Ntsebeng Motsoeli
MASERU — The late principal secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security Mohale Sekoto could have been murdered, the Sunday Express heard on Friday.
Sekoto’s lifeless body was found in a toilet at his offices on the morning of June 8 with a gunshot wound amid speculation that he could have committed suicide.
Police found a 9mm gun and a bullet shell next to his body.
He was buried last week at his home in Maseru.
But in a new twist to the case the police last week also revealed that Sekoto had a gunshot wound at the back of his head suggesting that he had been shot.
The late principal secretary was supposed to reappear before parliament’s public accounts committee to answer charges of misappropriating funds in the ministry.
A source in the ministry said on Thursday that Sekoto had confided in some close friends that he was prepared to name and shame officers who had looted funds meant for farming projects.
The source said there was a strong probability that some of these people had eliminated Sekoto to silence him.
The officer said even the police had hinted that Sekoto could have been murdered. “Police questioned almost everyone in the office. They think that someone killed Ntate Sekoto and made it appear like he killed himself by leaving a gun next to his body,” she said.
“We have also heard that he had confided in some people that he was prepared to expose some officers who had looted funds meant for farming projects.”
Police spokesperson Masupha Masupha told the Sunday Express on Monday that investigations into Sekoto’s death were at an advanced stage.
“He had one wound on the back of his head,” Masupha said, without elaborating.
He said more information surrounding the death will be presented in court as evidence.
A police officer who refused to reveal his name said what makes Sekoto’s death look like a murder was the position of the gunshot wound.
“It does not look like a suicide.”
“The bullet came from the back of the head and exited through his mouth. That angle is too straight for someone who committed suicide. It looks like a well-planned execution,” the officer said.
According to forensic investigators, it is difficult, if not possible, for a
victim to shoot oneself in the back
of the head.
“People rarely shoot themselves in the eye or abdomen.
“It is also virtually impossible to shoot oneself in the back,” says an article on the World of Forensic Science website.
“Wounds are most common on the head, but in a significant number of cases, they are on the side of the head opposite that of the dominant hand,” said Forensic Pathology of Firearm Wounds, another website.