Veteran Famo artist, Puseletso Seema, affectionately known as ‘M’e Mpuse, is waging a one-man war against the National Coronavirus Secretariat (NACOSEC) as she demands payment for composing a Covid-19 themed song.
The song was composed in 2020 but she claims she has up to now not been paid a cent for her ‘invention’.
News of the bad blood between Seema and Nacosec first surfaced on a social media page known as ‘Lilaphalapha Facebook page’, prompting this publication to contact Seema. The singer and composer confirmed the news.
She says the initial agreement for which she signed a contract, was that she would be paid M25 000 for both her creativity and studio expenses. She expected to receive a deposit before starting the work, but was duped into believing she would be paid in full after releasing the song.
She claims to have been initially approached by the now-defunct National Command Centre which is the predecessor of Nacosec.
“I was approached by a team from the command centre, requesting me to compose a song for them about Covid-19. I did not volunteer to make the song. But now it looks as if I did all that of my own volition. I make a living from my music as I am uneducated. My talent is my only source of income. So it is unfair to expect me to work for free, especially for the government,” Seema said.
‘M’e Mpuse says she does not only support herself and her children as she also takes care of four adopted orphans who are learners in primary and high school.
“I am also doing governments’ job by taking care of orphans, yet here they are abusing me,” she lamented.
Not only did ‘M’e Mpuse get conned by the Covid-19 body, but she also got the same treatment from the African Union Sports Council Region 5 Youth Games local organising committee.
She is accusing the committee of publicly playing her song without her consent during the closing ceremony of the games held in Maseru.
When she called those in charge, they told her “a song is a song.”
“I don’t know what these people have against me. I love Lesotho so much but I am getting the worst treatment from its leaders. I was the first female to do it and I represent Lesotho internationally and win awards for this country, only to be treated like this,” Seema added.
In response, Nacosec’s Thabo Ntoi said the manner in which the artists were engaged by the command centre and other bodies was fraught with irregularities.
“I worked for both NACC and NACOSEC as a government official and I know nothing about the engagement of such artists for our course. They were engaged by people who were not government officials and the procurement of their services was not done in accordance with the laws,” Ntoi suggested.
Seema had said at the time she worked with Mamello Morrison, who Ntoi says ‘was not rightly empowered to engage anyone as she was only a stakeholder in NACC and not a government official’.
However, Morrison insisted she was part of the media team, arguing it was well within her rights to negotiate with some of the artists. She says she did not only approach ‘M’e Mpuse but also other artists like Lilaphalapha to make videos aimed at creating Covid-19 awareness.
She also contented that she ensured that proper procedures were followed ‘because the invoices from artists were taken to the procurement unit’. She was informed the invoices were to be processed at the unit.
