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Monday, February 24, 2020

LESOTHO PM IN SURPRISE COURT APPEARANCE OVER WIFE'S MURDER

Maseru, LESOTHO

Lesotho’s prime minister has made a surprise appearance in court to hear lawyers argue that his office granted him immunity from prosecution for murdering his estranged wife shortly before he took power.


Thomas Thabane, 80, was questioned by police about the shooting two days before his inauguration in 2017 and was due to be charged with murder last week.

However, the veteran politician did not attend the court hearing in Maseru, the capital of the small mountain kingdom, saying he had to travel to neighbouring South Africa for medical treatment.

Lipolelo Thabane, 58, was shot several times at close range as she sat in a car near her home. She had reportedly refused to divorce her husband and won a court battle to retain her privileges as first lady until any formal separation.

Thabane remarried two months after her death. His second wife, Maesaiah, 42, was charged with murder this month after briefly fleeing the country. Both deny any wrongdoing.

The Prime Minister’s spokesman, Thabo Thakalekoala, told the Guardian that the whole exercise of bringing Thabane to court was meant to embarrass him.

“The Prime Minister is protected by the constitution although he is not above the law. This whole exercise is just meant to embarrass him and nothing else,” said Thakalekoala.

Thabane sat in the public gallery with his second wife as his lawyer Qhalehand Letseka argued that the murder charge against a sitting Prime Minister raised a significant constitutional issue that needed to be resolved before charges could be read against his client.

The Magistrate, Phetise Motanyane, agreed to refer the case to a higher court.

Thabane has said he will resign at the end of July, and several members of his own All Basotho Convention (ABC) party have been pressuring him to go sooner to avert a political crisis.

Lesotho has a history of coups and political instability. Many fear a power vacuum unless the ABC can agree on a successor, and analysts expect a general election will have to be called soon.

The kingdom is one of the least developed countries in southern Africa. A recent survey by the World Bank found some improvement over a 15-year period but said nearly half of the 3 million residents lived in poverty.

Aid agencies have said more than 500,000 people face severe food shortages in the coming months following a protracted drought. In recent years Lesotho has tried to generate income through the cultivation of medical marijuana and tourism.

The case was brought back into the spotlight in January by a letter from Lesotho’s police chief, which claimed communication records showed that someone at the murder scene had called Thabane’s mobile phone on the day of the crime. The killing was initially blamed on unknown criminals.

Lesotho has one of the highest murder rates in the world. Investigators have since said they believe professional hitmen carried out the attack.Maesaiah Thabane, the new first lady, has been a controversial figure. 

Since the wedding, for which she was two hours late, she has been accused of interfering in political appointments, while a fund she set up to help reduce poverty has faced allegations of fraud and money laundering. – The Guardian

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