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Mpesi Harvester
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is investigating the missing RM175 million owed to the government by Lucapa Diamonds.it isAcquired the Mothae diamond mine in 2017.
While the Department of Natural Resources said Australian companies had paid the government, deputy accountant general Mabakubung Pitso insisted there was no such payment.SuchPayment ReflectioneditIn the governmentAccount.
The issue came to light at a PAC meeting on Monday, where the Department of Natural Resources was asked about issues raised by the auditor general in its annual report for the year ending March 31, 2022.
Auditor-General Mathabo Makenete noted in his report that Lucapa had incurred debts of RM175 million since it acquired Mothae in 2017.
Lucapa has operated the Buta-Bute mine since 2017 and controls a 70% stake, while the governmenthavethisThe remaining30% share.
Until last month, Lucapa announced an agreement with Lephema Executive Transport to take over its 70% stake.
thishaveThis has caused a lot of controversy because Lephema executivetransportationIt is owned by the Minister of Local Government, Chiefs, Interior and Police, Lebona Lephema. He has been heavily criticised by the oppositionThe obvious conflict of interest that emerged from the deal means he will effectively be doing business with the government he is a part of, a situation that runs counter to the integrity of the RFP. The same conflict of interest situation forced Prime Minister Sam Matekane to divest from Letseng Diamonds, where he was doing the same earthworks that Mr Lefima was doing in Mothae. However, Mr Lefima does not seem to care.
It is not yet clear whether the governmentWill approvedayEgyptBut Natural Resources Minister Mohlomi Moleko has defended Mr Lephema, saying there was nothing wrong with the acquisition of the mine as the minister was not personally involved in the running of Lephema Executivetransportation.
Part of the dealyesLephema ExecutivestransportationwattSickInherited Lucapa’s undisclosed debts.The revelation of the missing 175 million Mosa has added another layer of complexity to the Mosa mine saga. If the government did not receive the money, as claimed, then it would mean that the mine was acquired through fraudulent means.
As such, PAC has summoned the Natural Resources Department to clarify the whereabouts of the RM175 million before Lucapa Diamonds exits the country.
thisriceThe agency claimed that the money was paid by Lucapa, but theyhaveFailed to report.
Office of the Accountantdespite thisDeny the existence of anyprovePayment.
Relebohile Lebeta, secretary general of the Ministry of Natural Resources, explained that the government had agreed to Lucapa’s acquisition of the Mothae diamond mine on January 27, 2017. The agreement stipulates that Lucapa will acquire the mine for US$9 million (M175)becomeinstallment.
“According to the agreement, Mothae is being sold for $9 million. The first payment is $400,000, the second payment is $4.1 million and the remaining $4.5 million will be paid in eight instalments of $562,000 each,” she said.
Ms. Lebeta detailed the payment history, claiming that as of August 2021, a total of $9 million had been paid.
She said the first payment of $400,000 was made on the 13thdayOn March 6, 2017, the second payment of $4.1 million was made.daySeptember 2017.
“The third payment of $562,500 was paid on the 20thdayJuly 30, 2018dayIn August 2018, another payment of $562,500 was received, and on the 27thdayAs of May 2019, $562,500 had been disbursed.
“28thdayIn May 2019, another payment of $562,500 was received.English StoneJuly 2, 2019, $562,500 paidndFrom August 2019, the same amount will be paid.
“13thdayAs of August 2021, two payments totaling $1.1025 million have been made, and the total amount under the agreement is $9 million,” she said
She said despite those payments, Lucapa was still making the final decision to pull out.
However, Mafani Masoabi from the Office of the Auditor General said:She said no.Proof of purchase.
She emphasizedneedSupporting evidence for all financial transactions reported to the Accountant General.
“When financial statements are submitted to the Accountant General for consolidation, they must include evidence of how the state’s finances were spent. The lack of such evidence in the statements submitted this time has led to the current confusion,” Ms Masoabi said.
“Government resources are controlled by documents. Even the last penny should be reported. The report should show the money spent, the money received and the money owed to the government. The law requires the chief accounting officer to report the funds with full transparency. Therefore, they are guided by the law.
“So, you have to produce evidence that the money was paid. The Auditor-General works on the basis of documents. We do not deal with verbal matters, we need documentary evidence.
“So the fact that the money is said to have been captured but not reported in the financial statements does not reflect the true financial position of Lesotho,” Ms Masoabi said.
Furthermore, Deputy Accountant General Mabakubung Pitso insisted that the payments claimed by Lucapa were not reflected in the government accounts. She explained that in the 2021-2022 financial year,riceUnlike previous years, the documents submitted by the inistry lack detailed information on accounts receivable.
Ministry of Natural Resources accountant Sebueng Tlabanyane admitted failing to report the payments correctly but insisted they were paid. She admitted an oversight in not attaching receipts to the financial statements.
“I admit that we only reported in 2022 that the money had been paid but did not provide proof of receipt and therefore the Accountant General did not see any receipt attached.
“We did not report the money as having been received; we had previously reported it as an account receivable in 2021. In the documents we filed as the Ministry of Mines, it was not clear to us whether the money received was the money we expected. We did not report the money as having been paid; we simply deducted it from the account receivable. The money was not reported correctly,” Ms Trabagnane said.
sheSo insistThe money has been paidBut it has not been properly reported.
“The money was deposited into the ministry’s account and we then received the bank statement from the treasurer and entered it into our system. We have evidence that the money was in the account. I did not attach the receipt and it was not reported in the 2022 financial statement.“Looking at the 2020 financials when I took office, I reported that we had RM175 million in accounts receivable that had not been paid. When this money was paid, we did not report it in our books as paid, nor did weDo weShow evidence”.
PAC chairperson Machabana Lemphane-Letsie asked Ms Pitso to clarify whether Lucapa still owed the government money.
Ms. Pitso confirmed that she had not receivedriceto show that Lucapa has paid.
“When the money comes in, it is seen and then the statements are given to the ministries to record. They are the ones who bring us the documents. But we have never seen any Lucapa documents, they did not give us,”she says.
Basotho National Party (BNP) leader Machesetsa Mofomobe questioned whether there were unaccounted funds in government accounts. Ms Pitso conceded there could be unaccounted funds, suggesting there could be discrepancies in financial records.
Ms Lemphane-Letsie concluded that the committee remained unconvinced about the payment.questionShe said the mining company was considered to be in a position to pay Lucapa until it provided the necessary documentation to prove the payments.yesOuchBritainRM175 million from the government.
“There seems to be no answer to this question. We must have an answer to this question. It is recommended that the ministry and the Accountant General meet to resolve this issue and provide a response to the Auditor General, who will then submit it to the PAC.
“To date, Lucapa still owes the Lesotho government $175 million for the acquisition of the Lesotho diamond mine…” said Ms. Lemphane-Letsie.
The meeting was postponed until next Monday morning for further investigation.
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