Maseru, Nov. 20 — The Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Dr. Retsélisitsoe Matlanyane has revealed that the government currently lacks an effective mechanism to recover Loan Bursary Funds disbursed to citizens under the National Manpower Development Secretariat (NMDS) sponsorship program.
Dr. Matlanyane made the disclosure during a Senate question-and-answer session in response to inquiries from Senator Peete Lesaoana Peete. The Senator had sought clarity on the NMDS sponsorship policy and the strategies for tracking employed NMDS-sponsored graduates, particularly those working in the private sector.
The minister acknowledged the challenge, noting that NMDS was not originally designed to handle fund recovery tasks. Additionally, there was no plan established at the program’s inception to ensure graduates would repay the sponsorship funds after completing their studies.
However, Dr. Matlanyane assured the Senate that efforts are underway to address the issue. “Measures are being developed to enable the ministry to track and recover funds from sponsored graduates, whether they are employed in the public or private sectors,” she said.
