LEC Procurement Manager In Hot Water

(MENAFN- The Post) MASERU – THE Lesotho Electricity Company (LEC)'s procurement manager, Peo Mputsoe, is facing suspension for allegedly repeatedly violating procurement regulations.

The LEC's acting finance manager, Lintle Thamae, told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) yesterday that steps are underway to suspend Mputsoe.

Thamae told the committee that a 'show cause why letter' had already been issued to Mputsoe and his suspension letter was being finalised.

The move comes after the PAC exposed serious irregularities in procurement processes under Mputsoe's supervision.

Among the damning findings were the procurement of electrical cables from a catering company, the acquisition of incompatible transformers and meters and continuing to award tenders despite clear instructions from the committee to halt all procurement activities.

The final blow came when Mputsoe openly admitted before the committee that he continued to issue tenders, even after the PAC had ordered a suspension, citing support from senior management.

“The Finance Manager and the Managing Director allowed me to continue,” Mputsoe said, referring to an incident of June 14 this year, just a week after the PAC issued its directive.

PAC member Dr Tšeliso Moroke marvelled at Mputsoe's defiance of the committee.

“We suggested that you stop awarding jobs. Why are you continuing?” Dr Moroke asked.

Thamae confirmed that she had indeed allowed procurement activities to continue, claiming they were merely“opening bid analyses for existing stock materials”.

She, however, conceded that the process was flawed.

In some instances, suppliers who had submitted tender documents were not even invited during the bid-opening process, casting doubt on the credibility and transparency of the entire exercise.

“You look at the bids and then call your friends to submit theirs, cheaper and better, so they can win,” the PAC Chairperson, Machabana Lemphane-Letsie, fumed.

Lemphane-Letsie said there was a practice of awarding tenders to companies that never even tendered or did not meet the qualification criteria.

Mputsoe admitted that procurement regulations require tenders to be opened by the procurement committee but claimed that the LEC has routinely bypassed this rule when dealing with international bidders.

Thamae acknowledged this was a mistake.

“We opened the tender boxes ourselves without involving the designated procurement committee,” she said.

The PAC also raised concerns that the LEC had fabricated urgency to justify dubious decisions, such as buying cables from a catering company.

“You created an emergency to justify buying cables from catering companies and still continue to open tenders on your own,” Lemphane-Letsie said.

The LEC Managing Director, Ntsie Maphathe, admitted that procurement operations at the company are dysfunctional.

“We have people who behave as if they do not know their job,” he said.

He revealed that he had requested government intervention to train procurement officers and was informed that a workshop is scheduled to begin in August 2025.

Nkheli Liphoto

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