MASERU – AS Prime Minister Sam Matekane prepares to announce his cabinet, a public uproar has erupted over his promise to grant amnesty to people who stole government funds.
In his inauguration speech last week Matekane promised to “establish and publicise a corruption, theft and embezzlement amnesty programme in 30 days”.
That statement immediately triggered public outrage with the public and some political leaders accusing the new government of wanting corrupt officials to go scot-free.
Other leaders said it will allow impunity and set a bad precedent.
thepost has been told that there were also some squirms among some senior Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) members who felt that the statement was not well couched and could set a bad tone for the government.
Mokhethi Shelile, the RFP’s spokesperson, however, told thepost this week that the statement has been wrongly interpreted.
The idea, Shelile said, is to ensure that the government recovers as much money as possible before it starts prosecuting culprits.
“There will certainly be prosecutions but the plan is for the government to try to recover what was stolen from Basotho.
“People are being given a chance to return what rightly belongs to this country,” Shelile said.
He said Matekane was not implying that those who stole from the government will not face the music.
Instead, he said, there will be a comprehensive strategy to implement the policy without compromising the rule of law.
He said the amnesty that Matekane was talking about will have several stages that will be strictly followed.
The first is that the government will make a general call for those who stole to come forward with the exact amount of how they pilfered and the method they used.
The second will involve the culprits returning every penny they stole.
“And that will include the interest that has accrued on the money since it was stolen,” Shelile said.
“The ill-gotten assets will be liquidated and the proceeds surrendered to the government. The shortfall will be paid in full together with the interest.”
He said even if the price of the recovered assets is higher than the stolen amount and the interest, everything will be forfeited to the state.
The third element will be a thorough investigation to verify if the culprit made full and honest disclosure about what they looted from the government.
If there are discrepancies between what was declared and what was discovered by the investigation, the culprit will lose the amnesty.
Shelile said investigations will be continuing during the amnesty period.
“Once the amnesty period has lapsed, prosecutions of those who would not have come clean will start. The law will take its course,” he said.
He said the government will establish strong whistleblowing mechanisms that include rewards for people to come forward with information on corrupt activities.
He however said even those who would have come forward should not expect their confessions and surrender of stolen money to be kept a secret.
“We will announce that so and so has brought back this much stolen from this ministry and in what way. The public deserves to know this information.”
Shelile said the amnesty will be modelled along the same lines as the one used by the Revenue Services Lesotho (RSL) or the police’s reprieve to those who own illegal guns.
Staff Reporter
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