…pursues fresh corruption charge as top cops’ fight rages on
Moorosi Tsiane
COMMISSIONER of Police, Advocate Borotho Matsoso, has renewed his bid to oust one of his deputies, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Paseka Mokete, with fresh revelations that he is now allegedly seeking to persuade prosecution to charge him with corruption.
According to a well-placed source within the police service, Adv Matsoso on Friday tried to persuade Acting Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Lehlanako Mofilikoane, to issue a directive to arrest and charge DCP Mokete.
“On Friday, they were still trying to get a directive from the DPP’s office to charge him (Mokete), and I do not know if they managed to get it. But if they did, very soon we will see him being arrested and charged,” the source said.
The corruption allegations stem from an incident earlier this year at the Maputsoe Border Post in which DCP Mokete allegedly instructed police officers on duty to release a truck that had been impounded for failing to declare a consignment of cigarettes.
“What happened is that sometime this year — I can’t recall the exact dates — there was an incident at the Maputsoe Border Gate where a truck full of cigarettes was impounded by the police because it had not been declared and cleared with customs officers,” the source said.
“The truck driver was instructed to go back and declare the cigarettes with customs, and he did so. However, while crossing for the second time, the truck was stopped by police and impounded again. Apparently, the truck owner then called DCP Mokete, as he is the head of CID, to inform him about the situation.
“DCP Mokete immediately contacted the officer heading CID in Maputsoe for clarification. After being briefed on the situation, he instructed that the truck be released to its owner. Now, the Police Commissioner, who is fighting Mokete, wants to use that against him,” the source claimed.
The source further alleged that investigators were under pressure to build a case.
“The police who were investigating the matter were told to make sure they find something — or else they too would face the music.”
Adv Matsoso earlier this week told this reporter that all questions to do with the police should be strictly addressed to the police spokesperson, Senior Superintendent Mpiti Mopeli.
When contacted for comment, Senior Superintendent Mopeli said yesterday he was not aware of the case but promised to look into it and respond.
Thereafter, the Sunday Express called his number several times, but he did not pick our calls until we went to print last night.
On the other hand, DCP Mokete confirmed that he was aware of the investigations against him but declined to comment further, stating that he would respond in court.
“I am aware of such investigations, and I am ready to defend myself in the courts of law. For now, I am not going to comment on this issue any further,” said DCP Mokete.
Efforts to get a comment from Adv Mofilikoane were also unsuccessful, as her mobile phone rang unanswered.
This latest development comes barely three days after Adv Matsoso was reportedly “forced” to reinstate DCP Mokete as Head of the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) on Wednesday, 48 hours after he had suspended him on Monday morning.
Sources allege the suspension was a strategic move by Adv Matsoso to protect himself and his allies from possible prosecution. The decision to reverse the suspension was reportedly made on the orders of the Minister of Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs and Police, Lebona Lephema.
Tensions between the two top cops have reportedly been simmering for months.
The friction is said to have intensified after DCP Mokete’s appointment in April 2025 as Head of the CID by Minister Lephema — an appointment that allegedly did not sit well with Adv Matsoso.
The rift reportedly deepened after DCP Mokete submitted a report to the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO), implicating the Commissioner in the alleged diversion of M60,000 meant for police informants.
DCP Mokete is also said to have angered the Commissioner by pursuing investigations into high-profile figures, including former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Basotho National Party (BNP) leader Machesetsa Mofomobe, and the Director of Migration Mantšebo Motšoanakaba, for their alleged involvement in facilitating the illegal entry of refugees.
Further allegations suggest that Adv Matsoso is shielding corrupt officers within the Robbery and Car Theft Squad (RCTS), who are accused of accepting bribes in exchange for releasing impounded vehicles. He is also alleged to have clashed with DCP Mokete over illegally renewed firearm licences.
Adv Matsoso eventually suspended DCP Mokete on 13 October 2025, accusing him of insubordination.
The grounds for the suspension included Mokete’s alleged failure to execute an order to arrest popular youth activist Tšolo “Tjeka Tjeka” Thakeli and prevent him from attending Prime Minister Sam Matekane’s National Youth Employment Dialogue on 15 June 2025.
Tjekatjeka was arrested on 15 June 2025, a day after releasing a Facebook video that went viral in which he questioned Prime Minister Matekane’s pledge to create 62,000 jobs starting on 1 July 2025.
In the video, he dismissed the promise as unrealistic, arguing that the 2025/26 national budget had not made any provision for such a programme. He accused the Matekane administration of worsening youth unemployment, tolerating rampant corruption, and overseeing skyrocketing electricity costs — adding that the government had failed to deliver on its socio-economic promises.
He was, however, released on the same day after the Magistrates’ Court questioned the charges, pointing out that the indictment failed to specify where the alleged offence occurred. He was later formally charged and released on M600 bail by the Berea Magistrates’ Court on 19 June 2025.
Upon his initial release on 15 June, Tjekatjeka attended the youth summit at the Convention Centre, where he received a standing ovation from the youth attendees, which is believed to have infuriated Commissioner Matsoso and partly contributed to his decision to suspend DCP Mokete.