Africa-Press – Lesotho. THE Basotho National Party (BNP) leader Machesetsa Mofomobe is demanding M5 million from the government for defamation. Mofomobe’s lawyers at Hudssons Chambers, sent the letter of demand to the Attorney General, Advocate Rapelang Motsieloa, on Tuesday.
Mofomobe says the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Limpho Tau, and the National Security Service (NSS) boss Pheello Ralenkoane damaged his reputation when they alleged that he was involved in the murder of journalist Ralikonelo Joki and money laundering.
Ralenkoane made the allegation when he was requested by Prime Minister Sam Matekane to issue a warrant for the NSS to seize Mofomobe’s phones. The warrant was signed by Tau on the prime minister’s behalf.
Ralenkoane repeated the same allegation in his answering affidavit after Mofomobe sued to block the NSS from confiscating his phone. Mofomobe’s demand came on the same day that the High Court ruled in his favour.
The court ruled that the NSS had no right to seize Mofomobe’s phone because the warrant was not valid. The police have also arrested three suspects accused of Joki’s murder, further exonerating Mofomobe of the killing. The police suspect Joki’s killing to be connected to the initiation school feud he had with one of the arrested suspects.
Mofomobe’s letter said Ralenkoane’s memo triggered the “executive warrant which Minister Tau signed purporting to be the Minister of Defence for political manipulation of supporting the view that (Mofomobe) was involved in money laundering and murder of Joki”.
“This nonsensical utterance that our client is a murderer was given some legitimacy by Minister Limpho Tau whose conduct in signing the executive warrant had been found illegal by the high court,” the letter of demand reads.
The lawyers said the memo was “replete with irresponsible illusions of the Director General which he conveyed to the Prime Minister as ‘credible’ information that our client is a murderer and is involved in money laundering”.
They said the High Court found that Tau had “no jurisdictional facts to usurp the functions of the Prime Minister and signed for defamatory statements which could not have been justified”.
“This would be a particularly difficult decision to make where the situation arose shortly following the gruesome murder of Joki but Tau believed that (Mofomobe) killed Joki”.
They claimed that Tau “deliberately and recklessly sheltered behind horse trading, stratagem, cloak and dagger approach of Director-General – NSS to scandalise our client”.
The lawyers also accused Ralenkoane of being an “NSS director-general who is instrumental in causing the Minister of Defence to breach the law for so long as that advances the campaign of defaming our client (Mofomobe)”.
“The offensive statement of DG–NSS interfered with the peace of the kingdom and compromised the integrity of our client in relation to the controversy surrounding the murder of Joki.
” The lawyers said Mofomobe continued to suffer humiliation in the media.
Mofomobe has also demanded that Tšenolo FM current affairs anchor, Abiel Sebolai, retracts some statements he made on air last month. Sebolai insinuated that Mofomobe was involved in Joki’s murder.
The letter, directed to the station boss, Mohau Kobile, says Sebolai “committed a serious blunder of misprediction (sic) in implicating our client in the murder of late Ralikonelo Joki”.
Mofomobe wants the retraction within seven days or else he threatens to go to court demanding monetary compensation “to account for the irresponsible conduct of falsely attacking” his integrity.
“You will know the amount of damages then,” the letter reads.
“This must not be taken to inhibit freedom of expression but we only point out that there are limitations to the freedom of the media.”
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