A large German firm of engineering contractors, Lahmeyer International, was fined R10,6-million in the Lesotho High Court on Tuesday for bribery.
The case formed part of a series of bribery trials, related to the giant Lesotho Highlands Water Project, to be brought before the court.
Judge Gabriel Mofolo, sitting with two assessors, found the firm guilty on seven counts of paying bribes totalling more than R5-million to the former chief executive of the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority, Masupha Sole, from 1992 to 1997.
Sole is presently serving 15 years for accepting bribes from several international contractors and consultants to influence him to award them lucrative contracts for the construction of the water project.
The court found that Lahmeyer had paid various amounts to an intermediary through Swiss bank accounts. Portions of the bribe money was transferred to Sole’s accounts in Switzerland and Ladybrand in the Free State.
Fining the firm, Mofolo said the courts in Lesotho took a very serious view of bribery. Corruption attacked the administration of the public service and ”bedevilled good governance”. – Sapa