Seabata Mahao
The Minister of Sports, Motlatsi Maqelepo, has highlighted the acute financial constraints of his ministry’s M91 million budget allocation for the 2023/24 financial year, against the M71 million required to rehabilitate Setsoto Stadium.
The stadium was condemned by FIFA in 2021, along with 23 other African stadiums, for not meeting the required standards. As a result, Lesotho’s participation in CAF tournaments was suspended by the Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) due to the high costs of hosting international games in South Africa.
Addressing the media this week, Maqelepo explained that his ministry must share its allocated budget among various institutions and cover its own operational costs.
“When the new financial year began, we were only given M91 million to cover all the Ministry’s parastatals, minor operations, and salaries. We then began a new journey to seek assistance from the Minister of Finance to solve our situation and through lobbying and influence, they advised us to include the Ministry of Public Works,” Maqelepo said.
He explained that the Ministry of Public Works evaluated Setsoto Stadium and estimated that M71 million was needed for renovations, including fixing roof leakages and non-functioning toilets.
Maqelepo said: “We are currently working hand-in-hand with the Ministry of Finance to raise the funds for the stadium.”
The minister revealed that prior to his tenure, the procurement process for Setsoto’s rehabilitation was irregular and did not involve the Ministry of Public Works. This led to payment issues for the contractor.
“The Ministry of Public Works showed us that the contract was faulty. We were told that before the first payment could be paid, there should be proof of mobilisation whereby the contractor in question has brought the yellow plant, construction equipment, and other relevant necessities to the site of construction to show that when we are paying M1 million, we are paying against what is seen on the ground,” Maqelepo explained.
He said the Netherlands-based contractor who was contracted to install the turf in the stadium has been approved by FIFA as per their standards.
The contractor was expecting the first payment so that he could hire the yellow plant, construction equipment, and other relevant necessities in the country, he said.
