Mohloai Mpesi 

ACTING Commissioner of Police, Mahlape Morai, says she is concerned that residents of Fobane, in Leribe, where six people were callously murdered a month ago, remain traumatised and continue to live in fear. 

The murders sent shockwaves across the country as the crime rate in the country continues to spiral.   

True to her compassionate nature and thirst to rebuild relations of trust between the public and the police service, Dr Morai recently took a tour of Fobane, where an entire family of five was wiped out in the cold-blood, killings attributed to blanketed famo gangs. 

Dr Morai told the Sunday Express on Friday, residents of the region comprising an estimated 68 villages, remained traumatised by the murders, keeping themselves hidden indoors. 

According to Dr Morai Fobane residents now hated the sound of vehicles. They greeted visitors through their windows, lest they open their doors to murderers. 

They also refused to welcome police officers in plain clothes. As such, Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS) officers had resorted to calling out through loudspeakers mounted on their vehicles to announce their presence. 

In a quest to curb rampant killings, Prime Minister Sam Matekane’s government, last week gazetted new regulations in terms of the Internal Security (Declaration of Unlawful Organisations) Act, outlawing the murderous gangs. 

Dr Morai said the Fobane community was utterly traumatised, only surviving by the grace of God. 

The situation was made worse by the fact that the Fobane community does not have its own police station, let alone a post. Residents are therefore forced to seek police services either in Maputsoe or Peka, both in Leribe district. 

“The community there is living in fear, they neither want to hear cars moving nor see any visitor. They talk with visitors through their windows. Even if it’s a police officer, as long as they are not in uniform, they will not talk to them. They fear for their lives,” Dr Morai said. 

“What we want to do, is calm and possibly dissolve their fears, instilled by the horrendous crime that has taken root in their locale. It is worrisome to the police when the community lives in such fear. That’s a big risk even to us as the police officers. 

“When we go there, we have to go there in marked police vehicles that have loudspeakers mounted, so that people are convinced that it is really the police. If not, no one will open a door for you in Fobane right now.” 

She said there was need to establish at least a police post there. 

“These people live by the grace of God if there is no police station or police post. I realised that even if we don’t erect a police station right now, perhaps there should be a police post in that place to address these issues,” Dr Morai said. 

“That place is in danger of murders and killings. Yesterday (Thursday), they told us that they don’t experience stock-theft at all. However, they are subjected to robberies and killings. I only promised them a police post (motebo-ntloana) while we are preparing to build a police station.” 

In the wake of the horrendous Fobane murders, Chief Tumo Lekhooa offered his own electrified building to the LMPS for use as a police post. Chief Lekhooa believes that a police post in the area would ensure the presence and visibility of law enforcement.  

The LMPS would use Chief Lekhooa building while the police service cobbled up a budget to build a fully functional station there. 

“Yes, we are going to use Chief Lekhooa’s building as a police post. But the challenge is that policing needs a lot of things like furniture, chairs, heaters etc.. There also are other issues requiring finances. We do not have a budget now because we did not anticipate establishment of a police station in Fobane at this time. That needs to be budgeted for,” Dr Morai said. 

“So, after we have accumulated enough funds for that, then we can start building a police station. It will be done when our purse allows. We are going to appoint police officers that will go to that place. We have police officers who are ready to go and police that area.” 

Dr Morai said they responded to security matters based on the needs of a specific area. She said the security needs of a community in Mafeteng differed from those of one in Maseru for instance. 

She said Fobane was one of the crime hotspots that they had decided to visit regularly, due to skyrocketing murder rates, in terms of a strategic work plan that was devised in February after she was appointed as Acting Commissioner of Police.  

“At the beginning of the year, Leribe and Berea were the highest in terms of murder statistics. We picked those two districts, to study their problems and strategize on how to mitigate the murder rate,” Dr Morai said. 

“We identified hotspot areas, villages that are more in danger than others. All this strategic planning happened in February when I was appointed as the Acting Commissioner of Police. Fobane was still part of the plan, although it was not on top of the list. But due to the killings that happened there recently, we had to wait (from visiting) until the deceased had been buried.” 

They had now visited the place to console the community and assure residents that the police cared for their security. 

“Many places in Lesotho are not policed, in the sense that police stations are very far. Fobane is a very big area, and I got a report that there are 68 communities there. They get police services in Maputsoe or Peka and those are far flung places,” she said. 

“We want to know the exact population of people living there….This is so that we don’t assign few people or too many people.” 

On Friday morning in the National Assembly, main opposition Democratic Congress (DC) proportional representation (PR) legislator, ‘Mabafokeng Mpobole, asked police minister, Lebona Lephema, if he was aware that Chief Lekhooa had offered his house as a police post, for the sake of police presence and visibility in Fobane. 

In response, Mr Lephema had admitted to not being aware of the development. He however said the police would gladly welcome any assistance geared towards fighting crime. 

“My ministry was not aware of this good initiative made by the area chief…..That initiative will be accepted by the ministry since the intention is to curb killings that are now rampant throughout the country,” Mr Lephema said. 

“The police will establish how many officers will be deployed there as well as other resources needed to help them execute their job well.”