By Neo Kolane
The much-anticipated and controversial Water and Hydrogen in a Digital Future Conference scheduled for October 12-13 2023 in Maseru is now in limbo.
Attorney General, Advocate Rapelang Motsieloa yesterday raised the red flag and advised that the conference should be postponed.
Motsieloa told a parliament briefing that the Memorundum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the ministry of natural resources and a company working with the government to organise the event was null and void.
He cited that the agreement with Metsi Ke Bophelo Advocacy Incorporated was signed August 25, 2023 before the company was even registered in Lesotho. It was only registered on September 6 2023, Motsieloa said.
He noted that in as much the conference and expo is touted to bear fruitful results, it should not continue given this legal loophole.
Motsieloa was addressing the meeting on the legal frameworks, financial practices and procedures followed on the newly established Metsi Ke Bophelo Advocacy Incorporated.
The meeting was attended by the Natural Resources Cluster, accountant general, auditor general, Metsi Ke Bophelo directors, officials from the ministry of natural resources, a youth-oriented organisation calling itself Tsabo Moshemane ha li jeoe, and civil society organisation Development for Peace Education.
Motsieloa said the ministry of resources was wrongly advised to involve the Lesotho National Development Corporation (LNDC) in the planning of the conference because it signed the MoU on behalf of the government, and not the parastatal.
The agreement seeks to establish the terms and conditions under which the ministry and Metsi Ke Bophelo Advocacy Incorporated will collaborate in the planning, preparation and execution of the Expo.
The scope of work is that the company provides professional services and expertise at no cost to government of Lesotho, to assist the ministry in planning, organising, and executing the conference.
The MoU also states that the ministry shall provide Metsi Ke Bophelo with all necessary information and resources required for the execution of the ministry’s responsibilities as well as to collaborate in decision-making processes related to the conference.
“ . . . the company shall execute its tasks diligently, efficiently, and in accordance with industry best practices,” it says.
The company is also expected to keep the ministry informed of progress and challenges throughout the planning and execution of the conference.
According to the MoU, a bank account shall be opened in the name of Metsi Ke Bophelo at one of the commercial banks in Lesotho.
Secondly, signatories to the account would be any of the directors of Metsi Ke Bophelo and the principal secretary or deputy principal secretary of the ministry of natural resources.
According to the agreement, financial statements should be prepared and audited immediately after the conference.
Also, any profits realised after all operational costs of the conference are met would go to the ministry of natural resources.
The MoU was signed by the minister of natural resources, Mohlomi Moleko, and the director of Metsi Ke Bophelo Advocacy Incorporated, Tlhalefo Moloi.
“I do not know what will happen between now and the date of the conference, if the process will be corrected or if it will be postponed,” Motsieloa said.
He further told the meeting that it was his first time hearing about the Metsi Ke Bophelo Advocacy Incorporated and the conference.
“I just saw it on social media,” Motsieloa noted.
A member of the Natural Resource Committee, Tefo Mapesela, told the briefing that Moleko had asked a clearance from Cabinet to sign the MoU with Metsi Ke Bophelo Advocacy on behalf of the government of Lesotho.
Mapesela said they had only got to know of Metsi Ke Bophelo PTY (Ltd) on September 6 when it was registered.
Another NGO, Metsi Ke Bophelo Advocacy Incorporated, was registered on September 21.
Mapesela further warned that if the government signs a MoU with a non-existing entity, that is illegal and null and void.
“If the Metsi Ke Bophelo wants to continue with the conference with the same MoU, it means it is illegal,” he pointed out.
Moleko said their mandate as government is to drive the country’s economy using the private sector.
He was addressing the meeting before Motsieloa’s presentation.
Moleko indicated that water is Lesotho’s biggest natural resource and it should benefit Basotho.
“We therefore, need the buy-in of the whole country – prime minister Samuel Matekane, King Letsie III and civil society,” he noted.
He explained that the government had to engage Metsi Ke Bophelo Advocacy because it does not have funds to organise the conference. It was then that a committee was set up to work with the company.
“We are going to hire the Manthabiseng Convention Centre. There will be branding, we will hire out hotels and cars and it will amount close to M4 million.
“Therefore, for that to be achieved, we had to raise money for sponsorships from private companies,” Moleko said.
Moleko disclosed that the government had roped in the LNDC to coordinate preparations for the conference because it is 100 percent owned by the state.
In his remarks, the director of Metsi Ke Bophelo Advocacy, Mashudu Ramano, said he felt unwelcomed and disrespected because the meeting was conducted in Sesotho, which he does not understand.
“You expect me to understand, but you do not have an interpreter,” said Ramano who is also the director Mitochondria Energy.
He told the meeting that he has been in the hydrogen industry for 15 years.
Addressing his detractors’ concerns over his capabilities to pull a project of this magnitude, Ramano said he was not involved in any corruption. He challenged them to check his history.
“I told the prime minister (Matekane) that I’m not looking for a tender. I don’t want tenders from people of Lesotho. I don’t have a deal with the Lesotho government, I am paying out of my pocket,” he said.
Ramano noted that he had discovered that about 40 percent Basotho do not have access to portable water and his wish was that every Mosotho has it in the next five years.
“It pains me that this country is sitting on water and hydrogen but it is importing the latter,” he added.
