FORMER Lesotho ambassador to Italy, Bothata Tsikoane has filed an application in the High Court seeking an order for payment of his salary by the Government of Lesotho.
news
Sept. 22, 2021
STAFF REPORTER
2 min read
Diplomat demands unpaid salary
Former Lesotho ambassador to Italy, Bothata Tsikoane
Story highlights
Spent 36 months on tour of duty in Italy
Lack of funds stopped his immediate return home
He wants the government to be instructed to pay his emoluments accrued prior to his return to Lesotho, including his salary for August 2021.
Mr Tsikoane has cited as respondents the Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Relations and the Attorney General.
He has further asked the court to declare as unlawful the respondents’ act of withholding his salary.
The former envoy was posted to the Lesotho embassy in Italy on January 15, 2020 and spent 36 months at the mission.
In his court papers, he shows that when his term ended, he was unable to return home immediately due to challenges such as lack of sufficient funds to appoint his replacement.
He says he spent a month in Italy without a salary, allowances or privileges, adding that there was no communication to his fate.
Reports show that the extended contract for the applicant in the office of the ambassador of Lesotho in Italy ended on July 31, 2021, but due to reasons beyond the control of the embassy, arrangements for his return to Lesotho were not made on time.
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As a result, he continued with his duties until a solution could be found to facilitate his return, hence the request for payment of salary for August 2021.
Former Minister of Small Business Development, Cooperatives and Marketing, Chief Thesele ’Maseribane has replaced Mr Tsikoane as Lesotho’s ambassador to Italy.
Chief ’Maseribane is also former leader of the Basotho National Party (BNP). LeNA
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