… As report lays bare a cesspool of corruption at Moshoeshoe I Airport
A damning parliamentary report has laid bare a cesspool of corruption, incompetence, and cronyism surrounding the rehabilitation of Moshoeshoe I International Airport, Lesotho’s sole international gateway.
At the center of the storm is Minister of Public Works and Transport Matjato Moteane, whose immediate removal is now demanded over alleged conflicts of interest and misconduct.
The report, tabled yesterday by three National Assembly committees reveals Moteane’s ties to contractors and a procurement process reeking of favouritism that has turned a vital infrastructure project into a national disgrace.
The joint report, compiled by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Portfolio Committee on Natural Resources, Tourism, and Land Cluster, and the Committee of Chairpersons, calls for the axe to fall not just on Moteane but also on the Principal Secretary (PS) Tšepang Koele, Deputy Principal Secretary (DPS) Katiso Ntoane, and Director of Building Design Services (BDS) Motheba Letsoela.
“The Principal Secretary, Ms. Koele, Deputy Principal Secretary, Mr. Ntoane and Director BDS, Ms. Letsoela, of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport are implicated in a tender scandal involving the refurbishment of Moshoeshoe I International Airport,” the report read.
It recommended their dismissal and a criminal probe by the police or the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) alleging that the procurement process was so rotten it demands court action to unearth the full extent of the rot.
Moteane’s phone rang unanswered when Newsday sought comment yesterday.
The fiasco centers on a contract awarded to LSP Construction, a firm with suspiciously close links to Moteane. The report revealed that LSP’s bid included documents from Khatleli Tomane Moteane Architects, a company where the minister was once a shareholder.
As if that were not incriminating enough, LSP is allegedly tangled up with Polihali Infrastructure Consultants (PIC), comprising the South African-based Mott MacDonald PDNA (Pty) Ltd and Khatleli Tomane Moteane Architects (Pty) Ltd that has been contracted by the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) in the Phase II of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP).
“PIC has sub-contracted LSP at some time during its work there. The committees were also informed that Hon Moteane was a representative of the JV at Polihali shortly before he joined the government as a Minister and that it is for the same reason why some of the companies are using a similar address which is a property of one ‘Malikotsi Moteane.” the report sneered painting a picture of a minister neck-deep in a web of self-dealing.
The airport project itself is a shambles. Initially pegged at M50 million, the LSP contract ballooned to a jaw-dropping M184 million, a discrepancy that Koele, the ministry’s chief accounting officer, feigned ignorance about.
“The CAO (Chief Accounting Officer) of the Ministry, Ms Ts’epang Koele, informed the Committees that the value of the project was M50 million. When asked why the contract with LSP cost M184 million, she said they did not know that the project value would be more than 50million” read the report.
Yet Moteane contradicted her, admitting to the committees that “he and all the staff members, including the CAO, knew that the project value was way above 50 million even before they went for tendering.”
This is not the first misstep. In 2021, the ministry hired Leseli Technical Engineering (LTE) to oversee the airport’s refurbishment, only to terminate the contract after a review found their work abysmal and their staff inadequate.
During termination, LTE had already been paid an amount totaling M7,000,000.00 for invoices submitted earlier.
Then came LSP, handpicked through a dubious “Expression of Interest” process that ignored a 2013 master plan by Intercontinental Consultants and Technocrats (ICT), a study Moteane himself reportedly called “the most comprehensive and detailed to enhance the airport’s infrastructure.”
Why ditch a fully paid, world-class blueprint for a backroom deal with LSP Construction? The report does not say, but the implication is clear that personal gain trumped public good.
The committees are not just pointing fingers, they are demanding action. They have called for LSP’s contract to be scrapped and a new, transparent tender launched, one that heeds the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) 2007 and 2022 audit warnings on safety and standards.
Moshoeshoe I International Airport, commissioned in 1985, is Lesotho’s only international airport and a vital gateway for economic and regional connectivity.
The facility has suffered years of neglect, with outdated infrastructure failing to meet ICAO standards. Past administrations have repeatedly attempted to rehabilitate the airport, yet political interference and questionable dealings have derailed progress.
In 2013, an India-based firm, ICT, conducted a comprehensive study on the economic feasibility and engineering design for airport upgrades. The report was paid for in full, yet it has constently been ignored by successive governments.
In 2021, the Ministry of Transport awarded a contract to LTE Consultants to oversee the airport refurbishment. However, upon Moteane’s appointment, the project was abruptly halted, citing a “new government vision”.
According to the report, Moteane claimed that a post-2022 election mandate from the prime minister forced a project rethink. The report quoted him saying the new vision included “a Special Economic Zone and hospital premises.”
Ntsoaki Motaung is an award-winning health journalist from Lesotho, specializing in community health stories with a focus on sexual and reproductive health and rights, as well as HIV. She has contributed to platforms like “Be in the KNOW,” highlighting issues such as the exclusion of people with disabilities from HIV prevention efforts in Lesotho.
In addition to her journalism, Ntsoaki serves as the Country Coordinator for the Regional Media Action Plan Support Network (REMAPSEN). She is also a 2023 CPHIA Journalism Fellow.
