Page 24 - FOL2023

Corporate Governance

comply with the LCA’s binding
directives involving ‘out-of-
bundle’ billing against clients,
Vodacom landed in hot soup
as the LCA engaged in a bid to
revoke the telecommunications
giant’s license. This drastic move
came as a result of Vodacom’s
failure to pay an imposed fine
of over a hundred million maloti
for its non-compliance. To date,
the legal battle between the two
entities remains pending before
the High Court of Lesotho.

The tripartite relationship between governance,
risk and compliance is a sacred one. A compromise
on one is a compromise on others since the three
do not exist in silos. They are not, and should
never be isolated one from another. Therefore it is
humbly submitted that the misplaced link in all of
the abovementioned illustrations is a strong and
ethical Governing Body which is not only aware
of its obligations, but also remains intentionally
rooted in the same. It should be reiterated that the
tone for compliance and risk management is set by
the Governing Body.

Failure in this regard will almost certainly manifest
in catastrophic costs from reputational damage
occasioned by media reports, financial losses due
to fines and dipping stock prices, loss of investor
and/or consumer confidence, and even the loss of
a license leading to abrupt organisational collapse.

26 FOL Quarterly Issue 2022