- to manage the university's multi-million dollar pension fund
- demands reversal of seemingly corrupt appointment
Mohloai Mpesi
THE National University of Lesotho (NUL)'s management has rejected the shady appointment of controversial South African company, Akani Financial Services, to administer the institution's pension fund.
So contentious is Akani's appointment that the NUL management has appointed a committee to probe how the incomprehensible decision was reached.
Akani was appointed in March this year, by the NUL Pension Fund Board of Trustees, to administer the university's pension fund.
But the NUL management contends that Akani's appointment by the pension fund's Board of Trustees was illegal. The Board's certificate of operation had expired and thus did not have the powers to make such a crucial decision. It simply had no mandate to seek and appoint Akani in place of the reputable behemoth, Metropolitan Lesotho.
In light of what is in the public domain now, it is not difficult to see why the Board made the decision. The NUL pension fund's principal officer, Monaheng Mahlatsi, has long been in the corrupt pockets of Akani. Mr Mahlatsi tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to have Akani appointed to administer the M12 billion Public Officers Defined Contribution Pension Fund (PODCPF), of which he is a trustee, at the expense of its long term reputable administrator, NBC Holdings.
NUL Acting Director of Legal Services, 'Marealeboha Makau, told parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) yesterday, that the university's management was at odds with the Board of Trustees' decision to appoint Akani.
According to Ms Makau, Akani's appointment was foggy and did not follow due processes.
Resignation
So unhappy was the university's management, Ms Makau said, that one of its representatives in the university pension fund's Board of Trustees, Professor Motlamelle Kapa, had resigned in protest.
Ms Makau explained that Prof Kapa had resigned from the Board because he could "not continue to be a member of a Board whose decisions the NUL management looked down upon".
NUL had been summoned before the PAC together with the Ministry of Education and Training's Principal Secretary, Ratṧiu Majara, and members of the NUL Pension Fund Board of Trustees to explain the goings on at the fund. The PAC is probing Lesotho's public sector pension funds which are mired in several allegations of impropriety.
Members of the NUL Pension Fund Board of Trustees who appeared before the PAC are chairperson Mpheteli Malunga, deputy chairperson Moreheng Lethunya and management representatives 'MaAdoro Seipati Adoro and Rammuso Monyolo.
Yesterday's PAC session was chaired by main opposition Democratic Congress (DC) Mekaling constituency legislator, Thabiso Lekitla, who held fort for committee chairperson, 'Machabana Lemphane-Letsie, who did not attend due to sickness.
Other PAC members present included Lephoi Makara, Makhaleng Mootsi Lehata, both from the DC, and Basotho National Party (BNP) leader, Machesetsa Mofomobe.
The NUL had been summoned by the PAC to account for its pension fund affairs.
The PAC's summons read: "The Public Accounts Committee invites the Chief Accounting Officer in the Ministry of Education and Training, to appear before the committee accompanied by relevant officials including representatives of the National University of Lesotho Pension Fund.
"The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the functioning of the NUL Pension Fund including its financial status, management practices and any challenges it currently faces."
The meeting had initially been scheduled for Monday this week but NUL representatives were a no show.
Metropolitan
In her address to the PAC, Ms Makau explained that the Board of Trustees, had resolved to terminate initial administrator, Metropolitan Lesotho's contract to appoint Akani to administer the university's pension fund "without the management's approval, let alone informing them".
She said so determined was the NUL management to get to the bottom of the issue, that it had established a committee in July this year, comprised of the human resources department, internal audit office and other relevant NUL departments, to probe the irregular award.
Ms Makau insisted the Board had acted unlawfully in awarding the administration deal to Akani, forcing Prof Kapa to quit.
"We had a trustee who resigned, Professor Kapa. His reason was that the NUL management did not have confidence in the decisions taken by the board. He felt that he could not continue representing the NUL management in a Board whose decisions it disagreed with," Ms Makau said.
She said the Board had written a letter to NUL Vice Chancellor, Olusola Isaac Fajana, informing him that they had decided to terminate Metropolitan Lesotho's contract in favour of Akani.
The letter was written by the NUL Pension Fund Principal Officer, Monaheng Mahlatsi. Mr Mahlatsi became a member of the NUL Board of Trustees in 2022. He was subsequently appointed to a new role as the fund's principal officer in November 2023. And from what the world now knows, he would have been a key catalyst to the decision to appoint Akani.
Mr Mahlatsi is also a trustee of the M12 billion (PODCPF) as well as a member of its investment committee. His role in the PODCPF is by virtue of him being a member of the Public Officers' Defined Contribution Pensioners' Association (PODCPA). The PODCPA is the representative body of the various associations of public sector workers who contribute pensions to the PODCPF.
Corruption
Mr Mahlatsi's involvement suggests corruption in the decision to cancel the administration deal with Metropolitan in favour of Akani, which has no credible track record in the pension fund administration industry.
"It happened that the Board wrote a letter to the office of the Vice Chancellor saying that they had decided to terminate Metropolitan's contract as fund administrator, and that they had appointed Akani Financial Services instead," Ms Makau said.
"They even asked that the office of Vice Chancellor should direct the human resources office to provide data to Akani. There was another communication, where the Board indicated that they had opened a bank account with Standard Lesotho Bank and asked the employer (NUL) that contributions of NUL members be transferred to that account."
She said the Vice Chancellor had sought her legal opinion on the matter. She had advised him that the decision was illegal. She had also advised the NUL management to alert the regulator, Central Bank of Lesotho (CBL), as to the unlawfulness of the appointment.
"These two communications were directed to the office of the Vice Chancellor, who transferred them to my office for legal advice. At that time, Akani had already been awarded the contract and a letter had been written to Metropolitan that their contract had been terminated," Ms Makau said.
"That communication was only to inform the employer, and to give him direction on what to do. After Metropolitan had received communication, they provided data to Akani. That was because Akani needed that information as they could not start work without it. They needed it to confirm the number of employees and other data."
She continued: "That communication was legal, but the content was not. The content was wrong because the employer had not been aware that they (the Board) were contemplating to terminate Metropolitan contract and employ Akani."
Ms Makau said her advice to the NUL management was that they should not comply with the board decision because it was illegal. They should thus not give any information to Akani.
"I advised that we should write to the regulator (CBL) to inform them that we have received this kind of communication, and we do not intent to comply with its directives, and through the regulator's go ahead, we should continue giving money to Metropolitan. We also wanted the regulator to authorise that Metropolitan continue to receive the contributions," she said.
Ms Makau said her argument was premised on the fact that the Board had taken the decision to appoint Akani illegally when it was no longer licensed to do so. Its licence had not been renewed.
This was on top of other irregularities in the appointment process and questions about Akani's suitability to administer the fund.
"The other issue was how Akani was appointed. I advised that we should request information from the principal officer about how Akani was appointed and how the tendering process went."
"The response was given. The principal officer gave us the scoresheets and everything we wanted. Among others was the question of Akani's registration and fitness to administer the NUL Pension Fund."
She continued: "I advised the Vice Chancellor to establish a committee of five people to investigate Akani's appointment and what the challenges with Metropolitan were that necessitated the move to Akani."
The committee was established last week and is yet to begin its probe, she said.
"The letter from the Principal Officer said Akani had been appointed with effect from the 1st of March 2024. The decision to establish a committee was made in July but it was officially established last week," she said.
The PAC meeting is expected to continue today.
Skulduggery
But the whole story signals massive corruption and skulduggery by Mr Mahlatsi on behalf of Akani.
It is ample confirmation that Mr Mahlatsi is essentially in the pockets of Akani and is now entrenched in the South African company's corrupt networks.
Mr Mahlatsi appeared before the PAC last week in his other role as trustee of the PODCPF. He admitted that he had been instrumental in efforts to help Akani get the contract to administer the M12 billion worth PODCPF in place of NBC Lesotho. But when those efforts failed, Mr Mahlatsi sponsored a court case by the Pensioners Association to try and target NBC and have it replaced by Akani. The court case demanded a forensic probe into NBC and cancellation of its administration mandate amid allegations that it had committed fraud. This was way back in 2021. The vexatious court case was launched barely 24 hours after NBC Lesotho had been awarded the contract to continue with the administration of the PODCPF. Needless to mention that the fraud allegations against the NBC were a hoax and were never proven. They were all part of Mr Mahlatsi's skulduggery on behalf of his paymaster, Akani.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
All this suggests that Mr Mahlatsi has long been in the pockets of Akani. It is thus not surprising that as the principal officer of the NUL pension fund, he is fighting for it to go to Akani.
The problem is that Akani as a pension fund administrator is essentially a hoax. It cannot be compared to both NBC and Metropolitan, reputable South African headquartered conglomerates, with long lists of several reputable clients on their books.
Letjane
The main client of Akani in South Africa is the Municipal Employees Pension Fund (MEPF), whose principal officer, was the wife to Akani's owner, Zamani Earnest Letjane. It is thus not difficult to see why the M26 billion MEPF went to Akani. According to reports in South Africa, there was no declaration that the MEPF's principal officer, Margaret le Grange, was the wife to Mr Letjane.
Mr Letjane is mired in several other allegations of corruption, bribery and malfeasance in South Africa.
For instance, News 24 reports that in 2010, Mr Letjane paid R1.1 million to buy a 1.5-hectare property at the Bredell agricultural holdings near OR Tambo International Airport.
Almost eight years later Letjane, through his company Akani Properties, sold the same property to his client, MEPF for a staggering R333 million, according to a rates clearance form from the Ekurhuleni Municipality. Even if it were to be accepted that property is a safe bet investment which generally appreciates in value, such a level of appreciation boggles the imagination. It is impossible and unprecedented and amounts to fraud. More ominously for pensioners, the property was sold to the MEPF but it remains registered in Akani's name.
Mr Letjane was able to sell the property at such an unbelievably humungous mark-up to his client, whose funds he is administering, because of the way he allegedly does business.
Not only is he accused of corrupting the members of boards of trustees of pensions funds, and their principal officers, to get administration work, he allegedly does so in such an effective way that he is able to get them to make rushed, if not wholly irrational decisions, for his benefit in the manner we are now seeing at NUL.
As a result, 350 members of the MEPF have gone to court in South Africa to have Akani fired from administering their fund, lest they risk losing their valuable pensions. They are also asking the regulator, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) to cancel Akani's operational licence.
