By Staff Reporter
The Office of the Ombudsman has experienced an influx of cases from aggrieved people claiming they have not received their terminal benefits, gratuities, underpayments and acting allowances from different government ministries backing as far back as 2004.
Some of the complainants allege that since their retirement, they have not received their terminal benefits and as a result, they are not drawing monthly pensions. This situation has left them with no means of livelihood and in debt trying to make ends meet while awaiting payment of their gratuities.
This was revealed by Deputy Prime Minister and minister of law, justice and parliamentary affairs, Nthomeng Majara, in parliament on Tuesday this week.
Presenting a special report compiled by Ombudsman Tlotliso Polaki in January this year, Majara noted that some public servants have lodged complaints with the Office of the Ombudsman to help them recover their salary underpayments which have been outstanding in some cases for more than a decade.
She indicated that government ministries have not disputed these claims but pleaded that due to budgetary constraints, they are we unable to effect such payments.
The ministries further submitted that the situation has been worsened by Covid-19 pandemic which forced the government to effect budget cuts in order to respond to the health needs of the nation.
The Ombudsman’s investigation found that while the ministries’ budgets were diverted to fighting the Covid -19 pandemic, they had prior to the pandemic not prioritised paying gratuities, terminal benefits, and pensions of retired public servants.
“This is disheartening as such people have selflessly rendered services to the very same government over the years and it can only be fair to respect their rights by paying them what is due,” Majara said.
She added that the sad part is the fact that some of them have even died before receiving their monies.
The cases have continued piling up and the cash-strapped government does not have enough to cover all expenses due.
It has also come to the attention of the Ombudsman that while the problem cuts across most ministries, the majority of the unpaid claims are from the ministry of education and training.
“This report is submitted because this is regarded as a systemic issue that requires parliament’s urgent attention,” Majara said.
She went on to cite the case of one ‘Manthati Matlotlo who is owed salary arrears since 20o4 by the ministry of education and training.
‘Mamaria Mosoang who retired as a nursing sister at Mokhotlong Hospital on February 21 2018 has also not received her terminal benefits.
The ministry of health reported that her file had some queries and it was sent back to Pensions Department on October 8 2020.
On April 22 2021 the Director of Human Resources in the ministry reported that the file was still with the Pensions Department and a follow up would be made urgently. But no payment has been made yet, according to the Ombudsman’s report.
Yet another complainant, Kabelo Tsosane alleges that he has not received his terminal benefits following his retirement from the ministry of health on January 1 2020.
The ministry reported that his file had queries which were corrected and sent back to the Pensions Department for processing. However, no payment has been made yet.
Mojalefa Mahanetsa has also approached the Ombudsman’s office for assistance after his repeated efforts to get his dues from the same ministry failed.
Mahanetsa claims that he worked as an office assistant from 1993 to 2010. He did not receive his terminal benefits on allegations that he overstayed in the service.
In March 2014 a court order was issued that he be paid his dues accordingly but this was not done and he is still waiting to up today.
‘Masekake Mohapi claims in her report, OMB/2019/20/0149, that local government owes her outstanding terminal benefits since 2016.
Her file was said to have been submitted to the Ministry of Finance (Pensions office) for payment but nothing came out of it.
Halejoetse Molata (OMB/2017/18/0132) is in the same predicament. The same department owes him outstanding terminal benefits since 2014. His file was said to be submitted to the Ministry of Finance (Pensions office) for payment and that was the last time he heard about his case.
Giving a background to the report titled ‘A Systemic Issue of Non-Payment of Public Officers, Majara said Section 7(4) of the Ombudsman Act No. 9 of 1996 provides that if the Ombudsman upon completion of his investigation or inquiry is of the opinion that if any person has suffered an injustice or infringement of a fundamental right or freedom as a result of an act or omission in the administration, he shall inform the specified authority concerned of the reasons of his opinion and make such recommendations as he may deem fit.
Section 7(5) of the said Act provides that if in his recommendations made under Section 7(4), the Ombudsman decides that an injustice or infringement Ota fundamental right or freedom should be remedied, he shall specify the manner and time within which the injustice or infringement has to be remedied, she said.
And if at the expiry of the time specified no sufficient action has been taken to remedy the injustice of a fundamental human right, then the Ombudsman shall submit a special report to Parliament on the case.
Majara appealed to parliament to compel ministries to prioritise the payments in order to alleviate the beneficiaries’ plight.
The issue of non-payment of public officers’ dues is not new. Acting government school principals last month demanded an urgent meeting with education and training minister Professor Ntoi Rapapa to discuss the issue of their allowances which they claim are overdue.
The 417 principals say that some of them have not been paid their allowances since 2012, running into hundreds of thousands of maloti each. They now fear that the government might not honour its promise before they retired from the public service.
In a letter to Professor Ntoi, the secretary general of Lesotho School Principals’ Association (LESPA), Molibeli Bulane, requested an impromptu meeting with the minister to discuss the issues of their outstanding allowances.
However, theReporter could not ascertain by the time of going to print yesterday whether the meeting had taken place.
However, during his report to mark the Sam Matekane-led coalition government’s 100 days in office last month, Pro Rapapa acknowledged that the 417 acting principals were owed M40 million.
This amount back dates to 2012, he said.
The minister also announced that they would be paid their dues in full starting from April, 1, 2023. This marks the beginning of the 2023-24 financial year.
“The government has made sure that these acting principals will all be paid in the current budget,” Prof Rapapa said. But the LESPA is doubtful that the government will honour its promise to pay its members their outstanding dues, citing that previous government had failed to address this issue.
