Pascalinah Kabi
THREE ministers, a principal secretary and Government Secretary Moahloli Mphaka could find themselves in hot water for allegedly masterminding Prime Minister Thomas Thabane’s controversial 18 April 2020 deployment of soldiers around Maseru as part of a grand scheme to get rid of Police Commissioner Holomo Molibeli.
The ministers are Mr Thabane’s confidante Samonyane Ntsekele (Water Minister), Chalane Phori (Small Business Development, Cooperatives and Marketing), Lehlohonolo Moramotse (Police and Public Safety). They were last week hauled in for questioning by the police along with Mr Mphaka and the Police ministry’s principal secretary, Matela Thabane, for allegedly orchestrating an elaborate plan to get rid of Commissioner Molibeli and have him murdered in the process.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Paseka Mokete this week confirmed that the quintet was called in for questioning last week. He however, refused to say whether or not they would press charges against them.
The Lesotho Times’ sister Sunday Express newspaper reported last week that Mr Thabane allegedly ordered army commander, Lieutenant General Mojalefa Letsoela, and his troops to arrest Commissioner Molibeli and two of his close subordinates, DCP Mokete and Assistant Commissioner (ACP) Beleme Lebajoa.
The three were supposed to have been put in army custody during the Saturday 18 April 2020 deployment and put on trial for attempting to oust Mr Thabane’s government. Lesotho became awash with rumours that the trio had been arrested in pre-dawn raids of their homes on Saturday. Dr Thabane had made a televised address the same day urging the army to deal severely with all those he claimed were destabilising his government. The premier had earlier attempted to suspend Commissioner Molibeli but was overruled by the courts.
The elaborate plan to get rid of Commissioner Molibeli failed due to Lt-Gen Letsoela defied an order to arrest the top police officers.
Commissioner Molibeli last week told the Lesotho Times that those who planned his arrest had hoped that he would resist and therefore give them an excuse to kill him. It could then be claimed he was killed while resisting arrest.
“The plan was to kidnap me. They had hoped that I would resist the kidnapping and be killed in the process. They are going to come after me again and so I have rushed to court to ask for protection. Other than asking the court to protect me, I have no intention of using any kind of force to protect myself,” he said.
While he did not mention the names of those who had planned his kidnapping, arrest and possible murder, the police subsequently quizzed Messrs Ntsekele, Moramotse, Phori, Mphaka and Thabane in connection with the plot against the top police officers.
Without giving details, DCP Mokete confirmed that the quintet was interrogated by the police last week.
“Yes, I can confirm that the Government Secretary (Mphaka), Ntate Ntsekele, Ntate Phori, the PS Police (Matela Thabane) and Ntate Moramotse were interviewed by the police but I cannot go into the details,” DCP Mokete said in a brief interview with this publication this week.
On his part, Mr Moramotse said “It is not true that I was called in for questioning”.
However, Mr Ntsekele, who is widely seen as Mr Thabane’s blue-eyed boy, confirmed that he was called by the police for questioning last week.
“Yes, I was called in for questioning but I do not want to go into the details. I can only tell you that they (police) said there were allegations that I was one of the people who took part (in the 18 April events),” Mr Ntsekele said this week.
Efforts to obtain comments from Messrs Mphaka, Phori and Thabane were unsuccessful as their mobile phones rang unanswered.
Of late, Commissioner Molibeli has become a thorn in the side of Mr Thabane and his allies. The top cop has implicated the premier and his wife, First Lady ‘Maesaiah Thabane, in the 14 June 2017 murder of his ex-wife, Lipolelo Thabane.
Messrs Ntsekele and Phori are some of the top government officials who have quizzed in connection with Lipolelo’s murder but they have not been charged.
‘Maesaiah is out on M1000 bail after being charged with murder on 5 February 2020. Mr Thabane has a pending Constitutional Court application to stop the courts from trying him for the murder and any other crime while he is still in office. He is said to have told the South African special envoy, Jeff Radebe, that he will only step down if he and his allies are granted immunity from prosecution.
However, his own All Basotho Convention (ABC) party is largely opposed to granting him immunity from prosecution.
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