By Poloko Mokhele
The Transformation Resource Centre (TRC) staff are baying for the executive director’s blood and they want him shown the door.
This week the staff coughed out their demands to the organisation’s board in which they blasted Tsikoane Peshoane for being obsessed with unfair labour practices and urging for his immediate removal.
In a six-page letter dated February 1 2022 seen by theReporter, the staff requested the board to intervene on the conduct of Peshoane who they accuse of threatening the organisation’s welfare and that of the staffers.
They reminded the board that the executive director was accountable to the staff and allowed virtual platforms for expression of concern and listened.
“The difference however came with his approach at the start of 2021 after numerously telling the staff unprovoked, that he was the best director the organisation ever had and that he had raised lot of money, developing an entitlement of sorts and no longer saw the true value of his team,” the staff letter says.
They lambasted the incumbent criticizing him for alleged violation of their contractual obligations. This, according to them, is despite the human resource policy clearly referring to the issues relating to performance appraisal which determines promotion and demotion of a staff member.
“We have seen the executive director solely demoting people without any prior consultations. Normally these demotions would come after the executive director had incidences where the staff members in question disagree with him on some issues.
“Again, to our surprise the executive director refuses to grant leave days to employees making remarks that TRC work is very important than a leave. This then cause most employees reaching December with a lot of days and instead of the employer treating the leave days as per the Labour Code practice, employees will be told that they have forfeited the days,” the staff alleged.
The sixteen employees who signed the letter are surprised that every year the executive director alters the organisation’s structure normally used to demote or promote others in the manner he pleased. They highlighted that there has been an introduction of a new structure that has introduced new staff members to be recruited despite a chop on the monthly salaries.
The insisted to the board that the TRC policies ought to be sufficient to ensure the organisation’s welfare. For instance, they indicate that the finance department is also staffed with competent officers who at various times, in various ways have expressed concern over the kind of expenditure incurred.
“The executive director does not honour any of the corporation agreements that TRC has with the funders as their funds are always diverted to other activities that he claims are very important. For example, the European Union (EU) paid the first trench of money meant for a certain project, instead of the organisation using the money for the implementation it will be moved in and out of the project accounts and allocated to things that are not project-related.”
They disclosed a worrying situation in which they claim Peshoane becomes infuriated when warned of unfavourable decisions that he makes without due regard to the management’s approval.
He is also thrown into the fire for what is said to be a mock to the managers in monthly reflection meetings. Two personnel are said to have resigned from the finance department due to the impending financial crisis they allegedly saw coming after their advice and recommendations went unheard, the staff said.
The staff warned the board that the organisation is at the verge of collapsing due to loss of funding from funders. This after in early 2021 the organisation lost funding from the Sisters of Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (SNJM). The funding was contributing towards addressing issues of access to water in Polihali and helping the organisation in contributing towards salaries.
Late in 2021, the organisation is said to have lost possible funding from EU after it said it will grant TRC funding of 800 000 euros but on the last day when the agreement was to be signed, TRC received a letter of regret.
“The organisation does not comply with the tax laws, very often the executive director makes decisions to divert funds where the money that has to be paid for tax returns to the Lesotho Revenue Authority (LRA) would be used for other purposes.”
“To you our beloved board, this situation is beyond redemption because he has obliterated staff morale. Efforts at reconciliation would truly be misplaced in this regard. That is why we humbly request your divine intervention and we hope to see the board interviewing all the staff even the ones who did not sign this letter. We believe the above-mentioned issues involve a lot of stakeholders but we felt it is imperative to first seek intervention from the board,” the staff concluded.
Upon grilling by the publication, Peshoane said: “I can confirm that I have also seen such a letter. However, the board has made a decision that our offices should be closed till February 14 to do investigations. So I cannot comment on the matter because it is now in their hands. What I would advise is that we wait for the board to provide us with a report that will provide direction.
“I am not shying away from anything it is just not easy to speak on something that my bosses are already handling. You can contact me after the February 14 and I will respond accordingly.”
