Church In M5m Debt Fight

(MENAFN- The Post) MASERU – THE Anglican Church in Lesotho is battling to clear a M5 million debt amid a fresh squabble over governance issues within the church, thepost can reveal.

The church has now asked its priests to help clear the debt.

The diocese's Bishop Vicentia Kgabe convened priests at the Christ the Healer Mission in Lithoteng on July 12 asking them to assist the church pay off its M5 million debt.

Ten days later Reverend Maieane Khaketla wrote a strongly worded letter expressing concern over the diocese's debt.

Rev Khaketla also demanded transparency and accountability over the money issues.

Reverend Khaketla did not end there, he offered to pay off the M5 million debt but only on two conditions: that the Archbishop of Cape Town Thabo Makgoba release a report of the diocese's financial investigation of 2016 and that there should be a forensic audit of the church covering 2015 to 2019.

“I am writing to offer to assist the diocese with the payment of the M5 million debt,” Rev Khaketla wrote,“but only under certain conditions.”

He said the investigation in 2016 was done by Bishop Nkosinathi Ndwandwe who handed his report to Archbishop Makgoba.

That report was never released to the public, he said.

Bishop Ndwandwe's investigation spanned from May 25 to 30 in 2016 in Maseru.

Rev Khaketla also demanded that Bishop Kgabe commissions a forensic audit of the financial records of the Anglican Church of Lesotho, the Anglican Training Centre and St James Mission Hospital, covering the years 2015 to 2019.

“I promise to assist with the audit fees,” he wrote.

Additionally, Rev Khaketla urged Bishop Kgabe to request the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) to resume its investigation into the Anglican Church's accounts in local commercial banks and the diocese's investments in the Central Bank of Lesotho.

He said the investigations were“unilaterally stopped” by the former DCEO director in September 2016.
At the time the DCEO boss was Advocate Borotho Matsoso, the current Commissioner of Police.

At the time Rev Khaketla was in a fierce fight with the late Bishop Mallane Taaso, accusing the bishop of running the church like his fief.

The fight escalated when six other clerics joined the fight in 2018 seeking the ouster of both Bishop Taaso and Archbishop Makgoba.

Rev Khaketla even led a Facebook campaign of HashtagTaaso Must Go and Makgoba Must Go.

Bishop Kgabe confirmed to thepost last night that she had received the letter and acknowledged the diocese's financial woes.

“There is nothing we are hiding here. It is true that the diocese is in deep debt,” she said.

“This is an old debt that I inherited when I arrived. I am not the one who caused it.”

She said the meeting she called last month was the fourth that she has called which sought to find solutions to the debt crisis.

The goal, she said, is to create a financial plan that enables the diocese to pay its priests and repair schools and clinics under its care.

“I called the meeting so that we could find ways to get out of this mud,” Bishop Kgabe said.“It looks like someone wants hype.”

She dismissed Rev Khaketla's demands as an attempt to drag the church back into the conflict that contributed to its current troubles.

“The issues he is raising go back to 2015 and 2016 - I wasn't even in Lesotho then,” she said.“I have only been here for four years.”

Bishop Kgabe noted that while the church is primarily donor-funded, financial support has dwindled, leaving them reliant solely on tithes.

“Despite the financial problems, we are still working,” she said.

“It's a known fact that the church is struggling financially.”

She said audits were resumed under her leadership, with the first post-crisis audit conducted in 2020. Auditors are currently working on the 2024 audit.

“When I arrived, I made it clear that I would not work with an organisation that is not audited,” she said.

Majara Molupe

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