Corruption in Public Procurement in Lesotho

Public procurement refers to the acquisition of goods and services by government in order to facilitate the efficient operationalisation of the state machinery. Public procurement however extends beyond transactions to acquire commodities to “the relationship between the state and its suppliers, and between the state and the commodity transaction”. Global political hierarchies, with affluent democracies at the apex, play a dominant role in how states like Lesotho, with little political agency internationally buy and sell commodities and what terms and conditions attach to such transactions. This paper argues that the architecture of public procurement policy in Africa generally and Lesotho specifically is anchored in neoliberalism which emerged as the dominant economic theory globally after the end of World War II. Corruption which is critical in public procurement because of the huge quantities of commodities often being transacted and the volume of money involved in the procurement process. This creates substantial opportunities for public officials with the propensity to be corrupt because of the high profitability attached to these large procurements. According to the director of the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO), public procurement in Lesotho is the most vulnerable area to corruption and public procurement cases form 99% of corruption cases handled by the DCEO in 2016. The paper argues that he most combative and dictatorial mechanism of the neoliberal approach to anti-corruption and public procurement policies in Lesotho is the lack of consideration for local contexts, particularly when such policies are adopted litereratim. The slow erosion of corruption, particularly in public procurement in Lesotho is testimony to the futility of neoliberal policies in the country. Officials often adopt neoliberal policies disingenuously and masquerade them as actual reform. Alternatively, policies are adopted to comply with foreign aid requisites or to guarantee Lesotho’s place in global trade. At close inspection, the public procurement legal regime reveals weaknesses which are antithetical to the enthusiastic anti-corruption narratives that the Lesotho government performs to appease donors. Political agents in Lesotho often condemn corruption and reiterate a commitment to corruption-free procurement processes, however, overt corruption that permeates all sectors in the country contradicts this narrative. This paper provides an appraisal of the Public Procurement Regulations of Lesotho as anchored in the neoliberal approach. It argues that the socio-political nuances in Lesotho are in fundamental conflict with the neoliberal theory, making legal enforcement of the regulations extremely difficult.