Lesotho- Nacosec offices temporarily shut down

(MENAFN- The Post) MASERU -THE National Covid-19 Secretariat (Nacosec)'s offices at Avani Maseru Hotel were temporarily shut down on Monday after it failed to clear rental arrears running from July last year.
The Nacosec was established in June last year to spearhead the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

It has however failed to pay rent since it occupied its offices at the hotel.
The Nacosec Chief of Staff, Thabo Ntoi, told a press conference on Tuesday that 'approvals and procedures took a long time and this led to our office closure'.

Nacosec and the Maseru Avani management were locked in long talks on the issue on Monday. They later agreed to reopen the offices on Tuesday.
Ntoi however could not reveal how much Nacosec owes Maseru Avani, but thepost's own calculations suggest it could well be over M2.6 million.
Nacosec occupies 5 160 square metres office space with a square metre costing M72 per month.

The Nacosec CEO, Dr 'Malitaba Litaba, told thepost that she was not conversant with the rental issues of the organisation because she only joined it in December.
She said when she joined Nacosec Covid-19 positive cases were on the rise, which became her main focus.

'I really do not understand the issues around the rent as I was formally deployed in December and already the (Covid-19) cases were increasing drastically and thus (I was) occupied with fighting the pandemic,' Dr Litaba said.
The issue of funding has always haunted Nacosec since its launch in June last year with some government officials publicly questioning its legality.
Dr Litaba's predecessor, Thabo Khasipe, had to abruptly resign after he failed to successfully execute his duties due to a lack of funds.

Despite being appointed by Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro and made CEO of the Disaster Management Authority (DMA), senior government officials refused to cooperate with Khasipe forcing him to resign.

Staff Reporter

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