Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Lesotho Times
Published on 2024-04-19 07:16:41
The Ministry of Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs, and Police in Lesotho is facing a significant challenge in effectively registering and marking livestock due to issues with officers bunking work. The government has been paying these officers on a monthly basis for the past three years, but there have been reports of them not showing up for work. This revelation was made before the parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Law and Public Safety.
The officers responsible for livestock registration and marking are youths recruited under the Livestock Registration, Marking, and Information System (LRMIS). They were hired on three-year contracts by the previous administration and were scheduled to complete their contracts by the end of the month. However, their lack of presence at work has hindered the progress of the project.
During the committee meeting, the National Livestock Register Manager, Pitso Ramokoatsi, was questioned about the lack of attendance among the LRMIS project officials. It was noted that the work that should have been completed within two years has been pending for nine years due to these absentee officials.
The LRMIS project aims to establish a modern livestock registration and marking system to secure livestock ownership, production, and tracking. The system categorizes livestock owners, tracks the number of livestock in Lesotho, and uses biometric identification to map owners to their animals. Despite the potential benefits of the system, its progress has been hindered by the absence of key officials.
Mr. Ramokoatsi acknowledged the challenge of officials not reporting for work and stated that disciplinary proceedings were being pursued to address the issue. He also highlighted the drop in performance between 2020 and 2021 but expressed hope for improvement in the future.
Since the inception of the project in 2015, only 59% of Lesotho’s estimated 4.5 to 5 million livestock have been registered, with 44.4% of them marked. Additionally, only 43.1% of the estimated 400,000 livestock owners have been registered. Despite the challenges faced by the department, they have managed to mark 70 tall animals or 200 short livestock on a normal day and have 71 stations designated for marking livestock across the country.
The committee urged Mr. Ramokoatsi and his team to address the issues hindering the progress of the project and ensure that livestock in Lesotho are properly registered and marked. While some factors contributing to the delays were identified, it is essential for the department to improve its performance and fulfill its responsibilities to protect the country’s livestock as expected.
Read the original article on Lesotho Times
