DCEO probes MCC tender

By Staff Reporter

The Maseru City Council (MCC) is yet to provide the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) with information that the anti-graft body requested in order to investigate the awarding of an urban road maintenance tender.

The tender, awarded in March 2023 to Maphathe Construction was for rehabilitation of a downward stream to prevent collapse of donga walls during rainy seasons.

According to the tender terms, the bidder was to rehabilitate the stream walls to prevent them from collapsing.

Its activities included laying slabs on the stream walls to allow water to flow under a culvert on the Lower Thamae road from a nearby hill, into the stream leading up to Robert Dam.

However, alleged shoddy workmanship later raised the eyebrows of a Lower Thamae resident, who has since laid a complaint with the DCEO.

In his letter written late last year, the villager, Lebona Mokopanela, alerted the DCEO to the works being undertaken at the site, casting doubts on the competence of the contractor.

Mokopanela suspected the works may not be in line with specifications and requirements of the bid issued by the city council.

He claimed the stream walls were collapsing during heavy rains, and affecting the perimeter brick wall around his property which was now cracking.

This publication has learned that Mokopanela’s attempts to alert the city council’s town clerk, Selete Molete, about the matter hit a snag.

The DCEO has since acknowledged receipt of the complaint from the resident and promised to investigate his claims.

“Yes, the DCEO can confirm receipt of the complaint from him (Mokopanela) but I will find out from the relevant office what the status of the matter is,” DCEO public relations officer ‘Matlhokomelo Senoko said.

According to Senoko, the anti-corruption agency has written to the MCC seeking detailed information on the nature and scope of the rehabilitation at the stream in question.

The DCEO stated this week that it was still waiting for a response from MCC, which has not been forthcoming since November 2023. 

The Directorate said it followed up on the matter with the city council town clerk’s office, but it has not yet replied. It even contacted the MCC orally two weeks ago.

Senoko says it was at this meeting that the council was urged to provide the DCEO with a written response.

A DCEO intelligence officer who may not be named said their letter to the city council was part of a preliminary investigation.

“The DCEO wants to know whether the tendering process followed by the city council was proper or otherwise. Whether the council responds to our questions or not, we will decide whether to conduct a full-blown probe and then establish who to prosecute,” the officer noted.

The DCEO’s letter was written on November 20 last year and is confirmed to have been received by MCC on November 23, as indicated by the council’s official date stamp.

In the letter, the DCEO sought information relating to the procurement processes followed ‘in selecting the alleged contractor during March 23’.

It also requested the names of the preferred contractors and their company profiles, quoted prices, payment vouchers and supporting documents, as well as any other information relating to the job.

According to the Prevention of Corruption and Economic Offences Act, the DCEO director general may “authorise an officer of the directorate to conduct an inquiry or investigation into an alleged or suspected offence…”

The director general may also “require a person, in writing, to produce, within a specified time, books, records, returns, reports, data stored electronically in a computer or otherwise and any other documents relating to the functions of a public or private body.

“A person who fails, to provide such required books, records, returns, reports data stored and any other required documents relating to the public or private body commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a penalty.”

Currently, the DCEO is headed by Advocate Knorx Molelle.

The directorate is empowered to prevent and fight corruption and economic offences by investigating such activities and prosecuting wrongdoers.

It was established by an Act of Parliament.

theReporter this week approached the MCC public relations manager ‘Makatleho Mosala for comment.

In a very brief response, Mosala said the city council was in the process of responding to the DCEO’s letter.

She could not, however, give a definitive time when MCC will eventually respond to the letter.

The tender was meant to rehabilitate some roads including that at Lower Thamae as part of the MCC’s project to maintain urban roads.

The MCC had received funds from the Road Fund for costs of maintaining urban roads within the city’s jurisdiction.

The bid security sought from the bidders was M50 000 for carrying out repairs of potholes and asphalt effects on the MCC roads.

The tendering process opened on November 14 2022 after it was advertised in local newspapers.