’Marafaele Mohloboli
OPPOSITION leaders, Mathibeli Mokhothu and Selibe Mochoboroane, have called on Police Commissioner, Holomo Molibeli, to expedite the investigations into the murder of Prime Minister Thomas Thabane’s former wife, Lipolelo Thabane and bring the culprits to book.
Messrs Mokhothu and Mochoboroane lead the Democratic Congress (DC) and Movement for Economic Change (MEC) respectively. They made the call in the wake of the leaking of a recorded audio message in which Dr Thabane’s daughter, ’Mabatšoeneng Hlaele, accuses the First Lady of having a hand in the June 2017 killing of Ms Lipolelo Thabane.
Adv Hlaele also claimed she had seen the police docket on the case.
Commenting on Adv Hlaele’s explosive claims, Mr Mokhothu said, “It would only be fair for Commissioner Molibeli to act on this matter because the world has always wanted to know who killed Ms Lipolelo Thabane, just two days before her husband was inaugurated as Prime Minister in 2017”.
“This is a very sad revelation in a democratic dispensation. This is a sad story which shows the fragility of the justice system in Lesotho. It shows that we still have a long way to go in ensuring that justice is served. But we expect to see something being done and those involved being brought to account. With all that has been said in the clip, it also means that the daughter (Adv Hlaele) becomes a witness.
“We really hope to see Mr Molibeli take action even against the police who exposed the contents of the file to the Prime Minister’s daughter (Adv Hlaele) because they are confidential. Failure to act will only mean that he (Commissioner Molibeli) has failed to execute his mandate. We shall just have to wait and see what he does because we don’t know what part he could have played in the whole issue,” said Mr Mokhothu.
On his part, Mr Selibe Mochoboroane said, “’M’e Lipolelo’s death has always raised questions as to why nothing is being done about it but everything has its time, this is a time for revelations”.
“The revelations made by Ntate Thabane’s daughter are a breakthrough which will help us know what really transpired on that fateful day. These things had to be revealed and this shows that the truth cannot be hidden even if one tries to.
“We would be an irresponsible nation who don’t respect themselves if we did not do anything about this (Lipolelo’s) death.
“We hope this (murder) case will be expedited and as parliament we are going to see to it that something is done in this regard. We want to give him (Commissioner Molibeli) the benefit of the doubt that he probably didn’t know anything before this recording. But now that this has come out in the open, all eyes are on the Police Commissioner to see what he is going to do about it.
“We are going to hold him accountable if he chooses not to do anything about this case. We now have the first witness (Adv Hlaele) and all the other issues that were mentioned in the audio clip are a story for another day.”
Meanwhile, Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) leader, Mothetjoa Metsing, said he would reserve his comment until after he had listened to the audio clip.
“I have only heard that there is a clip that has since gone viral but I have not had the chance to listen to it. Please allow me to reserve my comments until I have listened to it myself,” Mr Metsing said yesterday.