By Poloko Mokhele
The management and staff of the Lesotho Opportunities Industrialization Center (LOIC) are divided into two camps over the running of the institution, with some staff members calling for the ouster of the acting executive director, a move he dismissed as ‘workplace politics’.
LOIC is a vocational school based in Maseru which was established in 1974 by a Christian missionary from Canada to provide learners with vocational skills.
The discord comes after five staff members known to this publication came out guns blazing against the acting executive director, Kokolia Ramabele, accusing him of a plethora of misdeeds including mismanagement, corruption and lack of improvement of the school since his appointment in a letter written to the minister of small businesses development, cooperatives and marketing Machesetsa Mofomobe.
In their letter, the staff indicates that: “the acting executive director of LOIC is mishandling the running of the school as he seems to be operating it with a divide and rule policy to the staff and students; this has therefore created two factions around the institution.”
The staff state that Ramabele has been acting executive director of the institution since April 2020 but there has never been any intention by the board to hire a permanent person for the position.
“We are really wondering when the board will hire a new executive director. We suspect that he is cahoots with the board because according to the governing rules of LOIC a person who holds the position of executive director has to be in possession of at least an undergraduate degree, but Ramabele has a certificate in plumbing,” they said.
The staff said the current board should not be part of the running of the school as Justice Tŝeliso Monaphathi had ruled that former principal secretary of small businesses ministry, Tankiso Phapano had disbanded it lawfully in 2021.
“The board sued the former principal secretary claiming he had fired them without following proper procedures. However, Justice Monaphathi in his February 2021 judgement ruled that they were removed lawfully. We are therefore surprised that they are still posing as members of the board till date and receiving sitting allowances,” they said.
The charged that during Ramabele’s tenure as acting executive director, there are no developments that he has done for the school, hence they believe that the appointment of a new acting executive director will assist the school in financing itself without relying on government subvention only.
Ramabele was appointed the acting executive director after the resignation of Lephethesang Lesaoana. The staff indicate in their letter that, according to the LOIC chain of seniority after Lesaoana’s resignation, the deputy director of finance and administration, Mpho Letuka was supposed to have acted as executive director.
They further point out that Ramabele’s qualifications and experience are below those of Letuka and deputy director training, Sebaki Moji. The staff called on the minister of small businesses to appoint a new board and ensure that the recruitment of a new executive director gets underway.
“We suggested that LOIC introduce part time lectures and establish an innovation hub but there has not been any change from the management of the school.
“During the former executive director’s tenure a website and Facebook page were created to make it easier for potential students to apply without incurring expenses of travelling to the institution. Ramabele has stopped this without clear reasons and this has caused a communication barrier for those having queries about the school and us,” they claimed.
Ramabele has also been accused of expelling staffers with diploma qualifications and failing to fill vacant positions without providing clear reasons, saying instead he has appointed those close to him with certificates to act in the positions.
“Mookho Tlali, who holds a diploma in construction management, was fired without any clear reasons. The acting executive director is reluctant to fill vacant positions of senior instructors in the electrical installation, plumbing and bricklaying departments that need people with diploma qualifications. He has instead appointed his friends with certificates to act in those positions,” they said.
They staff mentioned that there is corruption regarding the recruitment of students and they suspect that Ramabele is part of it since he has not taken any measures to investigate it.
“There are acts of corruption happening at the institution as students are not admitted through the normal processes, but forced to pay bribes ranging from M500 to M2 800 and we suspect he is part of it because he has not shown any means to do investigations on the staff members who were implicated as their names are well-known,” they said.
Contacted for comment, Ramabele said: “I have seen the letter somewhere, although it was not officially copied to me, but what I can say is that there are 24 staff members at LOIC and it is quite surprising that five people including one who is also part of the management are saying I am mismanaging the institution yet he is part of the management.
“There is also an issue that I am firing people with diploma qualifications – that is not true. The lady that there are talking about in their letter was hired on a temporary basis and when her term came to an end we released her; they are only complaining because she is their friend.”
He also indicated that it is not true that some of the decisions he takes are not for meant for the development of the institution, saying some of the staffers want personal friendships and, as the executive director, he has a responsibility to ensure that the institution is managed in accordance with its mandate.
Asked to shed light on how he was appointed, Ramabele told theReporter that: “When the former executive director resigned, the board asked him to recommend someone to hold the fort and he said he could not recommend anyone in the management for the position as he did not have confidence in those under him.
The board then took a decision to appoint someone; I was nominated along with two other people from the board since I was the workers’ representative in the board then, and I got most votes and was appointed as the acting executive director.”
Ramabele also took a swipe at the ministry of small businesses development and cooperatives, accusing it of being hell-bent on taking part in the day-to-day running of the institution and overstepping its constitution in the process.
“The ministry of small businesses wants to run the daily operations of this institution; LOIC is an independent institution registered under the Societies Act. We are just getting subvention from the ministry and there has to be separation of powers; even the board is not appointed by the ministry,” he said.
He was quick to add that he views what is happening as ‘workplace politics’ meant to tarnish his image, saying that the staffers have no case.
Efforts to get a comment from minister of small businesses development and cooperatives Mofomobe were fruitless as his phone rang unanswered.
