Africa-Press – Lesotho. A parliamentary committee is set to grill the National Security Service (NSS) boss, Pheello Ralenkoane, after his damaging legal battle with Machesetsa Mofomobe. Ralenkoane will appear before the Prime Minister’s Ministries and Departments, Governance, Foreign Relations and Information committee next Monday.
thepost has been told that the committee is concerned that Ralenkoane could have overstepped his authority and brought the NSS into disrepute when he advised Prime Minister Sam Matekane to issue a warrant to confiscate Mofomobe’s phone in May.
The committee also wants to hear his position on the scathing judgement issued by the Constitutional Court after Mofomobe refused to hand over the phones and challenged the warrant.
Ralenkoane was granted the warrant on allegations that Mofomobe was sharing classified information with an NSS officer, and that he was a suspect in the murder of radio journalist Ralikonelo Joki and was involved in money laundering.
The warrant was signed by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Limpho Tau, on the prime minister’s behalf. The constitutional court ruled that the NSS had no right to confiscate Machesetsa’s phones.
The court also declared that section of the law that the NSS had used to try to impound the phones unconstitutional. The damning judgement further said the NSS had no business investigating murder and money laundering.
The judges also chastised Ralenkoane for giving incomplete information to Matekane when he applied for the warrant. The police have since arrested four men suspected of Joki’s murder.
Rethabile Letlailana, the committee chairman, confirmed that Ralenkoane had been summoned. “We have decided to call the National Security Services director Pheello Ralenkoane for discussions on Monday at the National Assembly,” Letlailana said.
“We want to talk to him about his responsibilities as a director because we suspect that some of the work he is doing does not fall under his territory.
” He said “the court judgement is clear that the NSS was not supposed to have been hands-on in the first place”.
“All the government ministries and departments must be fully aware of their responsibilities so that they do not cross the lines,” he said.
“We will then make recommendations and inputs after the deliberations. We want to hear his side of the story first. ” Mofomobe is part of the 24-member committee but will recuse himself from the session because he is involved in the matter.
There is however a possibility that the committee might want to ask him about some of the allegations he made against Ralenkoane in his affidavit. For instance, he painted Ralenkoane as incompetent and alleged that he was using his position as NSS boss to fight their power battles in the Basotho National Party (BNP).
Ralenkoane is a BNP member. He previously contested for the Kolo constituency under the BNP and lost. Mofomobe also alleged that Ralenkoane hired two intelligence officers who are his girlfriends. thepost called Ralenkoane several times last night but he could not be reached for a comment.
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