Mohale FM By: Moorosi Tsiane
THE trial of nine soldiers accused of murdering former Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) commander Lieutenant-General (Lt-Gen) Maaparankoe Mahao took an explosive turn this week after the prosecutor, Advocate (Adv) Lehlohonolo Phooko, bluntly alleged in court that the accused were rewarded with promotions for carrying out the killing.
Cross-examining Captain Litekanyo Nyakane — the first accused and the first defence witness — Adv Phooko put it to him that he was part of the team that killed Lt-Gen Mahao and that the soldiers were later compensated with promotions by the then army commander, Lt-Gen Tlali Kamoli.
Nyakane and Kamoli are standing trial for the 25 June 2015 murder of Lt-Gen Mahao, alongside seven other soldiers who formed part of the team that went to “arrest” him on that fateful day at Ha Lekete, Mokema, on the outskirts of Maseru.
Adv Phooko made the allegations during his cross-examination of Nyakane, insisting that the operation was never intended to be an arrest. He told the court that the team, led by the late Colonel Tefo Hashatsi, was sent on a mission to shoot and kill Lt-Gen Mahao, not to arrest him as the accused claim.
Nyakane refuted all the allegations.
