VZCZCXRO3506
RR RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHRN
DE RUEHMR #0458 2571617
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141617Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY MASERU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2287
INFO RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP
RUCNSAD/SADC COLLECTIVE
RUEHMR/AMEMBASSY MASERU 2601

UNCLAS MASERU 000458 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ECON KDEM LT
SUBJECT: LESOTHO CAR SCANDAL LIKELY TO DOG RULING PARTY IN 2007 
ELECTIONS 
 
REF: A)  MASERU 286;  B)  MASERU 335 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  Political fallout continues to snowball in 
response to the sale of official luxury vehicles to top 
government officials, at a one percent residual value, by a 
South African company leasing vehicles to the government.  Two 
major political parties have appealed to the Ombudsman and the 
Director General of the Anti-Corruption Unit to investigate the 
scheme and charge the recipients with unlawful acquisition of 
government property.  An alliance of three parties protested at 
the SADC Summit concerning this growing scandal, and the issue 
is likely to haunt the ruling party during the upcoming 2007 
national elections.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  The controversial car scheme, which was launched in 2003, 
allows top GOL officials to purchase luxury vehicles leased from 
Imperial Fleet Services, a government contractor, at one percent 
of their initial retail value.  The program included cabinet 
ministers, principal secretaries, members of commissions, heads 
of statutory bodies, and judges of the High Court (ref A). 
Cabinet ministers were offered luxury Mercedes Benz cars at 
Maloti 4,000 (about USD 560), while the others purchased Toyota 
Camry sedans for a residual value of Maloti 2,500 (about USD 
350). 
 
¶3.  In response to widespread public outcry, members of a 
Cabinet sub-committee on the privileges of high-ranking 
government officials held a press conference on August 22.  The 
Chairperson of the sub-committee, and Minister of Natural 
Resources, Dr. 'M'amphono Khaketla, explained that the 
government implemented the plan as an improvement in the 
remuneration of top civil servants.  The car ownership scheme 
was justified by the need to attract competent leaders into 
government to strengthen governance, manage the brain drain, and 
ensure the delivery of services to the nation.  This explanation 
was received highly critically by the media and public. 
 
¶4.  Typical of journalistic comment, an article in the popular 
weekly Public Eye pointed out that attempts to stem Lesotho's 
brain drain should be aimed at engineers, doctors, and nurses, 
not politically appointed top government officials, who have not 
been observed to flee.  Members of the public, through radio 
call-in programs, have dismissed the ministers' statement as a 
desperate attempt to save face.  The Law Society has called on 
the Director of Prosecutions and the Director General of the 
Anti-Corruption Unit to prosecute the scheme's beneficiaries, 
failing which they vow to launch a private lawsuit. 
 
¶5.  Possibly most irksome to the GOL has been the Law Society's 
challenge to religious leaders to break their silence on 
national issues, including this controversial car scheme. 
Quoting from the bible, several religious leaders called in to a 
community radio discussion entitled "A Culture of Impunity" on 
Saturday, August 26.  Warning the nation of this collective 
responsibility, they argued that in incidents where biblical 
leaders like David had erred, God not only punished the 
individual leaders, but the nation as a whole. 
 
¶6.  The alliance of Congress parties sent a letter of protest 
against the scheme to diplomatic missions accredited to Lesotho 
in July of this year (ref B).  They also presented a letter of 
protest in August to the SADC Heads of State Summit in Maseru, 
criticizing the movement for electing Lesotho's Prime Minister, 
Pakalitha Mosisili, as Chairman of the organization in the midst 
of this controversy surrounding his government. 
 
¶7.  COMMENT:  The donor community in Lesotho empathizes with the 
GOL's challenge to retain competent people in the public sector, 
but advocates reward for good performance.  The array of 
incentive schemes implemented so far have unfortunately brought 
little improvement in governance of the civil service and 
delivery of services to the public.  The latest attempt by 
government to explain the car ownership scheme raises more 
questions than answers.  Coming as the nation prepares for 
national elections in 2007, the scheme legitimizes the use of 
public assets for political campaigning by the ruling party, 
which has been a primary complaint of the opposition.  In the 
face of widespread poverty exacerbated by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, 
this conspicuous grab of public assets by the ruling party will 
be a key election issue in 2007.  END COMMENT. 
 
MURPHY