Ex-Minister in multi-million scandal

MASERU – Former Education Minister, ’Mamookho Phiri, is under investigation after she signed a multi-million maloti deal with a Malaysian university to open a medical school in Lesotho.

Phiri signed the deal with Lincoln University College of Malaysia in May 2022. Documents seen by thepost reveal that she signed the deal without the Cabinet’s approval.

She ignored advice from the Attorney General, Advocate Rapelang Motsieloa KC, and her ministry’s Director of Legal Services who warned her against signing the deal.

Phiri also ignored the then Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro’s email questioning if the deal had been scrutinised by the Attorney General. 

The contract is strikingly similar to the controversial Frazer Solar deal that former Minister Temeki Ts’olo signed without Cabinet approval and has now subjected Lesotho to epic legal battles in international courts. 

The Sam Matekane-led government has since terminated the contract with Lincoln University College and reported the matter to the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO).

The DCEO is investigating Phiri and Higher Education principal secretary Dr John Oliphant, who witnessed the contract, for corruption and abuse of office.

Education Minister, Professor Ntoi Rapapa, confirmed that Cabinet had instructed him to cancel the contract and report the matter to the anti-corruption unit. 

“I did as the Cabinet has instructed me,” Professor Rapapa said last night.

In the contract, Phiri committed the government to sponsor the students at the university. She also gave Lincoln University College a 15-year monopoly to provide medical education in Lesotho.

She agreed that the Ministry of Education will “not to sign any other agreements of this nature and/or any other health care programs such as medical, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry” for 15 years. 

The contract states that the university would focus on health-related disciplines such as medical, dental, pharmacy, nursing, physiotherapy, medical assistant, para-medical, allied sciences and others.

Although the contract looked attractive to Lesotho, a country with a dire shortage of medical professionals, Phiri did not have Cabinet approval to sign it. 

The contract also bound the government to ensure that the university’s graduates would be registered with the Medical Council of Lesotho to practice.

It also said the government would recommend and facilitate for various United Nations agencies and the World Health Organisation to recognise the university’s graduates.

Like in the Frazer Solar deal that plunged Lesotho into a litany of litigations abroad, any contractual dispute between the government and Lincoln University College was to be adjudicated at the International Court of Arbitration (ICC) in Paris, France. 

The contract was one of the first things Professor Rapapa queried when he came into office late last year.

When Dr Oliphant, the ministry’s chief accounting officer, failed to answer some of his questions Professor Rapapa turned to the ministry’s legal director and Attorney General.

The minister found that Phiri led a delegation that included Dr Oliphant, Chief Tertiary Education Officer ’Masaelloane Sehlabi, Council on Higher Education (CHE) boss Dr Litšabako Ntoi and Dr Tlotla Selialia, a member of CHE, to Malaysia in March last year. 

The air tickets, meals and accommodation were financed by Lincoln University College which was registered as a company in Lesotho around the same time. 

Phiri agreed to allow the college to set up the medical school at the Lesotho China Fellowship Collegiate atop Berea Plateau in Thuathe. 

Lesotho China Fellowship Collegiate, a donation from the Chinese government, already has high school students.  

Documents seen by this paper show that the Cabinet never agreed to sub-let the property to the university.  

When Phiri’s government lost power last year the Cabinet had started discussing the establishment of the Lincoln University Lesotho Medical School (LULMS) “but the approval was still pending” according to the documents. 

Phiri had, however, granted the registration of the university in April, some six months before the new government took over. The Lesotho China Fellowship Collegiate had also sued the ministry and the university over the sub-lease agreement. 

Rapapa told thepost that he managed to convince the board to withdraw the lawsuit after he terminated the contract with the university last month.

Documents show that Phiri’s reason for sub-letting the university at the middle school was that the facilities were being under-utilised.  

The principal, ’Manthatisi Tikoane, told the court in her affidavit that she was surprised in May last year when Dr Oliphant’s delegation, which included some Malaysians, arrived at the school and started measuring classrooms.

The Malaysians, she said, told her that they would soon operate a medical school at her middle school and would admit about 500 students.

The school, she later learnt when the ministry had called her, was to be closed and be replaced by the medical school. 

When she asked why the school was to be closed, Phiri responded that the school is the ministry’s property and it could use it “for any reasonable purpose, and (the school) is bound to comply therewith”.

Professor Rapapa told thepost that when he did not get answers from Dr Oliphant he instructed him to seek answers from the ministry’s Director of Legal Services who told him that the contract had been illegal from the onset.

The director, he said, said her legal advice was ignored.

Professor Rapapa said he also directed Dr Oliphant to ask for legal advice from the Attorney General. 

In his response, seen by the paper, the Attorney General said the contract “should not have been entered into in the first place”.

He said in April last year he advised that the ministry should renegotiate with Lincoln University on certain terms before the contract is signed.

“We advised that the Ministry should not enter into the contract before securing the concurrence of all stakeholders,” Advocate Motsieloa said in the letter responding to the minister’s questions about the deal. 

“We also advised that before signing, the Ministry should first make sure that it will be able to meet its obligations and responsibilities under the agreement.” 

He said in August last year Prime Minister Majoro wrote an e-mail to Phiri asking her to confirm that the Attorney General’s advice was heeded before the contract was signed.

“We have been made to believe that the Minister ignored the e-mail from the former Prime Minister.” 

“As it turned out our advice was not heeded.”

Advocate Motsieloa also told Professor Rapapa that he understood that the cabinet never approved the contract “which is another reason why this contract should have never been entered into”.

“The deliberate (ignoring) of our advice has metamorphosed into a legal action against the Ministry, something which could have been avoided if our advice was heeded by those responsible,” he said, referring to the lawsuit by the school atop Berea Plateau.

The Attorney General advised Professor Rapapa to mention these anomalies to Lincoln University to find an amicable withdrawal from the contract.

He also advised the minister to rope in the DCEO to investigate the contract. 

On January 12 the Cabinet instructed Professor Rapapa to terminate the contract and report the matter to the DCEO. 

He then instructed Dr Oliphant to inform the university of the decision to terminate the contract. 

Dr Oliphant also told the university president, Professor Amiya Bhaumik, on February 1 that the Lesotho Cabinet “has discovered that the signatory of the sub-lease agreement, former Honourable Minister of Education, was not mandated and authorised to enter into the said agreement”.

“She deliberately withheld the pertinent information to the effect that, not only the former Prime Minister, but the Auditor General specifically prohibited her into entering into the sublease in question”.

He also told Professor Bhaumik that Phiri deliberately misled him by claiming that she was the titleholder of the lease which was registered under the Lesotho-China Friendship Middle School.

“It is therefore apparent that the former minister could not and/or cannot sublease the land she does not own or at least authorised by the owner (the Lesotho government) to do so.”

Professor Bhaumik responded by saying his university “is by no means party to any corrupt manoeuvres in this venture as the project foundation started since 2019 and subsequent to my visit to Lesotho in 2020 January”.

“Our efforts are based on the cordial relationship between our two countries on the principles of the Smart Partnership initiative, it is open, transparent and to the benefit of Basotho students in particular,” he said.

“The university is not aware of the procedural omissions that you have raised. It has always relied on the council (sic) of the former Minister and her officials.”

Last night, Professor Bhaumik told thepost that he did not give Phiri even a cent or received any from her.

“I am aware that the Lesotho anti-corruption body is investigating,” he said.

He said his only gripe is that Professor Rapapa did not bother to call him to the negotiation table so that they could see how to correct the wrongs together and move forward with the project.

“Basotho people are losing very much because they are the ones who need medical professionals,” he said.

He said he has since moved the project to Nigeria.

Professor Bhaumik said Basotho are “in petty politics instead of prioritising on things that are of importance to them”.

He said in November he was with Professor Rapapa in India and the minister did not bother to tell him about what was happening with the project.

“He only said he was new in office and he would call me back but he never called,” he said.

Efforts to call Phiri were not successful yesterday.

Dr Oliphant declined to comment, saying this issue “is sub judice”.

Caswell Tlali