The nation is still reeling in shock following revelations that the government of Lesotho surreptitiously and mysteriously entered into a solar power agreement with a hitherto unknown German company. It turns out the government reneged on the agreement, forcing the company to seek recourse from the (South African) courts of law. It has also emerged that Lesotho’s assets abroad are to be seized, and these include Lesotho Highlands Water Project royalties.
For what it’s worth, this does not only point to negligence on the part of government, but it also borders on glaring and unadulterated corruption, especially since we have all learned that the agreement was signed by an unauthorised minister, and of the minister of finance.
This is very regrettable as indeed the impact of corruption generally goes beyond the corrupt individuals, the innocent colleagues who are implicated, or the reputation of the organisations they work for. Ultimately, people are the ones who lose out.
Corruption and similar act erode the trust we have in the government to act in our best interests. It also wastes our taxes or rates that have been earmarked for important community projects – meaning we have to put up with poor quality services or infrastructure, or we miss out altogether.
Yes, corruption hurts everyone. Organisationally, it results in financial loss, damage to employee morale, damage to organisation’s reputation; organisational focus and resources are diverted away from delivering core business and services to the public.
To the individual involved in these unholy acts, we should expect to see disciplinary action, termination of employment and criminal charges laid out against them.
The general public is also affected: wasted taxpayer funds, loss of goods and services and lower public confidence in public authorities
