Right of Reply: Letshego sets record straight on lending

We write to formally express our concern regarding the article published by The Namibian, titled ‘Letshego Under Fire for Reckless Lending’, which appeared in your publication on Friday, 26 September 2025.

The article contains several inaccuracies and misleading statements that have the potential to cause significant reputational harm to Letshego Holdings Namibia and erode public trust in our brand.

Most notably, the article implies that Letshego is under investigation by the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa) for reckless lending practices and suggests that we have not been conducting affordability assessments in our lending processes.

These claims are factually incorrect and misrepresent the reality of our operations.

We wish to clarify the following:

Letshego has always conducted affordability assessments for all lending products as part of its responsible lending practices.

This has been a consistent part of our credit evaluation process and is aligned with regulatory requirements and industry’s best practices.

Letshego is not under investigation by Namfisa. There has been no formal communication or action from the regulator indicating any such investigation.

We corresponded with Shania Lazarus directly on 22 September 2025 to clarify and contextualise that affordability assessments have always been conducted on deduction at source loans and are also conducted for our debit order loans.

However, this is contrary to the journalism introduction to the article.

We respectfully request that The Namibian publish a front-page retraction and apology to correct the inaccuracies presented in its article, published on 26 September 2025.

The correction should clearly state that:

Letshego has applied affordability assessments to lending products including deduction at source and debit order loans.

Letshego is not under investigation by Namfisa – you are welcome to confirm this with Namfisa themselves.

We believe that responsible journalism includes the duty to correct misleading information, especially when it affects the reputation of institutions that serve the public and may cause unnecessary concerns for our government employees and other existing and valued customers.

We trust that The Namibian will act in good faith to restore the integrity of the narrative and uphold the standards of fair reporting.

We are available to provide any further clarification or documentation required to support this request.

– Ester Kali, chief executive: Letshego Holdings Namibia

RETRACTION AND APOLOGY

*The Namibian hereby retracts the allegations that Letshego is under fire for reckless lending. We failed to uphold the basic standards of journalism by not verifying the information to sufficiently prove allegations of reckless lending. This incident serves as a reminder that as journalists we must never drop our guard, as independent journalism carries a responsibility to be fair, accurate and accountable. We regret this oversight and apologise for any reputational harm this may have caused to Letshego.

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