53 Dead Pensioners Paid For Four Years

(MENAFN- The Post) A sting operation by the Directorate on corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) has exposed rampant corruption and fraud in the distribution of old-age pensions.
In what is seen as a tip of the iceberg, DCEO officers discovered 53 ghost pensioners at 17 pay points in Leribe.
The 53 died between 2018 and 2022 but officers from the government's Pensions Unit have kept them on the list of those receiving pensions.

They were due to be recorded as“paid” again this week had the DCEO not arrived at the pay points unannounced.
It is not clear who has been receiving the cash on behalf of the dead pensioners but the suspicion is that it could be some unscrupulous relatives or the notoriously corrupt officers from the Pensions Unit.

The anti-corruption unit also discovered 92 people listed as beneficiaries but were unknown in the villages under which they were registered for pension.
The sting operation happened as the officers from the Pension Unit were about to pay pensioners gathered at the pay points.
The DCEO officials moved in, replaced the department's officers and started verifying the details of listed pensioners. They also asked the pensioners, who are mostly from the same villages, if they knew some of the listed people.
As the list was being read out the pensioners announced some of the people as either dead or unknown to them.
The discovery at the 17 points has saved the government M135 000 this month.
If the fraud had continued over the next 12 months the government would have lost a staggering M1.6 million at those points alone.
This could translate to tens of millions of maloti if there is a similar trend across other pay points in Leribe and other districts.
The DCEO is working with the Ministry of Finance, the police, the army and the National Security Service (NSS) to investigate the rot in the Pensions Unit.
Although the unit is notorious for its deep-rooted and brazen corruption, this is the first time that the DCEO, the ministry and the law enforcement agencies law launched a joint crackdown of this proportion.

Previous attempts to weed out the bad apples in the unit have not amounted to much by way of arrests and prosecutions.

Ghost pensioners have been discovered and removed from the payment lists but more names have been added as the officers continued lining their pockets, with some alleged to have amassed huge wealth at the expense of taxpayers.

The DCEO spokesperson, 'Matlhokomelo Senoko, said the audit at the pay points in Leribe will end this Friday.

“It is also the desire of the GoL (Government of Lesotho) that the audit be followed by an in-depth financial investigation into the alleged corruption and other economic crimes committed by the staff and or members of the community while handling cash every month,” the DCEO said in a statement this week.

“It is ideal that the purported investigation goes parallel with a comprehensive lifestyle audit on all involved officials working at the GoL (Government of Lesotho) pensions department, both at Central and District levels.”

The anti-corruption unit also said the audit was in response to the public outcry“on the speedy accumulation of an unexplained wealth accrued by accountants working at Pension's Departments as paying officers”.

“The investigations will extend to cover the alleged corruption committed by the Social Development Officers, accountants, chiefs and ordinary members of the communities who manipulate the payment system and enrich themselves with the government funds.”
The Pensions Unit is responsible for the administration and monthly payments to pensioners who receive M900, World War Veterans (M300), and Lesotho Liberation Army (LLA) cadres (M900).

Some people received M900 for old age pension and M900 as an LLA allowance.
Slightly over M3.7 million was budgeted for the 17 pay points in Leribe but
M4.1 million was paid from last week.

DCEO Director General, Knorx Molelle, said the Pension Unit was targeted for the audit because its budget was always ballooning and there have been reports of corruption.

“We heard that there was a syndicate formed with the civil servants and some citizens who intercept the funds to their own pockets,” Molelle said.

He said they also discovered that some 288 people had been paid at the 17 points without valid information.
Molelle said some chiefs were aiding corruption and fraud by writing confirmation letters for people they didn't know.

“We are going to go back to proof-check all the information at hand so that those who committed the crimes are arrested,” he said.

He promised that the suspects would be prosecuted and some would be forced to forfeit their assets to compensate the government.
Finance Minister Dr Retšelisitsoe Matlanyane said the government is moving swiftly to stop the leakages caused by corruption, fraud and unnecessary expenditure.

Dr Matlanyane said the ministry is looking at ways to pay the pensions through mobile money platforms (M-Pesa and Ecocash) to reduce corruption and fraud.

Nkheli Liphoto

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