Storm over M500 million Polihali tender 

…As “incompetent” Unik is selected to implement big project 

…despite criticism of poor performance and failures in other LHDA projects 

…Unik nonetheless denies wrongdoing 

…. Insists it has fulfilled all its contractual obligations 

A STORM is brewing after controversial construction company, Unik Construction Engineering, emerged as the preferred bidder for a huge tender to build replacement housing for communities displaced by the construction of the multi-billion-dollar Polihali Dam in Mokhotlong, the Lesotho Times can reveal. 

The decision by project consultants, Lima-Thaha Joint Venture, to recommend Unik Construction for the M500 million worth Construction of Resettlement Villages and Replacement Housing for the Polihali Inundation Area (6015C) tender, has stunned all and sundry considering the company’s poor performance and failure to timeously complete two other relatively small projects commissioned by the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA).  These were Construction of the Katse Village Upgrade (4018E) Lodge and The Construction of the Polihali Commercial Centre (4018B) 

Unik’s alleged bungling of these projects resulted in it being levied with contractual penalties by the LHDA.  In one project, the Katse Village upgrade, another local contractor was hired to complete the work requested by the LHDA. 

Considering that these contracts were worth only M131 million and M11 million respectively, it is quite remarkable that the project consultants (Lima-Thaha JV) in the replacement housing tender (6015C) have now seen it fit to recommend Unik for the sizeable project worth about half a billion maloti. 

“The direct consequence of appointing a proven incompetent contractor is that the poor communities affected by this project will have to suffer in the open rain if Unik is awarded this tender and the LHDA proceeds to conclude contract negotiations with this company. 

“How are they (Unik) going to implement a M500 million project in time and according to specs when they were slapped with penalties for failing to deliver smaller projects worth only M131 million and M11 million,” a government official stunned by the development said. 

“None other than King Letsie III has asked the LHDA to treat Basotho, whose lives have been disrupted by these water projects, fairly. The decision by the LHDA and its consultant to engage Unik on such an important project of providing homes for displaced poor people flies in the face of His Majesty’s calls for Basotho adversely affected by these water projects to be compensated fairly…. 

“It is plain irresponsible to even consider a company that has a record of not completing projects timeously for the important task of providing alternative homes for displaced poor communities….” 

Opening the Senqu Bridge in April 2026 in Mokhotlong, King Letsie III urged the LHDA to effectively compensate affected communities. The King stressed that livelihood restoration and environmental protection should remain top priorities of the LHDA. He lamented that some people affected during the first phase of the project more than 30 years ago were still awaiting compensation. 

He acknowledged the significant sacrifices made by affected communities, including relocation, loss of grazing land and disruption of livelihoods. The least they deserved was to be treated with dignity and respect and get adequately compensated, the King exhorted. 

Critics now say considering Unik’s record in delaying projects, the displaced communities could expect to “suffer in the rain” if the LHDA proceeds with their consultant’s recommendation to employ Unik for the home replacement project. 

Unik — a Chinese owned company — has nonetheless rejected all the allegations raised against it. 

The company also said it had not received any official communication regarding the outcome of the M500 million tender and was therefore unable to comment on reports that it had been selected as the preferred bidder. 

Previous works 

Unik was awarded a M131 million contract in January 2023 for works for the Katse Village upgrade with completion initially expected by December of the same year. 

According to information gathered by this publication, the contractor only commenced construction around June 2023 (six months after the award), resulting in delays that ultimately pushed completion to October 2024. 

The original contract reportedly included construction of 40 new housing units, refurbishment of the conference centre and its 12 accommodation units, upgrading of the lodge facilities, and improvements to the caravan park. 

All the contracts are concluded in terms of the standard conditions stipulated under the JBCC (Joint Building Contracts Committee). 

Sources familiar with the project allege that during implementation, LHDA requested design modifications in accordance with Section 17.1 of the JBCC conditions, which allow employers to issue design changes provided they do not alter the overall scope of work. 

Among the reported modifications was the installation of larger scenic windows overlooking the dam. 

A source close to the matter alleged that tensions escalated as project delays mounted, prompting LHDA to direct the consulting engineer, Polihali Infrastructure Consultants Joint Venture, to impose contractual penalties against Unik. 

“Delays are common in construction, but problems arise when they become severe enough to undermine the client’s confidence to the point where a replacement contractor becomes necessary,” the source said. 

“The fact that another contractor had to come in reflects the extent of dissatisfaction that had developed.” 

According to the source, Unik’s delays had compelled the consultant to further sectionalize the work to make things simpler. Of the 40 houses that the company was meant to build, it was asked to prioritize eight. It was then pushed to complete these before embarking on the remaining 32 which were only completed late. 

Unik’s delays in completing the Katse Village project had originally earned penalties worth approximately M33 million, subsequently reduced to M10 million after the company appealed to the LHDA boss, Tente Tente, and the entity’s Project Management Unit (PMU). 

“Unik used to submit monthly payment certificates, but stopped after receiving penalty notices which exceeded the value of certified works. They then escalated the matter to LHDA chief executive (Tente Tente) who then directed the LHDA Procurement Management Unit to intervene,” the source alleged. 

The source claimed Unik argued that multiple consultant instructions and design changes had contributed significantly to project delays. 

Further allegations suggest disagreements later emerged over pricing of amended works. 

According to the source, Unik declined to proceed with certain variations after LHDA rejected pricing proposals for modifications, including window redesigns and related works. 

This reportedly led LHDA to engage LSP Construction to undertake additional works and modifications at Katse Lodge and associated facilities between February and December 2025. 

Commercial Centre 

In February 2023, Unik was also awarded an M11,314,722.04 contract to construct the Polihali Commercial Centre. 

However, in this instance too, Unik allegedly failed to complete the project within the agreed timeframe. Sources claimed the delays stemmed from the company having submitted a bid that was too low to adequately cover operational and overhead costs. 

As a result, the company was reportedly penalised M2 million for the delays, although the penalty was later negotiated down to M95,000. 

“Their alleged modus operandi is to submit unusually low bids to secure contracts and, once work has commenced, delay implementation in order to seek cost escalations and increase project values,” the source alleged. 

Roads Directorate 

Unik’s alleged stratagem of pricing low to win tenders then seek to change things and ask for escalations once it has begun implementing a project was best illustrated in the Roads Directorate’s rejection of its bid in the nearly M1 billion tender for the Rehabilitation of the A1 Road from Maseru Border Post to Maqhaka. 

In that tender, Unik Construction tendered lowest at about M757 million.  Other bidders were China GEO Engineering Corporation at M795 million, China JIANGXI International Corporation at M833 million and Qingjian Group at M877 million. 

While China Geo’s bid was recommended for award, with the other two bids from China JIANGXI and Qingjian cited as responsive, Unik’s bid was rejected outright as “nonresponsive, unbalanced bid….” despite it being the lowest. 

Among the reasons cited by the Roads Directorate for rejecting Unik’s bid in correspondence dated 6 May 2026 was “…high risk of cost escalation, contractual disputes and performance failure”. 

This all confirms that the Roads Directorate had seen through Unik’s stratagem of quoting low to get into contracts then demand escalations later. That of course creates all sorts of problems for projects including delaying them as demands for escalations create inevitable contractual disputes. 

M500 million resettlement tender 

Subsequent to its Katse Village and Polihali Commercial Centre projects,  in which Unik had fared poorly in terms of performance, the LHDA had advertised the humungous M500 tender for the construction of the Polihali resettlement village and replacement housing programme intended to relocate affected communities. 

This publication is reliably informed that Unik is among five contractors shortlisted for the new contract. In fact Lima-Thaha has recommended Unik for appointment and sources said the company was now in contract negotiations with the LHDA. 

“If that is true, then it’s a case of the LHDA playing ping-pong with the lives of Basotho. How will they (LHDA) justify giving such a huge contract that affect the livelihoods of whole communities to a company that has demonstrably failed to deliver much lesser projects on time…? That will be a scandal of monumental proportions….,” said a source at Polihali. 

“It’s almost incomprehensible that Unik has been recommended for appointment to this contract despite being penalized for poor performance in the previous LHDA projects.” 

Seeking clarity on the process, the Lesotho Times approached Lima-Thaha Joint Venture, the consulting engineers spearheading the current procurement process. 

However, representatives declined to comment and referred all media inquiries to LHDA. 

Efforts to obtain comment from LHDA were unsuccessful at the time of publication. Questions sent to LHDA Public Relations Manager, Mpho Brown, had not been answered at the time of going to print, while telephone calls went unanswered. 

Unik rejects allegations 

Responding to questions from this publication yesterday, Unik Construction Engineering firmly denied allegations of underperformance and rejected any suggestion that it had fared poorly in previous contracts 

“With regard to the procurement process referenced in your inquiry, Unik Construction has not received any official notification regarding the outcome of the tender process, (for the replacement housing tender)” the company’s Administration Manager, Vincent Zhang, said. 

“Accordingly, we are not in a position to comment on tender evaluations, bidder rankings, procurement decisions, or any discussions that may or may not be taking place between the procuring entity and participating bidders.” 

On allegations surrounding Katse and Polihali projects, the company maintained it had fully discharged its obligations. 

“Unik Construction completed the contractual scope of works required under the relevant contracts. 

“It is therefore not accurate to state that the company failed to complete these projects, nor is it accurate to suggest that another contractor was engaged to complete works left unfinished by Unik Construction.” 

The company argued that subsequent works undertaken by another contractor related to additional or varied works that fell outside the original contractual agreement Unik had entered with the LHDA 

He said commercial and procurement considerations resulted in the client electing to procure those works separately after parties failed to agree on pricing. 

Mr Zhang further stated that delays experienced on the projects should be viewed within the broader realities of large-scale infrastructure implementation. 

“As is common on complex construction projects, outcomes are influenced by design developments, stakeholder requirements, site conditions and project-specific circumstances,” he said. 

Mr Zhang also highlighted what he described as Unik’s broader record of “successful infrastructure delivery” in Lesotho, citing rehabilitation works on approximately 24 kilometres of the Moshoeshoe I International Airport Road and ongoing completion of the World Bank-funded Lowlands Water Development Project pipeline works. 

“Unik Construction remains committed to delivering quality infrastructure, fulfilling its contractual obligations and contributing to Lesotho’s development through responsible project execution and constructive engagement with clients, communities and stakeholders.” 

However, the company’s critics beg to differ. 

“What is it with Unik and project delays? Is it worth awarding Unik any further projects in Lesotho or should the Government of Lesotho and entities like the LHDA, Lowlands Water and others be more stringent in their dealings with companies like Unik…?” one critic asked, citing the company’s delay in even completing the Kofi Annan (A7) road which Unik had also delayed completing by almost nine months. 

Workmanship 

Another critic gave Unik the thumbs up in terms of its workmanship. However, he said its biggest Achilles Heel was poor planning and poor leadership resulting in poor scheduling of works. 

“Their strategy of pricing low, then try to maneuver a way out once they are in a project is a particularly bad strategy.  It results in resource constraint and failure to achieve timeline. 

“In the LHDA projects, it seems their head office in Botswana was not supporting them in terms of material procurement. Resources were a problem. They were not even paying their local contractors well and they started leaving… The bottom line is such a company cannot be entrusted with building replacement houses for Basotho. Period.”  

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