Damning revelations have emerged over the "corrupt" recruitment process for 3400 temporary staff at the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs, and Police.
The process was allegedly led by Moshe Makotoko, the Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) lawmaker for Matsieng Constituency.
The concerning revelations came to light during a parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) session this week.
The PAC session was chaired by Democratic Congress (DC) legislator for Mekaling, Thabiso Lekitla, who was flanked by DC's Hloahloeng lawmaker Katleho Mabeleng, Basotho National Party (BNP) leader, Machesetsa Mofomobe, RFP's Motimposo legislator, 'Makatleho Motsoasele and Thaba-Phatṧoa lawmaker Thabo Maretlane among others.
The ministry on the other hand, was led by the Principal Secretary, Mamphaka Mabesa, and 16 other officials.
The Director of Human Resources at the Department of Home Affairs, Thakane Masupha, was direct in her responses to questions on the recruitment of the 3, 400 temporary staff.
She narrated how Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs, and Police minister, Lebona Lephema, stormed into the office of his private secretary where the thousands of job applications were being sorted, accompanied by Mr Makotoko.
According to Ms Masupha, Mr Lephema informed her that Mr Makotoko would be monitoring the recruitment process.
When she disagreed with Mr Lephema, she alleged that he kicked her out of that office, firmly telling her that she should either comply or return to her own office.
She was kicked out of that office together with other ministry officials who had been assisting her in the examination of the numerous applications.
Following her removal from the recruitment process, it continued in the office of Mr Lephema's private secretary, rather than in the human resources office which she oversees.
Then the Directorate of Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) began to sniff around, demanding information on the recruitment process.
On 30 October 2024, Ms Masupha wrote to PS Mabesa to inform her that she could not provide the information requested by the DCEO concerning the recruitment of temporary staff as she had been absent from the process since July.
"The Office of the Director of Human Resources for Home Affairs cannot provide your office with the information requested by the DCEO. The Human Resources department has not been involved in the recruitment of Temporary Employees from July 3, 2024, to now, and no reports have been submitted regarding this matter," read Ms Masupha's letter to Ms Mabesa.
This after DCEO Director-General, Knorx Molelle, had requested such information from PS Mabesa.
The DCEO's letter to Ms Mabesa, dated October 29, read: "The DCEO is investigating issues related to the Prevention of Corruption and Economic Offences Act No. 5, as amended, concerning questionable recruitment of Temporary Staff at NICR and LRMIS.
"According to sections 7 (1) (c) and 8 (1) (c) of this Act, we request your office to provide the DCEO with a list of Temporary staff, their contracts, and payroll records of temporary employees at NICR and LRMIS from July 2024 to now."
Ms Masupha told the PAC that Mr Lephema had entered the private secretary's office, which they were directed to use for recruiting temporary staff by PS Mabesa.
She explained that the minister was with Mr Makotoko, and they were informed that the latter would monitor the process.
As a Member of Parliament, Mr Makotoko does not have a role in the direct operations of any ministry; therefore, he should not oversee the recruitment of the ministry's staff.
Ms Masupha added that Mr Lephema was angry when she declined to work with Mr Makotoko and told her to vacate that office and return to her office if she was not willing to work with Mr Makotoko.
"The Minister came into that office with the Member of Parliament for Matsieng, directing that the MP for Matsieng would be monitoring the work that I do. I told him that that would not happen as Mr Makotoko did not have the right to sit in my office and direct me on what to do," Ms Masupha said.
"The Minister then kicked me out of the office and said Mr Makotoko would continue with the work. I believe the recruitment work was done by the MP for Matsieng.
"The office that we were using is assigned to the minister's private secretary. The instructions were issued by the PS to work from the private secretary's office. I returned to my office, that of human resources."
She added that she was not done with the recruitment process when she was kicked out.
Initially, three officers from the human resources department were overseeing the recruitment process.
However, due to the overwhelming number of applications, she requested assistance from two HR officers in the traffic department.
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"There were three of us from human resources handling recruitment. Sorting through the applications was daunting, so I asked for more officers from the traffic department to help," she explained.
"The minister indicated that the recruitment would be managed by his private secretary and the MP for Matsieng. When we expressed our disagreement, he insisted that we return to our offices. He pointed at us and asked where we came from, telling us to go back there. He said I should either follow his directives to the latter or leave if I was unwilling to collaborate with Mr Makotoko."
She added, "I told him it would be better for me to leave the office than to work with Mr Makotoko. We needed to hire 3400 employees. When I left for the last time, we had processed 2600 applications."
Ms Masupha claimed that some of the candidates she had legally recruited were removed from the final list.
"Some of the people I recruited were not hired, while others were fortunate enough to be selected. Some signed contracts while others did not. I received calls from those who hadn't signed contracts, but I don't know the exact number of those who signed compared to those who did not," she explained.
The PAC probe continues.
