Africa-Press – Lesotho. ARMY commander Lieutenant General Mojalefa Letsoela has flatly denied that his soldiers killed Mohajane Mohajane in Matelile, Mafeteng, during an operation to crack down on crime on April 19 this year.
Mohajane was gunned down on April 9. His family has now sued the army claiming M1 million in compensation. It has also demanded that the army reveal who shot their son.
In papers filed in court this week in response to the matter, Lt Gen Letsoela denied that his soldiers killed Mohajane in an operation code-named Restore Hope.
This was a joint operation conducted by the army, the police and the National Security Service (NSS) to fight crime. The family wants the names of the suspects in the killing so that they can be prosecuted.
But the army commander strongly denied that his soldiers caused the death of the man. Lt Gen Letsoela argued the claim by the family that the soldiers killed Mohajane is wrong because the medical report clearly indicated that he died of trauma.
“The report is not accompanied by an affidavit of any doctor of the real cause of death,” Lt Gen Letsoela said.
Based on this submission, Lt Gen Letsoela pleaded with the court to dismiss the family’s case with costs on a higher scale of attorney and client scale.
Lt Gen Letsoela told the court that the Mohajane family and their lawyer are “not qualified to deliver any opinion on the real cause of death on the face of the medical report in the absence of an affidavit by a qualified (medical) practitioner”.
The court further heard that the compensation paid by the LDF to the bereaved family was not an acknowledgment of any wrongdoing by the soldiers. “This was done out of sympathy following a special request from the deceased family begging the LDF Command to assist with provision of burial expenses,” Lt Gen Letsoela said.
The LDF paid M10 000 to the family after the request, he said. Lt Gen Letsoela said the family said did not have anything to bury their son and the army chipped in.
The army boss also denied that his deputy, Major General Matela Matobakele, promised to assist with investigations and bring the perpetrators to court.
He informed the court that his deputy would not promise the family to assist with investigations and bring perpetrators to justice in light of the provisions of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Operation Restore Hope.
He said Maj Gen Matobakele knew very well the procedure as clearly outlined in the MoU which should be taken when there is an alleged crime committed under such operations. Lt Gen Letsoela said his soldiers were in Matelile on April 19 this year but denied that they killed Mohajane.
These soldiers were in that place in light of an operation launched by the then Prime Minister Dr Moeketsi Majoro which mandated the three sister security institutions, the LDF, Police and the
National Security Service (NSS) to bring the situation in Lesotho to normalcy. Lt Gen Letsoela said there is no finding or any indication whatsoever that his soldiers committed the crime.
He further denied that there was any soldier whom the Mohajane family alleges to have reported at the Matelile Police Station for the killing of Mohajane.
“We must inform this court that the soldiers conducted an authorised operation where Mohajane lost his life,” Lt Gen Letsoela said in the court papers.
Lt Gen Letsoela said the cause of death is still under investigation. He said it is noted that the docket was opened for investigations at the Matelile police station under case number RCI: 24/04/22.
Meanwhile, Maj Gen Matobakela also filed his answering affidavit that corresponds to that of his boss. He said he paid a visit to the village of the Mohajanes but never made any promise to assist the police in their investigations.
He told the court that he knew of the operation and its contents as far as what measures were expected to be taken when a member deployed under Operation Restore Hope has committed a crime.
Commissioner of Police, Holomo Molibeli, said the duty to investigate criminal cases lies solely with the police in terms of the law and not the applicant, Khoathane Mohajane.
For this reason, the Mohajanes have no authority to demand Lt Gen Letsoela to be compelled by the court to disclose the names of his officers investigating the case.
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