Lesotho’s Parliament blocks debate on explosive hospital report

A Public Accounts Committee report recommends that a lease at Queen Mamohato Memorial Hospital in Maseru should be terminated because of procurement irregularities. Photo: Sechaba Mokhethi

• Lesotho’s Parliament blocked the tabling of a Public Accounts Committee report on procurement irregularities in the awarding of a contract to operate a private wing at Queen Mamohato Memorial Hospital.
• The report found that Tsebo Health Solutions, a company only registered after bids closed, was awarded the contract.
• The wife of the foreign affairs minister, Maitumeleng Mpotjoane, sat on both the evaluation and procurement committees.
• The committee recommended terminating the agreement within 30 days, a full audit by the Auditor-General within 60 days, and disciplinary action against implicated officials.
• These recommendations might now never be adopted by Parliament.

Lesotho’s Parliament blocked the tabling of an explosive Public Accounts Committee report on a controversial lease for private healthcare at Queen Mamohato Memorial Hospital.

The report reveals procurement irregularities, conflicts of interest, and questionable decision-making in the awarding of a contract to operate a private wing at the hospital. The wing was to generate revenue for the hospital but was not used.

The hospital issued a call for expressions of interest with submissions closing 30 March 2024. Only two companies – Tsebo Solutions Group Lesotho and Excel Health – progressed past this first stage.

Despite Tsebo Solutions Group having listed no health-related activities in its registration documents, it emerged as the preferred bidder.

But in September 2025 the hospital signed a contract with Tsebo Health Solutions, a different company from Tsebo Solutions Group, and only registered after bids had closed. Tsebo Health Solutions had neither submitted an expression of interest nor participated in the procurement process, and the hospital received no documentation relating to the company.

The report found other critical irregularities in the procurement process that violated numerous sections of the Public Procurement Act of 2023.

Blocked

The Public Accounts Committee had sought to present its findings before Parliament adjourned for the holidays.

On Wednesday, Deputy Speaker Tšepang ’Matlhohonolofatso Tšita-Mosena informed MPs that a request had been made to debate the report’s recommendations. But a split quickly emerged between government and opposition benches. Mootsi Lehata, an MP for the ruling party who also sits on the accounts committee, called for a division.

Only 46 (of 120 MPs) were present; 19 voted for the report to be tabled, 23 voted against, and four abstained. Among the MPs who voted to block the report was Foreign Affairs Minister Lejone Mpotjoane, whose wife appears prominently in the report’s findings.

By Friday, Parliament had adjourned.

In the report, the Public Accounts Committee recommended the termination of the agreement within 30 days, a full audit by the Auditor-General within 60 days, disciplinary action against implicated officials, and expert guidance for future leasing arrangements.

But with the report blocked, these recommendations may never be adopted as resolutions in Parliament.

Irregularities

The report found that the wife of the foreign affairs minister, Maitumeleng Mpotjoane, sat on both the evaluation and procurement committees, despite “the Procurement Act 2023 stipulating that one person cannot be a member of both the evaluation committee and the procurement committee”.

Another irregularity involved Dr Makhoase Ranyali-Otubanyo, who was not employed by the hospital but served on the evaluation committee and later became a signatory to the final agreement.

The report noted that Tsebo Solutions Group attached profiles of several companies to its bid, including Prime Minister Matekane’s Mpilo Boutique Hotel, without any indication of partnership or joint venture.

The report also questioned how the procurement committee initially declined to approve Tsebo Solutions on 12 December 2024, but then, for reasons that remain unclear, reversed its decision and approved the award on Christmas Eve.

It noted further that Tsebo’s financial proposal consisted of only three paragraphs and did not clearly outline how there would be financial gain for the hospital.

On Thursday, Public Accounts Committee member Dr Tšeliso Moroke rose on a point of order and warned: “If we [Parliament] fail to oversee the usage of public funds, then there is no need to keep coming here. This house has lost direction.”

In response, deputy speaker Tšita-Mosena said that even when the best decisions are before the house, the chair cannot impose them, as democracy must prevail. She urged MPs to make decisions that reflect the interests of the public rather than personal or party considerations.

She said the Speaker would convene a closed meeting with MPs to discuss how Parliament could function more effectively, and encouraged officials implicated in the report’s recommendations to begin addressing the issues despite Parliament’s failure to adopt the report.

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