By ‘Majirata Latela
A new crime fighting group, the Association of Government Ethics and Fraud Prevention Lesotho (AGEFPL) is joining other crime busting entities, theReporter has learnt.
It has emerged that the new organisation will work hand in glove with already existing crime prevention agencies such as security personnel, law enforcement agencies and the policing forum.
In an interview with theReporter, the president and founder of AGEFPL, Hlompho Mokubung, minced no words to hint that the objective of the association was empower crime fighting groups with necessary skills to fight fraud.
She said the primary aim is to ensure that Basotho who are eager to learn about government ethics, and fraud prevention “are able to do so without having to take time off from work as sessions will be organised offered to accommodate everyone.”
“We would like our lawyers and judges in Lesotho to trust and come to learn these skills which will be beneficial in their line of work. They must keep learning so that when new crime and fraud trends surface, they should be aware of how they approach such cases.”
She said the association will also create awareness through workshops and training sessions as a strong measure to beat rampant fraud.
“We call upon the judiciary to also help us in making sure that when perpetrators are brought before the courts of law, they are prosecuted and send to jail so that people know that there are consequences when one takes what does not belong to them,” she said
She said criminals should be investigated and prosecuted resulting in their serving a jail term for their offences. Lately, she warned, criminals who defraud the government are usually not detected and dealt with according to the demands of the law.
She is highly perturbed that a number of fraud cases is increasing with several of them committed by public servants and some members of the public who steal from the public purse. Those involved in the activities are usually placed on suspension as prosecution drags on for long time.
She has called on the judiciary to speed up cases so as to avert any backlog.
The Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO)’s acting Director General Sefako Seema who was present at the event said DCEO’s mandate is to fight, fraud, corruption and money laundering. He said with the establishment of organisations such as AGEFPL which will be a private sector driven entity, the fight against crime and corruption is becoming everyone’s fight.
“This shows that the fight against crime, all forms of corruption, fraud and the likes is no longer the government’ sole responsibility but organisations and individuals are also stepping up to help where they can.
“Our plan as DCEO in fighting crime, corruption and fraud is to involve everybody in the fight. What is left now is to support the association so that when we win, we win together,” he hoped.
Seema said he understood that the association was bent on promoting good governance, pointing out that lack of transparency within government cycles was at its peak.
