FRAZER Solar has said the independent arbitration award of €50 million (about M900 million) plus costs and interest “is full and final” despite the “technicality” raised by a Belgian court which Deputy Prime Minister Nthomeng Majara spoke about in parliament this week.
news
Dec. 19, 2022
STAFF REPORTERS
7 min read
Frazer Solar hits back
Former Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Temeki Tšolo
Story highlights
Deputy Prime Minister Majara says Belgian court reversed decision to freeze Lesotho Embassy’s bank account in Brussels
Former Cabinet Minister Temeki Tšolo allegedly violated Lesotho’s constitution and procurement regulations
The solar energy firm issued a statement this week.
The epic saga involving the botched deal saw the High Court in Lesotho last month ruling that the mammoth contract Frazer Solar signed with former Minister Temeki Tšolo in 2018 violated Lesotho’s constitution and procurement regulations.
The court said this means the contract Frazer Solar accuses the government of breaching is null and void, dealing a blow to the company’s aggressive bid to confiscate Lesotho’s assets around the globe.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Law and Justice, Justice Majara earlier this week said the Belgian court had reversed the decision to freeze Lesotho Embassy’s bank account in Brussels.
In sharp contrast, Frazer Solar later this week issued a statement as follows:
“The Belgium court is considering a technical point raised by Lesotho but Frazer Solar’s legal proceedings to seize the Kingdom’s assets are continuing in this country. The independent arbitration award of €50 million plus costs and interest to Frazer Solar is full and final. It will continue to be recognised in courts around the world regardless of the October Lesotho High Court decision.
“Following Prime Minister Matekane’s refusal to engage in mediation, Frazer Solar is even more committed than ever to pursue the Kingdom of Lesotho’s assets in additional international jurisdictions”, said the solar company in the statement.
It seems the solar firm is in the legal battle for the long haul.
Addressing parliament, Justice Majara said the Belgian court had made the ruling after Lesotho lawyers instituted a case before the Belgian High Court to interdict Frazer Solar from attaching and confiscating the assets of the Government of Lesotho and to unfreeze the Embassy’s bank account.
“Today gives me great pleasure to inform you that the case which the lawyers filed before the Belgian Court to set aside the order which Frazer Solar obtained without notice to the Kingdom, was heard at the beginning of this month, and judgment was granted in favour of the Kingdom, effectively reversing the earlier decision which was granted in favour of Frazer Solar,” the deputy prime minister said.
She said the court further ordered Frazer Solar to pay legal costs of money amounting to M95 000.
“You will recall that on November 3, 2022, Frazer Solar Company issued a public statement in terms of which it claimed that the Belgian Court had recognised its 50 million Euro arbitration award against the Kingdom of Lesotho and had issued an order allowing the said company to attach the Kingdom’s assets by freezing the bank account of the Lesotho Embassy in Brussels, Belgium.
“You will also recall that Frazer Solar is a company which is owned by a German citizen who has embarked on a mission to seize the assets and investments of the Kingdom of Lesotho in different jurisdictions,” she said.
Majara said to date, Frazer Solar has instituted similar court proceedings in South Africa, Mauritius, the United States and the United Kingdom.
On April 20, 2022, the office of the Prime Minister issued a media statement informing the nation that the court cases in South Africa had been postponed, pending the finalisation of a review case that was lodged in the High Court of Lesotho by the Kingdom of Lesotho.
Majara said following the postponement in the South African court, an agreement was reached by all parties that all the other cases in other jurisdictions would be held in abeyance pending the finalisation of the matter in Lesotho.
She said the case before the Lesotho High Court has since been heard and is pending judgment.
“Meanwhile, in total disregard of the agreement between the parties, on the 12th October 2022 and without notice to the Kingdom of Lesotho, Frazer Solar approached the Court in Belgium and obtained an order freezing the bank account of the Lesotho Embassy in Brussels,” she stated.
She said the Lesotho embassy only got to know about the frozen account through the bank on October 24, 2022, when they tried to make a transaction.
Majara said Frazer Solar also made an attempt to attach Gem Diamonds assets in Brussels but the attempt failed.
“After Frazer Solar obtained the court order without notice, it issued a public statement to announce the fact. After the release of that Statement, the Government of Lesotho, through the office of the Right Honourable the Prime Minister issued a public statement informing the nation that the Legal representatives of the Government of Lesotho were already working on the matter and had instituted a case before the Belgian High Court to interdict Frazer Solar from attaching and confiscating the assets of the Government of Lesotho and to unfreeze the Embassy’s bank account.
“Today, it gives me great pleasure to inform you that the case which the lawyers filed before the Belgian Court to set aside the order which Frazer Solar obtained without notice to the Kingdom, was heard at the beginning of this month and judgment was granted in favour of the Kingdom, effectively reversing the earlier decision which was granted in favour of Frazer Solar.
“The Government of Lesotho wishes to reiterate its commitment to do everything in its power to protect its assets and investments both in and outside the country, against Frazer Solar,” she said.
Last week, Prime Minister Ntsokoane Sam Matekane through the advice of Attorney General Advocate Rapelang Motsieloa rejected Fraser Solar’s request to meet him in Johannesburg to discuss matters pertaining to the case in question.
In an interview with Public Eye, Motsieloa said Frazer sent a letter to Matekane asking him to meet in Johannesburg to discuss the case and map a way forward.
Motsieloa said he advised Matekane not to entertain the communication.
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“By right, it was supposed to be sent by his lawyers, to the lawyers of the government of Lesotho, not directly to Prime Minister” he said.
Frazer Solar thinks otherwise.
“Although this problem was not caused by Matekane, he is fully responsible for its resolution. Basotho will judge the wisdom of his decision to ignore this clear opportunity to end the case once and for all.
“As we enter 2023, Frazer Solar will expand its legal battle into new jurisdictions, with future investigations likely to bring international scrutiny onto allegedly corrupt financial dealings involving Lesotho government officials,” they highlighted.
In a statement issued on November 11, the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offenses (DCEO) noted that on April 28, a warrant of arrest against Frazer was issued for him to appear before court.
According to the statement, efforts are being made for the arrest of Frazer through relevant international bodies.
The contentious deal, signed in 2018 under the administration of former Prime Minister Motsoahae Thabane, was meant to provide solar lanterns to thousands of households with the attendant cellphone chargers to ease reliance on unhealthy paraffin.
Lesotho is heavily reliant on imported electricity from neighbouring, South Africa and Mozambique, with imported electricity comprising 41% of volume and 86% of the cost.
The Frazer Solar deal was ostensibly meant to reduce electricity imports.
It involved the installation of solar water heaters, solar PV, and LED lights with the provision to incorporate large-scale batteries in off-grid and grid-tied applications.
According to Frazer Solar, it developed the entire project including a finance package for the government through European and African development banks.
In addition, all 350 000 non-electrified households in the country were earmarked to receive a solar lantern with an inbuilt mobile phone charger, thereby permanently eliminating the use of candles and paraffin as a lighting source.
The company’s managing director Robert Frazer, who was based in the country for the development, participated in weekly aid distributions which over the course of 2017 and 2018 saw food, clothing, and blankets delivered to thousands of families across the country.
Lesotho is challenging the arbitration award granted to the company in South Africa, which the company is using to pursue Lesotho’s properties worldwide.
Last month’s High Court judgment reveals how Tšolo and Frazer aggressively pushed for the contract despite being aware that the Cabinet had not approved it and procurement procedures had not been followed.
Tšolo signed the initial Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Frazer four days after former Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro, who was then finance minister, refused to sign it.
Majoro is said to have told Tšolo that he could not sign the MOU before it had passed through the relevant officials.
Tšolo allegedly went ahead and signed the MOU on the government’s behalf.
The court said Tšolo lied to the cabinet that he had consulted the Ministers of Finance, Public Service, Local Government, Energy, and Development Planning.
Despite Majoro’s refusal to endorse it, Tšolo told Frazer, in a letter, that the government agreed and committed to the project.
Tšolo and Frazer went ahead to sign the Supply Agreement in September 2018 without cabinet approval although Tšolo did not have the authority to sign the agreement on the government’s behalf
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