’Marafaele Mohloboli
EXILED fraud suspect ’Makarabo Mojakhomo will only return to the Lesotho to stand trial after receiving guarantees of her safety from the Commissioner of Police, Holomo Molibeli.
This was said by her lawyer, Advocate Letuka Molati, in an interview with the Lesotho Times this week.
There have been conflicting reports about what actually happened to Ms Mojakhomo after she was arrested on 29 May this year for allegedly defrauding the First Lady ‘Maesaiah Thabane’s Trust Fund of at least M200 000.
She failed to appear in court on 31 May after the police claimed she had escaped from custody while they were preparing to take her to court.
But Ms Mojakhomo’s family disputed the police version of events and insisted that there was no way that she could have broken out of tightly guarded police cells. The family subsequently petitioned the High Court for an order for the police to produce her dead or alive.
However, in turn of events last month, her lawyer Adv Molati wrote to Commissioner Molibeli, informing him that Ms Mojakhomo was alive and well. Adv Molati stated that contrary to the police allegations, Ms Mojakhomo did not escape but “she was abducted with the direct help of the police from the police custody”.
Adv Molati said that Ms Mojakhomo would only return to the country when her safety was guaranteed and in due course, she would spill the beans on some senior police officers and high-ranking civilians who allegedly abducted, trafficked and conspired to murder her on the day that she allegedly disappeared from police custody.
Adv Molati would not say how Ms Mojakhomo escaped from her abductors and ended up where she is currently hiding. He said he had instructed Ms Mojakhomo to prepare a sworn affidavit which would explain everything.
And this week, Adv Molati said his client has still not prepared the affidavit or said when she would return to Lesotho as this hinged on Commissioner Molibeli replying to his (Adv Molati’s) letter and providing guarantees of her safety.
“My client has not yet submitted her affidavit to me on her escape and she has not told me when she will be returning as I am still awaiting the response of the Commissioner of Police on how her security shall be handled,” Adv Molati said, adding, “All that I know is that she wants to come back home”.
However, Police Spokesperson Superintendent Mpiti Mopeli said the police were not prepared to give any commitments regarding the safety of Ms Mojakhomo. Her safe return to the country was recently seized upon by the opposition and listed as one of the preconditions for their participation in the processes that are expected to culminate in the implementation of the constitutional, security sector, governance and media reforms that were recommended in 2016 by the Southern African Development Community.
However, Supt Mopeli told this publication that, “we (the police) will not commit to assuring Mojakhomo’s safety”.
“All that we want is for her to come back home and answer to the (fraud) charges. She can’t escape from custody and expect us to give her assurances on her safety.
“We are still waiting for her to show up and this is why we still have her on our list of wanted people even though we have been told that she is in South Africa,” Sup Mopeli said.
