Members of different local councils in Maseru district met in Maseru yesterday, to discuss their concerns about the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftainship.

During the meeting a member of Manonyane Local Council in Roma, who is also a chairman of the Maseru local council Mr Mohoalohoaloo Jane, said starting from 1997 up until now, issues pertaining to local councils in Lesotho have been a mess, because of ministers who led Ministry of Local Government and Chieftainship.

Mr Jane said those ministers humiliated and discredited local councilors, while officials in that ministry centralized public services to the ministry, instead of decentralizing them to local councils.

Mr Jane also said they are shocked and amazed by the Minister of Local Government and Chieftainship, who over the radios indicates that the government pays local councilors who are doing nothing, a total of over M60m in a year.

He said they are also shocked to hear the minister announcing that the decentralization process of public services to local councils will be done in 2022, while in August this year Prime Minister Dr Motsoahae Thomas Thabane allowed ministers to decentralize services to local councils within six months starting from August 2018.