LNDC boss suspended again

Staff Reporter

MASERU – LESOTHO National Development Corporation (LNDC) CEO Kelebone Leisanyane has been suspended again.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the LNDC board said it had suspended Leisanyane after it “identified performance concerns pertaining to management of the Corporation and the fulfilment of its mandate under (his) stewardship”.
“The identified concerns warrant unhindered determination of the Chief Executive Officer’s competence in steering the LNDC ship,” the statement reads.

“Against this backdrop the Corporation’s Board of Directors has resolved to suspend the Chief Executive Officer pending the necessary determination.”
Leisanyane’s hearing started this week and will continue until next week.
But in an impromptu interview last night Leisanyane said he feels victimised.
“The truth is that there is a power struggle between the board and the chief executive.
“They are micromanaging the chief executive,” Leisanyane said.

He said the frequency of the board meetings was frightening and unbearable.
“They are having secret meetings without the chief executive and the board secretary.
“Their language towards me is extremely rude but that is all I can say for now,” he said.
Leisanyane’s suspension this week marks the second time he has been shown the door in six months in what is proving to be an acrimonious fight for the control of the LNDC.

In May, Leisanyane was suspended by Trade Minister Joshua Setipa for allegedly failing to get tenants for the LNDC’s factory shells in Ha-Tikoe, Mohale’s Hoek and Maputsoe.
Setipa also accused Leisanyane of failing to attract an investor for a planned knit fabric mill and to come up with a policy for the Special Economic Zones.
Leisanyane however challenged the suspension in court on grounds that the minister did not have powers to suspend the LNDC CEO even though the corporation is under his ministry.
He argued only the board had such powers.

Now barely a month after he won the case, the board has suspended him again.
Leisanyane was appointed the LNDC boss in December 2014, at a time when he was the Managing Director of Loti Brick, a brick manufacturing company wholly owned by the LNDC.
Setipa and Leisanyane have had a stormy relationship over the last few years.
In 2012 Setipa was the chief executive of the LNDC while Leisanyane was the managing director of Loti Brick.
Leisanyane reported directly to Setipa. Setipa is said to have been unhappy with Leisanyane’s performance.

His gripe was that Leisanyane was struggling to meet targets and the pilferage in the plant had remained high. He had hinted that he was not going to renew Leisanyane’s contract when it expired.
Setipa was eventually pushed out as LNDC boss before he could get Leisanyane out of Loti Brick. As fate would have it, Leisanyane would be appointed to replace Setipa at the LNDC.
In 2015 there was another twist of fate when Setipa was appointed trade minister, the same ministry in charge of the LNDC. He was now technically Leisanyane’s boss again. From that moment, the writing was on the wall for Leisanyane.

Leisanyane has held board directorships in companies such as Standard Lesotho Bank, Lesotho Revenue Authority and the Lesotho Floor Mills.
He has also held directorship at Econet and Centre for Accounting Studies.
His mandate at the LNDC is to help the corporation in its mission to promote Lesotho as an attractive investment destination for both foreign and indigenous investors.