Sam Rapapa
’Marafaele Mohloboli
MOSALEMANE No 19 constituency Member of Parliament (MP) Sam Rapapa has called on the National Assembly to provide legislators with security guards at their homes in light of the fatal shooting of the daughter-in-law of Lithoteng constituency MP Lehlohonolo Moramotse.
Addressing the National Assembly on Tuesday, Mr Rapapa said the government should offer MPs protection after Mr Moramotse’s 23-year-old daughter-in-law was shot dead on 22 June 2016 as she drove into her parents’ Lower Seoli residence.
Following the shooting, Mr Moramotse told the Lesotho Times the car his daughter was driving belonged to him, with the All Basotho Convention MP saying he believed he was the target of the assailants.
No arrests have been made in connection with the killing.
Mr Rapapa said the attack came shortly after Mr Moramotse had raised concern in the august house over the security of MPs.
However, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Montšuoe Lethoba reprimanded Mr Rapapa for “politicising the issue”.
Mr Lethoba said Mr Rapapa’s remarks insinuated that some members of the National Assembly were behind the attack.
“We should not politicise everything we come across in this world. It’s not right to attach politics even where it’s not necessary. Mr Rapapa’s concern insinuates that this house had something to do with the said death,” he said.
“It is the responsibility of this honourable house to ensure that everyone is safe. So let us not politicise everything.”
In an interview with the Lesotho Times yesterday, Mr Rapapa said he was “shocked” by Mr Lethoba’s reaction when he raised the matter.
“I was shocked by the deputy speaker’s reaction to my plea for security because there was nothing political about it. Security is a major concern for us as MPs because there has been a trend of attacks on some of us.”
The least the National Assembly could do under the circumstances, Mr Rapapa added, was to provide MPs with security guards at their homes. “Most of these attacks happen at our homes, and having security will be a deterrent to would-be perpetrators. We just can’t overlook this issue because it needs to be addressed,” added Mr Rapapa.
