The first real shot against sleaze

THREE Principal Secretaries (PS) were this week raided by investigators from the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO).

The raid will likely send a clear message that the newly installed government led by Prime Minister Sam Matekane is committed to eradicating white collar crime among top civil servants.

Matekane’s government, which came into power on the back of lofty promises to fight corruption and roll back poverty, has fired its first real shot against sleaze.

This could be the clearest indication that the government means business and that it will chase all corrupt civil servants who have for years profited by virtue of being close to the national cookie jar.

The Principal Secretaries now stand implicated in the massive looting of road repair funds by making and authorising dubious payments earlier this year.

The anti-corruption unit is now looking into payments made by the Disaster Management Authority (DMA) to companies that repaired roads and bridges damaged by floods earlier this year.

We acknowledge that the DCEO has been a recipient of vicious criticism in the past, some of which we thought was merited.

But with a new government in power that has a clear mandate to fight sleaze, the DCEO appears to have found its mojo.

There has been a perception that the anti-corruption unit was too soft when it dealt with officials who were politically connected. As a result, for too long the DCEO had nothing to show for its work.

The lack of a clear political will had upended the DCEO’s work for years. But all this appears to have come to an end this week with the high-profile raids on the PSs.

We would like to think that the Matekane-led government is off to a great start in its fight against corruption and greed. We hope this is the beginning of a broader fight against corruption in Lesotho.

Basotho, who for decades have felt powerless to do anything against the rich and powerful, will be gratified to at last see some movement in the fight against corruption.

We have always known that the corrupt steal from the poor. They steal their future and their hopes. The money that should have been used to build hospitals and schools is pocketed by a few who are politically connected.

That’s why Basotho must rally behind the government’s crackdown against corruption. It is a programme that has the support of the majority of Basotho who have been crying out for real change.

In endorsing the raids on the Principal Secretaries we are not in any way imputing any guilt on the part of the senior government officials. They remain innocent until they are proven guilty by a competent court.

And so they will have their day in court where they will be expected to answer the charges levelled against them.

In the meantime, the investigations must proceed without fear or favour. If any government official is found guilty of sleaze, our courts must impose the maximum penalty to send a clear message to any would-be corrupt officials within government that they will not get away with corrupt activities.

By conducting the raids yesterday, the Matekane-led government is indicating that it is committed to fulfil one of its election pledges – to fight corruption at all levels.

We now await to see how else it expands this key project in cleaning up the government of all dirt.

So far, Matekane has demonstrated that his heartbeat is in sync with that of the nation in so far as fighting corruption is concerned.