Public sector corruption continues to haunt Lesotho

Public sector corruption remains a stubborn challenge in Lesotho, according to the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released by Transparency International.

The CPI, which measures perceived levels of public sector corruption, shows that Lesotho’s score remains unchanged at 37 out of 100. The country is ranked 99th out of 182 countries surveyed, reflecting little progress in strengthening anti-corruption measures and promoting transparency.

Lesotho recorded the same score and ranking in 2024, signalling a persistent struggle to address governance weaknesses and accountability gaps.

Globally, the CPI indicates that corruption continues to be widespread, with more than 80 percent of the world’s population living in countries with poor corruption scores. The index highlights the importance of strong institutions, the rule of law and political stability in reducing corruption.

According to the report, corruption in the management of public funds directly affects people’s access to essential services. When funds are diverted, contracts inflated, or services made dependent on unofficial payments, citizens are left without basics such as healthcare, education, water, electricity and housing.

The report notes that poorer households are often the hardest hit, as unofficial fees and favouritism effectively function as a regressive tax, consuming a greater share of low incomes.

Transparency International identifies four areas where the impact of corruption is particularly damaging: justice and the rule of law, democracy and political integrity, civic space and media freedom, and public services and inequality.

To address these challenges, the organisation recommends shielding justice systems from political and economic interference, safeguarding appointments and promotions, and ensuring prosecutorial decisions are transparent and reviewable. It also calls for greater transparency and tighter controls on political donations.

Transparency International Chief Executive Officer, Maíra Martini, urged governments to act with integrity and strengthen independent institutions to protect the public interest.

Chairperson of Transparency International, François Valérian, said corruption harms both individuals and states, and stressed the need for both national action and international cooperation.

The report further recommends protecting civil society organisations and whistle-blowers, and creating an enabling environment for anti-corruption reporting.

Lesotho’s stagnant score comes amid heated debate in Parliament over the management of public finances.

As Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Dr Retšelisitsoe Matlanyane, prepares to present the 2026/27 budget next week, opposition leader Mathibeli Mokhothu has called for concrete measures to improve financial governance.

In a letter to Speaker of Parliament, Tlohang Sekhamane, Mokhothu argued that processes related to the Mid-Term Budget Review, supplementary budgets and the use of the Contingency Fund were conducted unlawfully and in violation of the Constitution, the Public Financial Management and Accountability Act, and international standards.

He emphasised the need for strict adherence to constitutional and statutory requirements to safeguard transparency and accountability in public financial management.

He demanded that every supplementary budget be born, debated and approved within the same year it serves, bound tightly by the Constitution and the Public Financial Management.

“It is my firm expectation that any supplementary budget for the current financial year must be introduced, debated and approved within that same financial year, in strict compliance with the Constitution, the PFMAA, international best practice and your ruling,” Mokhothu said.

He added his analysis of the Mid-Term Contingency Fund Report indicates that approximately 99 percent of the listed expenditures fail to meet the constitutional thresholds of unforeseeability, urgency and exceptional necessity

This suggests a troubling pattern of routine or foreseeable expenditure being channelled through emergency mechanisms in order to bypass parliamentary appropriation.

The former deputy Prime Minister further warned that continued deviation from lawful procedure risks placing parliament in constitutional dereliction and undermines public confidence in fiscal governance.

“The mid-term budget review, supplementary budgets and the contingency fund are constitutional accountability instruments not administrative conveniences. I trust your office will exercise its critical constitutional mandate to ensure that parliamentary authority over public finances is restored, protected and meaningfully enforced,” he wrote.