Former Leaders of Lesotho Women’s Rights Organisation Accused of Corruption

Two former senior Lesotho office bearers of Women and Law Southern Africa are facing charges of corruption and money laundering involving more than R5.6-million in donor funds.

• Mamosa Mohlabula-Nokana, former programmes director, and Libakiso Matlho, former executive director, of Women and Law in Lesotho, are accused of diverting more than R5.6-million in donor funds between 2016 and 2022.
• The High Court has frozen Mohlabula-Nokana’s bank accounts and a residential property in Maseru allegedly bought with the proceeds of crime.
• The Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences also alleges the two sold a house built with WILSA funds for R515,000 without recording the proceeds in the organisation’s accounts, and that Mohlabula-Nokana authorised R500,000 for an office construction that was never completed.

Two former senior Lesotho office bearers of Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA) are facing charges of corruption and money laundering involving more than R5.6-million in donor funds.

Mamosa Mohlabula-Nokana, who was WLSA programmes director, appeared before the Maseru Magistrates’ Court last week. Her former boss, Libakiso Matlho, who served as WLSA executive director, has yet to appear in court as she currently works outside the country as executive secretary at the African Union Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development Centre.

The Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) accuses the two of misappropriating WLSA funds between 2016 and 2022.

WLSA is a regional network promoting the legal and socio-economic rights of women and children in Southern Africa. Lesotho’s chapter, active for over 20 years, runs donor-funded programmes on gender equality, legal aid and empowerment.

Assets frozen

On 2 October, the High Court granted the DCEO a preservation order freezing Mohlabula-Nokana’s bank accounts and a residential property in Maseru allegedly acquired using proceeds of crime.

The order by Chief Justice Sakoane Sakoane prohibits Mohlabula-Nokana or anyone acting on her behalf from selling, transferring or using the property until the case is finalised. The court also directed that the property be placed under the custody of the DCEO’s asset management office.

“The property shall remain frozen until the final determination of the forfeiture order,” Chief Justice Sakoane ruled.

According to the charge sheet, Mohlabula-Nokana and Matlho, “sharing a common purpose”, diverted WLSA funds through a series of online transfers, cheque deposits and cash withdrawals between 2016 and 2022. The two are accused of transferring M1,078,542 (1M = R1) through online payments, of making cheque deposits of M2,471,568, and of withdrawing M1,548,000 in cash. They also allegedly sold a house built with WLSA funds for M515,000, without recording the proceeds in the organisation’s accounts.

According to the DCEO, these transactions constitute money laundering, corruption and theft under Lesotho’s Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act and the Prevention of Corruption and Economic Offences Act.

Advocate Boitumelo Motlamelle, representing the DCEO, told the court that WLSA operated eight bank accounts at Nedbank Lesotho, assigned to donor projects, operational expenses, staff benefits, and legal services. Both accused were signatories on all those accounts.

Motlamelle told the court that acting on a tip-off the DCEO traced a pattern of cash movements and property deals they believe were meant to disguise the source of funds.

The DCEO investigations revealed many questionable financial activities performed by both Matlho and Mohlabula-Nokana. Among the irregularities, the DCEO alleges that Mohlabula-Nokana authorised a M500,000 payment to a contractor for the construction of WLSA’s office at Ha Thetsane. The building was never completed.

The property was later transferred into the joint names of Rethabile Nokana and ‘Mamosa Mohlabula-Nokana before being sold for M515,000 in 2019. The proceeds, the DCEO says, never reached WLSA’s bank accounts.

Suspicious deposits

The DCEO also traced deposits and withdrawals from the accused’s personal accounts. Between 2016 and 2021, Mohlabula-Nokana allegedly deposited M1.97-million into her personal Nedbank account. The DCEO states these funds do not appear in WLSA’s records and could not be linked to legitimate income.

In September 2017, Mohlabula-Nokana’s account showed a credit balance of M457,237, which the DCEO said originated from illicit cheque deposits. Days later, she reportedly obtained a home loan of M2.1-million from Nedbank, used to purchase a property in Masowe for M2.6-million. The DCEO argues that the M410,000 shortfall came from misappropriated WLSA funds, “tainting the property as proceeds of crime”.

The court heard that although Mohlabula-Nokana’s monthly salary was M17,931, her home loan repayments amounted to M21,846, an amount she consistently paid despite her salary being lower than the instalment.

The DCEO claims she used illicit cheque deposits to cover the difference, with findings showing recurring deposits of between M28,000 and M33,000 shortly before each loan repayment between 2017 and 2023.

As of 26 August 2025, Nedbank confirmed that Mohlabula-Nokana’s outstanding loan balance was M2.4-million out of a total loan of M4.9-million, Motlamelle told the court.

The DCEO contends that her interest in the Masowe property “was acquired and financed through unlawful means” and the property should therefore be forfeited to the State.

The court has yet to rule on the forfeiture, but the property remains frozen.

Mohlabula-Nokana was released on M3,000 bail and M50,000 surety.

Court proceedings are set to resume on 12 November, according to the DCEO.

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