Bongiwe Zihlangu/‘Marafaele Mohloboli
THE long-drawn fight between Police Commissioner (Compol), Holomo Molibeli and one of his deputies, Beleme Lebajoa has now spilled into the public domain after the latter sought court protection against his boss.
Impeccable sources who spoke to the Lesotho Times said Compol Molibeli and DCP Lebajoa had been at odds for over two years now, with the former going out of his way to disconcert and victimise his subordinate “at every turn”.
According to the sources, it was not surprising that DPC Lebajoa approached the courts to block his boss from evicting him from the Criminal Investigation Unit (CID) office which he heads.
Compol Molibeli also reportedly removed DPC Lebajoa’s security and deprived him of his official vehicle.
The revelations come after DCP Lebajoa approached the High Court a fortnight ago seeking to bar Commissioner Molibeli from ejecting him from his office and depriving him of his two official bodyguards and vehicle.
DCP Lebajoa was compelled to seek legal recourse after Commissioner Molibeli on 23 February 2023 instructed him to vacate his CID office and let it be occupied by another DCP who is alleged to be a close friend and confidante (name withheld) of the police chief.
An independent investigation by the Sunday Express has revealed that Commissioner Molibeli and DCP Lebajoa have not had the best of relations “for a couple of years now”.
Sources informed us that Commissioner Molibeli disapproved of DCP Lebajoa’s appointment to the CID on 6 July 2021 by the then Minister of Police and Safety, Lepota Sekola.
“Molibeli is deliberately tampering with the CID to cause Lebajoa to fail because he has always been against his appointment to this post,” one of the sources said.
Before DCP Lebajoa was appointed, Compol Molibeli already had a candidate that he had groomed for the office to replace former CID head, Ntate Moseme, who was deployed to China on secondment.
“Commissioner Molibeli had already recommended one Ntsane to take over as CID head. Then out of nowhere DCP Lebajoa was appointed to the post by the police authority, being the minister (former police minister Sekola),” the source alleged.
“After Lebajoa, who was Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP-CID) was told that he was appointed DCP responsible for CID, Commissioner Molibeli seemed to resist the promotion for a while, even delaying deliberately to allocate him an office.”
The source further said it took Commissioner Molibeli three weeks to give DCP Lebajoa an office and “to us senior police staff, it was evident that he was opposed to the promotion but could not contest it”.
“He (Molibeli) was never happy but always made it appear as though he had recommended him (Lebajoa) knowing well that that was not the case. Again, Lebajoa did not have bodyguards for a long time and we were all shocked. It did not make sense because it is a well-known fact that DCPs are VIPs of the police community. But it later became apparent that the poor man was being punished by the commissioner.”
But the weirdest part, the source claimed, was when DCP Lebajoa assumed his new position, only to find that DCP Paseka Mokete was still in there holding fort.
“There were now two DCPs-CID. This made it relatively difficult for staff to function as they did not know who they were accountable to between Lebajoa and Mokete. He (Molibeli) did all he could to try to prevent DCP Mokete from vacating the office of DCP-CID. The Commissioner at some point even tried to establish an intelligence office which he wanted Lebajoa to head,” the source also claimed.
“Commissioner Molibeli has tampered with the CID headed by Lebajoa for the longest time, transferring investigators all the time. He does this over Lebajoa’s head. Lebajoa often learns about new developments along with the rest of us. The Compol will then deploy new police officers to the CID without Lebajoa’s knowledge or at least a mere introduction.
“You could swear that he is setting Lebajoa up for failure because the Compol makes decisions for the CID department without consulting him as the department’s head. As far as he (Molibeli) is concerned, all DCPs are just boys to him. He never plans anything with them. They just bear their titles which are just there in name,” the source further alleged.
Another source also claimed that after DCP Lebajoa had settled in, Compol Molibeli established teams within the CID that reported to him and not the former as the rightful head of the department.
“Lebajoa was rendered useless and when he confronted Compol Molibeli, he simply told him that he had established the teams and instructed them to report directly to him. The CID investigators would report normal cases to Lebajoa but were careful to work on special/high profile cases with Molibeli,” the source further alleged.
“Lebajoa knew nothing of the work that was being done under a department that was supposed to be under his control.”
Compol Molibeli also reportedly intensified his tampering with the CID unit by redeploying all officers working under DCP Lebajoa to different places such as police posts across the country, with some being sent to work at Queen ‘Mamohato Memorial Hospital.
“The Compol literally dismantled the CID and the unit’s best brains were scattered across the country. He then appointed his favourites to some positions within the CID, without so much as a consultation with Lebajoa.
“Molibeli further went on to dissolve the TF office which deals with vehicle theft and related crimes. The reason behind the closure of TF was suspicion that the squad’s Christmas celebration was sponsored by the Terene Famo music gang. It later emerged that the celebration was self-sponsored, and that Terene had nothing to do with it,” the source alleged.
“You can imagine how crippling it has been to the police service to have a wing like TF, which links the LMPS to other countries and International Police (Interpol) on vehicle theft and such other crimes, disbanded. The Commissioner disbanded that office in just a week. I guess the only reason why it was disbanded was the fact that Lebajoa attended the Christmas celebration at TF.”
In conclusion, the source noted that the incompetence of the LMPS could not be blamed on the CID but the entire service “although Compol wants to blame Lebajoa for everything”.
“There is no cohesion here and the police have lost respect for the Compol. He is the first such to be disrespected publicly by his juniors. You must have heard yourself how people disparage him on different radio stations. Isn’t Holomo (Molibeli) the first commissioner to be shamed publicly in this shocking manner? He has failed in his mandate. The only thing he has achieved is to fall out with people left, right and centre,” the source added.
Contacted for comment, a seemingly irritated DCP Lebajoa told the Sunday Express that he was not ready to comment on anything in the media.
“I am not ready to comment. Even if I were, I wouldn’t stoop to the level of commenting on things that have been said about me. I am not an attention-seeker,” he said.
“Besides, what you are asking me about is before the courts. It would be sub judice to discuss matters that are being dealt with by the courts.”
Commissioner Molibeli was also not readily reachable for comment until the time of going to print. His mobile phone rang unanswered.
