{"id":30734,"date":"2023-06-28T08:33:46","date_gmt":"2023-06-28T08:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/jokis-suspected-killers-linked-to-another-murder"},"modified":"2023-06-28T08:54:01","modified_gmt":"2023-06-28T08:54:01","slug":"jokis-suspected-killers-linked-to-another-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/jokis-suspected-killers-linked-to-another-murder","title":{"rendered":"Joki\u2019s suspected killers linked to another murder"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>Although details still remain sketchy, police believe that the four suspects arrested this week for the murder of popular radio presenter, Ralikonelo Joki are also responsible for killing an official of the National Assembly, Mothibe Mothibe, who was gunned down execution-style in Mokema, on the outskirts of Maseru, on May 20.<\/p>\n

Mothibe was travelling in his vehicle in the company of a female companion, Thomello Ntsane, when their assailants pounced on them. Ntsane also perished from several gunshot wounds in the attack.<\/p>\n

While it still remains unclear why Mothibe, an academic, was killed police suspect the hit was related to the unrelenting famo music wars that has since claimed scores of victims both in Lesotho and South Africa in the past 30 years or so.<\/p>\n

The four suspects who are in police custody are believed to be the hired guns who allegedly shot dead Joki, better known as Leqhashasha, on the night of May 15 after his radio show at Ts\u030cenolo FM.<\/p>\n

The suspects include Sootho Liphoto, 35, of Mokema, Koro-Koro, Maseru; Mothuthusi \u201cSetsetse\u201d Tlelase, 31, also from Mokema; and Kamo Phakoe, 31, of Jordane, Ha Rapokolana, Maseru. The fourth unnamed suspect who did not appear in the police wanted alert is believed to be an instructor at a local initiation school.<\/p>\n

The quartet\u2019s arrest follows the Commissioner of Police Holomo Molibeli\u2019s pronouncement during last Friday\u2019s passing out parade of police recruits at the Police Training College (PTC) that they knew the identity of Joki\u2019s killers, adding that a manhunt for them was underway.<\/p>\n

Over the past years, a number of local journalists have either been shot or intimidated, with some fleeing the country over their reports. The former editor of Lesotho Times, Lloyd Mutungamiri, was shot and injured in July 2016 over an article he published about the then commander of the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF), Lieutenant General Tlali Kamoli.<\/p>\n

Four soldiers who face charges of the attempted murder of the Zimbabwe-born editor in the Maseru Magistrate\u2019s Court await their trial in remand prison. Lesotho imposed a nighttime curfew after Joki\u2019s assassination, restricting movement between 10 p. m. and 4 a. m.<\/p>\n

The Minister of Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs, and Police, Lebona Lephema, announced after the reporter\u2019s killing that the curfew was meant to ensure and restore order amid escalating criminal activities in the country.<\/p>\n

According to a police spokesperson, Senior Superintendent Mpiti Mopeli, the four suspects in police custody were arrested at the Maseru Border Post as they entered the country from South Africa, where they had been in hiding.<\/p>\n

The arrest, Mopeli said, was made in the early hours of Wednesday morning after police were tipped off that the suspects would be returning to Lesotho.<\/p>\n

He could, however, not be drawn to divulge more details about the arrest except to state that they have the right people in their custody. \u201cPolice are currently interrogating the suspects and pursuing other avenues of investigation.<\/p>\n

But at this moment, we cannot say whether or not more arrests are expected. \u201cMore arrests could only be determined by the direction our investigations will lead us from here,\u201d he said. Mopeli had earlier announced that Tlelase and Sootho, along with an unidentified driver of a getaway vehicle, were also wanted for Mothibe\u2019s murder.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the director general of the National Security Service (NSS), Pheello Ralenkoane, had taken a swipe at the leader of the Basotho National Party (BNP), Machesetsa Mofomobe, and the Democratic Congress (DC) youth leader, Moeketsi Shale, accusing them of being behind Joki\u2019s murder.<\/p>\n

Ralenkoane, thereafter tried to seize the two leaders\u2019 mobile phones, claiming these would help in his investigations. While Shale surrendered his phone to the NSS, Mofomobe contested the move saying, among others, the secret service had no business investigating criminal acts.<\/p>\n

In support of his move, Ralenkoane filed an application in court to justify the seizure, but the court later declared his stand unlawful. Mofomobe has in retaliation taken Ralenkoane to court on charges of defamation, and is demanding M5 million for defamation.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. Although details still remain sketchy, police believe that the four suspects arrested this week for the murder of popular radio presenter, Ralikonelo Joki are also responsible for killing an official of the National Assembly, Mothibe Mothibe, who was gunned down execution-style in Mokema, on the outskirts of Maseru, on May 20. Mothibe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":30733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,7],"tags":[233,246,245,747],"class_list":["post-30734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-head-lines","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-lesotho","tag-police"],"yoast_head":"\nJoki\u2019s suspected killers linked to another murder - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Although details still remain sketchy, police believe that the four suspects arrested this week for the murder of popula ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/jokis-suspected-killers-linked-to-another-murder\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Joki\u2019s suspected killers linked to another murder\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Although details still remain sketchy, police believe that the four suspects arrested this week for the murder of popula ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/jokis-suspected-killers-linked-to-another-murder\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-06-28T08:33:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-28T08:54:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/06\/sm_1687926142.49935.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/jokis-suspected-killers-linked-to-another-murder#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/jokis-suspected-killers-linked-to-another-murder\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Joki\u2019s suspected killers linked to another murder\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-28T08:33:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-28T08:54:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/jokis-suspected-killers-linked-to-another-murder\"},\"wordCount\":688,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/jokis-suspected-killers-linked-to-another-murder#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/06\/sm_1687926142.49935.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"Lesotho\",\"police\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\",\"head lines\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/jokis-suspected-killers-linked-to-another-murder#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/jokis-suspected-killers-linked-to-another-murder\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/jokis-suspected-killers-linked-to-another-murder\",\"name\":\"Joki\u2019s suspected killers linked to another murder - 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