...as commissioners remain unpaid
...more time needed to complete probe
Mathatisi Sebusi
THE government has to date not been able to pay members of the Commission of Inquiry investigating the December 2023 escape and torture of inmates at Maseru Central Correctional Institution (MCCI), allegedly by Lesotho Correctional Service (LCS) recruits.
The three commissioners have not been paid for the duration of the Commission's tenure which lapsed last Wednesday.
The Commission started work on the 5th of April 2024 and was given two months to complete its work and submit a report to Prime Minister Sam Matekane. But that time has lapsed before it could finish its work.
The Commission comprises the trio of High Court Judge, Justice Realeboha Mathaba (chairman), former Deputy Prime Minister and retired lawyer Adv Kelebone Maope KC and former LCS Commissioner Mojalefa Thulo.
As per Legal Notice No. 26 of 2024 titled Commission of Inquiry into the Escape of Inmates from Lesotho Correctional Service Facility, the Commission was mandated to investigate, appraise and evaluate circumstances that led to the escape of inmates and help identify officers accused of torturing inmates thereafter.
The Commission's time lapsed after it had among others interviewed the Maseru Central correctional Institution (MCCI)'s management and some of the tortured inmates. It had hoped to proceed this week but could not do so due to the absence of a gazette allowing it to continue with its work.
In an interview with the Lesotho Times on Tuesday, Minister of Law and Justice, Richard Ramoeletsi, said before the commission started its job, his office had requested a budget of M2.5 million to cover salaries of the three commissioners and other operational costs.
He said they were however still waiting for the release of the funds by the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Retšelisitsoe Matlanyane, who had been away on international work trips between April and May. The funds could thus not be processed without her approval.
He said salaries for the commissioners would be paid once the funds had been released. Their salaries, Mr Ramoeletsi said, were equivalent to those of the High Court judges including benefits.
"We are still waiting for the budget approval from Finance which could mean more money as we discovered that there is still a lot of work to be done," Mr Ramoeletsi said.
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"We also requested a gazette extending the tenure of the commission for another two months and are still waiting for approval," Mr Ramoeletsi said.
For his part, Adv Maope KC, said he was not aware that he was supposed to get paid on a monthly basis but believed they would receive their packages when their work was completed.
He also said the Commission still had a lot of work pending. He said they had only been able to process 24 witnesses and he anticipated that more than 100 witnesses still needed to appear before the commission.
"We still have a lot of work to do. I think what happen is we sometimes put the cart before the horse. As a result, we anticipated that the job would be done within two months but it needs much more time.
"The Evidence Leader (Sekati Makhele) started work at the same time as us, while he should have been given time to identify witnesses, interview them and send them summons to appear before the Commission before we could start. Now that was not done. We have to wait for him to do that before witnesses come before the Commission and that alone is a lot of work.
"I guess it was never about money hence we are prepared to proceed with work despite being unpaid. I had thought we would be paid once we were done with this project," Adv Maope said.
Dr Matlanyane could not be reached for comment until this paper went to print last night as calls to her mobile phone got cut abruptly.
