Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06MASERU496
2006-10-05 12:45:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Maseru
Cable title:
LESOTHO OCTOBER ECONOMIC REPORT: BRIBERY AND RICHES IN THE
how-toVZCZCXRO0796 RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHRN DE RUEHMR #0496 2781245 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 051245Z OCT 06 FM AMEMBASSY MASERU TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2329 INFO RUCNSAD/SADC COLLECTIVE RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC RUEHMR/AMEMBASSY MASERU 2653
UNCLAS MASERU 000496
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT PASS USTR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EAID ETRD PGOV LT
SUBJECT: LESOTHO OCTOBER ECONOMIC REPORT: BRIBERY AND RICHES IN THE
SNOWY MOUNTAINS
REF: MASERU 335
UNCLAS MASERU 000496
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT PASS USTR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EAID ETRD PGOV LT
SUBJECT: LESOTHO OCTOBER ECONOMIC REPORT: BRIBERY AND RICHES IN THE
SNOWY MOUNTAINS
REF: MASERU 335
1. SUMMARY:
-- Italian firm fined in bribery case;
-- Ombudsman Raps Finance Secretary;
-- Ski Resort Opened in Lesotho Mountains;
-- 640 Carat Find at Letseng Diamond Mine.
--------------
ITALIAN FIRM FINED IN BRIBERY CASE
--------------
1. The High Court of Lesotho fined Italian company Impregilo 15
million Maloti (1.9 million USD) for attempting to circumvent
justice in a bribery case involving the former Chief Executive
of the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA).
Impregilo's Counsel, Attorney Danie Dorfliny, plead guilty to
the charge on September 4, admitting that the company had failed
to disclose the full facts of Impregilo's activities to
Lesotho's prosecuting authorities.
2. Impregilo is one of eight foreign construction companies
(including British, Canadian and South African firms) accused of
bribing the former Chief Executive Officer of the LHDA, Masupha
Sole, to influence the award of construction contracts for a dam
at Ha Katse, the first of several dams that comprise Lesotho's
massive highlands project to export water to South Africa.
According to a South African intermediary who is now a state
witness, Impregilo instructed him to pay a total of 2 million
Maloti (252,000 USD) to Sole between October 1991 and September
1992. Sole, who is currently serving a fifteen year jail
sentence, subsequently supplied an Impregilo official with
copies of competing tender documents.
--------------
OMBUDSMAN RAPS FINANCE SECRETARY
--------------
3. Lesotho's Ombudsman, Attorney Sekara Mafisa, has chastised
the Principal Secretary for Finance, Dr. Moeketsi Majoro, for
allowing the Ministry's tender board to illegally award a
600,000 Maloti (75,000 USD) contract to South African firm
Victory Computer Services (VCS) for the provision of internet
services. Three Lesotho-based internet companies complained to
the Ombudsman in June that that VCS, which is not registered in
Lesotho, was not qualified to compete for government contracts
in Lesotho. The Ombudsman issued an order halting the tender
process pending an investigation. Dr. Majoro ignored the order
and awarded the contract to VCS.
4. Soon after winning the bid in May, the company was allowed
to start the work. The GOL paid upfront the full contract
value, despite the fact that work will not be completed until
April 2007. Stating that the Principal Secretary might have
been misled by his staff, the Ombudsman recommended the transfer
of the Tender Board Secretary to another ministry and ordered
that the tender process be restarted to allow fair competition
from local internet providers.
--------------
SKI RESORT OPENED IN LESOTHO MOUNTAINS
--------------
5. During Lesotho's highest annual snowfall in a decade, the
Minister of Tourism and Environment, Lebohang Ntsinyi,
inaugurated the country's first ski resort, Afri Ski Leisure
Kingdom at Mahlasela, on Saturday August 12. Built at a cost of
40 million Maloti (over 5 million USD) by South African investor
Wessel Bosman, the project has taken eight years to complete and
relies on snow-making machines due to the unreliability of
snowfall in the area. This year, however, the resort benefited
from heavy snowfalls in late July and early August, attracting a
large number of ski enthusiasts from throughout the region.
--------------
640 CARAT FIND AT LETSENG DIAMOND MINE
--------------
6. Letseng Diamond Mine, situated in the mountain district of
Mokhotlong, has announced its largest find to date -- a 640
carat diamond discovered during the week of August 21. The
diamond will be auctioned at an international diamond market in
Antwerp. Renewed mining at Letseng, which produces infrequent
but large, high quality stones, restarted in 2004 after its
closure in 1982. The mine was recently sold to Gem Diamond
Mining of Africa by South Africa's Black Empowerment company,
Matotzi Resources. The GOL increased its shareholding from 24
to 30 percent (reftel).
MURPHY
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT PASS USTR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EAID ETRD PGOV LT
SUBJECT: LESOTHO OCTOBER ECONOMIC REPORT: BRIBERY AND RICHES IN THE
SNOWY MOUNTAINS
REF: MASERU 335
1. SUMMARY:
-- Italian firm fined in bribery case;
-- Ombudsman Raps Finance Secretary;
-- Ski Resort Opened in Lesotho Mountains;
-- 640 Carat Find at Letseng Diamond Mine.
--------------
ITALIAN FIRM FINED IN BRIBERY CASE
--------------
1. The High Court of Lesotho fined Italian company Impregilo 15
million Maloti (1.9 million USD) for attempting to circumvent
justice in a bribery case involving the former Chief Executive
of the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA).
Impregilo's Counsel, Attorney Danie Dorfliny, plead guilty to
the charge on September 4, admitting that the company had failed
to disclose the full facts of Impregilo's activities to
Lesotho's prosecuting authorities.
2. Impregilo is one of eight foreign construction companies
(including British, Canadian and South African firms) accused of
bribing the former Chief Executive Officer of the LHDA, Masupha
Sole, to influence the award of construction contracts for a dam
at Ha Katse, the first of several dams that comprise Lesotho's
massive highlands project to export water to South Africa.
According to a South African intermediary who is now a state
witness, Impregilo instructed him to pay a total of 2 million
Maloti (252,000 USD) to Sole between October 1991 and September
1992. Sole, who is currently serving a fifteen year jail
sentence, subsequently supplied an Impregilo official with
copies of competing tender documents.
--------------
OMBUDSMAN RAPS FINANCE SECRETARY
--------------
3. Lesotho's Ombudsman, Attorney Sekara Mafisa, has chastised
the Principal Secretary for Finance, Dr. Moeketsi Majoro, for
allowing the Ministry's tender board to illegally award a
600,000 Maloti (75,000 USD) contract to South African firm
Victory Computer Services (VCS) for the provision of internet
services. Three Lesotho-based internet companies complained to
the Ombudsman in June that that VCS, which is not registered in
Lesotho, was not qualified to compete for government contracts
in Lesotho. The Ombudsman issued an order halting the tender
process pending an investigation. Dr. Majoro ignored the order
and awarded the contract to VCS.
4. Soon after winning the bid in May, the company was allowed
to start the work. The GOL paid upfront the full contract
value, despite the fact that work will not be completed until
April 2007. Stating that the Principal Secretary might have
been misled by his staff, the Ombudsman recommended the transfer
of the Tender Board Secretary to another ministry and ordered
that the tender process be restarted to allow fair competition
from local internet providers.
--------------
SKI RESORT OPENED IN LESOTHO MOUNTAINS
--------------
5. During Lesotho's highest annual snowfall in a decade, the
Minister of Tourism and Environment, Lebohang Ntsinyi,
inaugurated the country's first ski resort, Afri Ski Leisure
Kingdom at Mahlasela, on Saturday August 12. Built at a cost of
40 million Maloti (over 5 million USD) by South African investor
Wessel Bosman, the project has taken eight years to complete and
relies on snow-making machines due to the unreliability of
snowfall in the area. This year, however, the resort benefited
from heavy snowfalls in late July and early August, attracting a
large number of ski enthusiasts from throughout the region.
--------------
640 CARAT FIND AT LETSENG DIAMOND MINE
--------------
6. Letseng Diamond Mine, situated in the mountain district of
Mokhotlong, has announced its largest find to date -- a 640
carat diamond discovered during the week of August 21. The
diamond will be auctioned at an international diamond market in
Antwerp. Renewed mining at Letseng, which produces infrequent
but large, high quality stones, restarted in 2004 after its
closure in 1982. The mine was recently sold to Gem Diamond
Mining of Africa by South Africa's Black Empowerment company,
Matotzi Resources. The GOL increased its shareholding from 24
to 30 percent (reftel).
MURPHY