Chapter four: Economic governance and management 462. Experts believe that money laundering has not been a serious issue in Lesotho and that the public has been sufficiently sensitised by banks and responsible regulatory officials about the fight against money laundering. They nevertheless recommended that the dissemination of information should be a continuous process to enable every citizen to engage in the fight against money laundering. ii. Findings of the CRM 463. While the country has enacted numerous Acts to combat corruption and money laundering, the biggest challenges lie in their slow implementation. 464. The CRM notes serious institutional challenges to fighting corruption. They include weak enforcement, shortages of staff and the limited resources of anticorruption bodies. Indeed, inadequate human capacity appears to be a factor that constrains efficiency across many public institutions in the country. 465. Senators argue that, to improve the accountability of government, Parliament should play a leading role in monitoring and interrogating the activities of watchdog institutions such as the ombudsman, the auditor general and the DCEO, to mention only a few. Currently, these institutions present their reports to Parliament, but they are constrained because they are accountable to line ministries at the same time. 466. The appointment of key officers such as the auditor general, the ombudsman and ambassadors can remain the prerogative of the executive, but Parliament should play a role in scrutinising the suitability of the proposed candidates. 467. With regard to the prosecution of corrupt practices, stakeholders argue that courts are not independent when the state is involved. 468. Stakeholders at district level do not seem to consider corruption to be a serious problem, but they are aware of corrupt practices. Water and Sewerage Authorities (WASAs), for example, collect payment without reading meters and tend to overcharge. There are also incidents of corruption in land allocation where chiefs and councillors allocate the same land to more than one user. They believe that corruption is more rampant at central government level than at district level. Political leaders at central level are failing to declare their assets or to lead the fight against corruption by example. This is another reason for government to expedite the decentralisation process. Local governments should be allowed to operate fully and be given resources and training. In principle, chiefs should remain the first police of the community. Youth resource centres should be given the resources to train the youth for the job market. Resources should also be decentralised and not controlled by central government. iii. Recommendations 469. The APR Panel recommends that: • Fighting corruption start with internal procedures and controls that deter corruption and facilitate the detection and prosecution of corrupt practices. All ministries and government 129