On June 22 Thakalekoala had read out a letter on air which sought to persuade the Commissioner of Police to arrest the Prime Minister, his entire Cabinet and Principal Secretaries for a series of accusations of corruption purported to have been done by the ruling elite in the country. He had been given the letter by some members of the Lesotho Defence Force. The journalist told colleagues who went to visit him in police cells on June 24 that he would not eat nor drink until he was either released or his case brought to court as soon as possible. He had earlier on Friday told colleagues that he feared for his life in police cells. The media fraternity in Lesotho is full of trepidation over the charge of treason, saying it was overkill. Thabo Motlamelle, deputy chairperson of MISA Lesotho, said even the way the charge was proffered was devious, as the police had picked up Thakalekoala on Friday morning and only charged him in the evening when they knew no court would be open to entertain the hearing. “I do not think the government is serious about this charge because they cannot prove it. They have only proffered it so they can keep Thakalekoala out of circulation for some time and at a later stage, say, a few months down the line when they realise they cannot prosecute it successfully, they will withdraw the charge and release him,” he said. Even the Chief Information Officer in Cabinet Office, Ms Nthabeleng Sefako agrees. She is reported to have admitted that a charge of treason was too high for what the government may be complaining of. She said though in recent times Thakalekoala had been out and out criticizing government “and he was irresponsible in his reporting”, a charge of treason was misplaced. The charge has incensed locals. One man interviewed in the street said what the government was doing clearly indicted that those in power had gone quite mad. “There’s an old saying that: ‘those the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad’ and this is clearly what is happening to the leadership of this country,” the man said. BACKGROUND The Lesotho government elite has in the past sold themselves government luxury vehicles for paltry sums of Rand4500 (approximately US$ 633) for a Mercedez Benz E280 Executive sedan for cabinet minister and judges of the High Court, and Rand 2500 (approximately US$352)for a Toyota Camry vvti top of the range for Principal Secretaries and heads of commissions. They also recently raided the public purse by giving themselves interest free loans of up to Rand 650 000-00 per person for cabinet ministers and members of parliament in a country where some 400 000 people in a country with a population of 2,4 million are expected to go hungry in the coming year. Opposition parties are up in arms claiming the recent snap elections that returned the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy were rigged in favour of the ruling party and that the allocation of seats under the new Mixed Member Proportional system of elections was gerrymandered in favour of the ruling party and its unholy alliance with a smaller party’s deputy leader against the wishes of the leader of that party. Presently the government is broiled a court case where they are sued by the owner of the very Harvest FM, a Reverend Pholoana Adam Lekhoaba over his alleged illegal deportation on the pretext that he was a South African in the face of evidence that he was born in Lesotho and only migrated to South Africa with his parents when they went there to seek better employment opportunities, a practice of most Basotho people including the Prime Minister who had lectured in no less than two South African universities. MISA Lesotho is currently meeting with Thakalekoala’s family to discuss possible ways to support for the beleaguered journalist. ENDS
Thakalekoala is to be charged with treason on Monday, June 25, after police picked him up on June 22 outside Harvest FM radio station, the station on which he conducts an early morning talk show called ‘Rise and Shine’.