” one source said. “Around 2023–2024, Zenith Horizon Insurance acquired about 70 percent of Mamoth and took over its management. Instead of delivering on promises to strengthen the company, Zenith’s actions appear calculated to eliminate Mamoth as a competitor.”
The source added that the human cost – employees driven into resignation, members left uncertain, and the loss of an independent administrator – makes this more than a corporate story.
“It is a public interest matter,” the source said.
Another source detailed ongoing hardships.
“Mamoth Health staff are currently not receiving salaries and other benefits as per their contracts. For the majority, the last pay received was in April, a few in May, and the cleaners in June.” The sources said staff wrote to the acting CEO on June 30, 2025, demanding answers, but received no response.
“The acting CEO is based at Christie House as a full-time Zenith Horizon CEO. Our last meeting with Ms. Smangela (Molumeli) was on July 31, 2025, and she verbally committed to giving us specific dates for settling our pending salaries and benefits on August 6. We have never heard from her since.
“That was her first meeting with staff after taking over the company in October 2024. Payments received in the early months of this year were paid directly from Zenith, and there was no roadmap or plan for how Mamoth would operate.
“Most staffers were paid while doing almost nothing, as clinics and service providers suspended activities due to delayed payments. Most staff eventually resigned to access pensions, leaving some with frozen accounts or the risk of losing property.”
The acting CEO of Mamoth, Smangela Molumeli, is also the CEO of Zenith Horizon according to the CBL’s own website. When approached by Newsday last week, Molumeli said the issues were before the regulator and declined to comment.
Yet when Newsday asked the CBL to clarify its role, the regulator distanced itself. “Just referred to the Bank’s List of Licensed Financial Institutions. We do not have an entity called Mamoth Insurance,” said CBL Chief Corporate Communication, Ephraim Moremoholo, on Monday.
Newsday followed up on Tuesday, emphasising that while Mamoth is unlicensed, Zenith Horizon is duly licensed, and it was precisely for this reason that the Bank’s clarity was sought.
“When a regulated financial service provider goes in the opposite direction, into an unregulated line of business, what framework applies?” the publication asked.
“Does the Bank’s oversight extend only to the licensed activities, or also to the conduct of the licensed institution within such unregulated ventures, especially when those ventures affect employees, pension funds, and consumers who may reasonably believe they are dealing with a regulated entity?”
At the time of going to print, the CBL had not responded to follow-up questions.
Technically, the Central Bank is correct that Mamoth was never a licensed financial institution. But the explanation is troubling, because it ignores the fact that a licensed insurer, Zenith Horizon, was the one that acquired and managed a business that is not regulated.
Even more concerning is that the Financial Institutions Act is clear that a financial institution cannot be licensed unless it is incorporated as a public company under the Companies Act, and even then, registration requires the prior written approval of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions (CBL).
To obtain such a licence, an applicant must provide, in writing, full particulars of the business it intends to carry on, including operational and financial plans, systems of internal control, internal audit and accounting frameworks, as well as its overall structure.
Against this legal backdrop, it would be unusual, even contradictory, for a licensed financial institution that initially got approval from the CBL (based on declared activities) to suddenly pivot into another line of business, especially unregulated or opaque ones, without the regulator stepping in.
Such a scenario raises serious questions about regulatory oversight and accountability.
Summary
- A regulated financial institution under the direct supervision of the Central Bank of Lesotho (CBL) has allegedly gone rogue, acquiring a majority stake in an unregulated company and presiding over its collapse, yet the regulator appears unwilling, or unable, to intervene.
- For the majority, the last pay received was in April, a few in May, and the cleaners in June.
- “Does the Bank’s oversight extend only to the licensed activities, or also to the conduct of the licensed institution within such unregulated ventures, especially when those ventures affect employees, pension funds, and consumers who may reasonably believe they….
Seabata Mahao is a general news reporter with special focus on Business and Sports. Started working at Newsday in 2021. Working in a team with a shared goal is what I enjoy most and that gives me the motivation to work under any environment leading to growth.
