M1, 3 million LEC debt cripples courts
Mohalenyane Phakela
OPERATIONS at the Maseru Magistrate Court were this week paralysed after the Lesotho Electricity Company (LEC) abruptly cut power supplies due to the judiciary’s failure to pay a M1, 3 million power bill.
The utility company cut off supplies on Tuesday, leaving the Maseru Magistrate Court in darkness.
The situation is likely to go on for months as Chief Magistrate ‘Matankiso Nthunya said court administrators were unable to immediately raise the money to settle the debt.
Ms Nthunya told the
Lesotho Times that the debt had been piling up over the past five years due to meagre funding allocated by the government to the judiciary. The court had now been forced to suspend cases whose proceedings needed to be recorded electronically.