Africa-Press – Lesotho. IT has now been over a year since Kopano Makutoane, a student at the National University of Lesotho (NUL), was gunned down by the Roma police during violent protests over funding.
Makutoane’s brother, Ntšeke Makutoane, told thepost yesterday that the police have not communicated anything to the family concerning the development of the case.
“The last time I went to the police, earlier this year, I was told that the investigating officer had our telephone numbers and he would call us regarding the developments around the case,” Ntšeke said.
“They refused to give us his number. Until today we are still waiting as a family. ” Makutoane was shot and killed on June 16 last year.
The police told thepost last year that they had suspended officers who were involved in the killing. They however refused to name the suspects. Speaking during Makutoane’s burial last year, Ntšeke demanded justice for his brother.
Ntšeke said it was hard for them as a family to come to terms with the killing of their brother and son. “We will heal with the help and consolation from the nation. However, we will forgive but not forget about this killing,” he said.
The Makutoane family opened a murder case against the Roma police with the hope that there would be speedy justice but they are still waiting for those who killed their son to be charged in the courts.
The family did not specify who of the 12 police officers who were involved in crushing the riot at the NUL fired the bullet that killed the 27-year-old man.
“The family lawyers have opened a murder case at the Roma police station,” Makutoane’s father, Lazarus Makutoane, who is now late, told thepost.
Lazarus died in February this year. The police confirmed they had suspended seven of the 12 officers pending investigations. Pressure has been piling on the police to charge the killers.
Six months ago the Ombudsman, Advocate Tlotliso Polaki, said Police Commissioner Holomo Molibeli should investigate his officers for killing Makutoane.
In a scathing report, the Ombudsman also recommended that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Advocate Hlalefang Motinyane, should prosecute the suspects.
He gave the police a three-month deadline. The NUL’s Students Representative Council (SRC) lodged a complaint with the Ombudsman’s Office following Makutoane’s death.
“The police should investigate and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) should prosecute the officers who committed the killing, the 7 assaults and or attempted murders of 16 June 2022,” the report reads.
It says the DPP should investigate whether or not the officers used excessive force and exceeded the bounds of self-defence. He said the police should have proper resources in terms of tools of the trade to enable them to sufficiently and efficiently undertake their mandate and serve the public expeditiously.
Police spokesperson Inspector ’Mareabetsoe Mofoka told thepost yesterday that as far as she knows ‘‘all the police officers who were in that operation were suspended’’.
Last month, Health Minister Selibe Mochoboroane, on behalf of Police Minister Lebona Lephema, told parliament that at least 45 people had died at the hands of police for the past five years.
Mochoboroane was responding to the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) MP Tšeliso Mokhosi’s questions on the number of people who had died at the hands of the police.
Mokhosi, himself a victim of police brutality, also demanded that the government should reveal the measures that had been taken against police officers involved in the loss of lives.
Mochoboroane said the police officers accused of misconduct would be disciplined internally. “Some have been suspended from duty while investigations are still undergoing,” Mochoboroane said. But Mochoboroane did not mention the names of police officers who were suspended from duty and the cases they were investigated against.
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