Nigerian surveyor ordered to vacate govt house

A Nigerian national who has been working in Lesotho and occupying a government house for 34 years, nine of them illegally, has been instructed to vacate the house situated at Hills View today.

Faruk Idris, who holds a degree in Land Survey, has been staying at the house since 1991 when he joined the Ministry of Local Government under a bilateral agreement between the two countries.

At the time, he lived in the house legally as it was the responsibility of the government to provide him and others free accommodation.

After Idris’ contract expired in 1993, the government through the Ministry of Public Service recalled him under a mutual agreement between him and the ministry.

In 2016, he joined the Maseru City Council (MCC) as a Land Surveyor and rose through the ranks to become the Principal Surveyor, a senior position he held until his contract expired in March this year.

Notably, his contract was extended in 2022, by the then Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftainship Affairs, Neo Liphoto, reportedly without authority.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the Prime Minister’s Recovery Task Team (GASARTT) heard this shocking development during a meeting yesterday.

Idris was summoned to testify before the committee after the recovery team had revealed that he refused to vacate the house after the team negotiated with him several times.

He also appeared to have played a role in illegally allocating sites in Maseru and Leribe to people when he was holding the position of Principal Surveyor.

Idris told the committee that he does not have a residence permit to be in the country.

Liphoto wrote a letter informing Idris that his contract was extended by 34 months from February 2022. But the committee argued that the PS does not employee or extend contract for employees but conveys the decision of the Commission, in this case the Local Government Commission.

The committee also learned that since the alleged “extension,” Idris have been working without an employment contract, and has been receiving salary until March 2023.

Idris also claim that the MCC owes him his salaries from April 2023 until March this year. However, the committee insists he has been working illegal without a contract and as an illegal migrant. This was after Idris said he was verbally told to work under the terms of his previous job and earned the same salary.

“We have been reliably informed by the Local Government Commission and the Ministry of Local Government that you are no longer employed by the government and that your contract expired in 2022. You on the other hand you introduced yourself as an employee in the Ministry of Local Government, but yesterday you said your contract expired in March this year. You are no longer employed by the government, or at least you failed to provide your employment contract before this committee.

“As a result, we are instructing you to vacate that government house by tomorrow(today). The government recovery team with facilitate that process and ensure the house is handed over to the right people. On top of that you have been illegally staying in the country without a residence permit. You would have never been able to have a residence permit without an employment contract,” said the chairperson of PAC, Machabana Lemphane-Letsie.

Letsie highlighted that by the time Idris started working at the MCC, he had not legal right to stay at the government house since no employee at the MCC was entitled to such.

Asked why he kept staying at the house as an employee at MCC and even after his contract had expired, Idris said no one had told him to leave. He was no longer getting a salary and therefore had nowhere to go as he could not afford to pay rent.

Idris pleaded with the committee to give him until December to prepare himself but the committee refused, citing that he was given a long time to prepare but took advantage.

The chairperson recovery team, Advocate Seeng Matšoasa, told the committee that Idris did not only disobey the team’s instructions but even the court order obtained by the Ministry of Public Service in 2017.

“I would like to bring to the attention of this committee that there is a court order directing Mr Idris to vacate the house but he never obeyed it. The order had also instructed him to pay rental arrears amounting to M12 920 then. The team’s efforts to negotiate him to leave was following this order,” she noted.

The 11-member team was established in 2023 to investigate and reclaim all state assets acquired fraudulently. It is comprised of officials from the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF), Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS), the National Security Service (NSS), the Prime Minister’s office, Ministries of Public Service, Labour and Employment and Finance and Development Planning.

Pleading for mercy before the committee, Idris explained: “There were a lot of incidents that occurred after I came back to Lesotho under a mutual agreement. My contract was terminated in between without any reasons and I did not receive my salary for two years. I couldn’t vacate the house because no one had told be to, and also, I did not have money to pay for accommodation. I still believe the MCC owes my two-year salary and gratuities.

“Now, I understand the committee has made a decision but I plead for more time until December to prepare myself. With these 34 years I committed to this country, I never had intention to break the law. I also plead with this committee to assist me get my get what is rightfully mine from the MCC,” Idris said.

But the committee emphasised it had no jurisdiction in matters between the employer (MCC) and the employee, especially not when a person does not have an employment contract.

The committee further warned Idris that he owed the MCC for paying him a one-year salary until March 2023, since his contract had already expired in 2022.

PAC’s probe in government-owned assets, property, land among others were prompted by the annual consolidated financial report by the Auditor General, ‘Mathabo Makenete’s concerns that several government ministries fail maintain assets registers.

She further complained that government-owned assets have been misappropriated, mismanaged or diverted.