MASERU — National Security Services (NSS) boss Mohau Thaha says last week’s foiled attempt to assassinate Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili does not mean his department’s is failing.
The attack, which came barely two years after attacks at homes of government ministers in 2007, had raised questions about the state of security.
Thaha told the Lesotho Times in an exclusive interview on Monday that he was still confident of the quality of work his department.
“The NSS’s role is to collect, analyse information and advise the government accordingly,” Thaha said.
Thaha said the government still had confidence in the NSS.
“The employer, which is the government, still has confidence in us,” he said.
“The attack at State House and other attacks on ministers in 2007 do not mean that the NSS is inefficient.”
“People who point an accusing finger at us are wrong.
“We are gathering information just like journalists; we analyse it and advise the government basing ourselves on what we know at the time,” he said.
Thaha, however, declined to go into the details of last week’s attack.
“The attack on the prime minister was dealt with by the police and the army,” Thaha said.
“I will not talk about last week’s attack lest I find myself answering questions that should be directed at the police and the army or ending up pointing a finger at them,” he said.
Asked if his directive to his juniors not to use the institution’s cars after working hours did not affect their effectiveness, Thaha said that had nothing to do with the prediction of the Prime Minister’s attack.
Thaha had earlier ordered his juniors to park their service cars at the offices when they knock-off from work.
Thaha said he introduced strict rules on the usage of the NSS cars after realising that the officers were using them for their personal business.
“The cars should be always available when the officers need them for their work,” Thaha said.
“We do not want a situation whereby an officer wants a car but would not access it because another officer is using it for personal gains,” he said.
Thaha said his instructions on the strict use of cars had nothing to do with the quality of the officers’ work. He said the NSS officers worked in shifts.
Thaha said doubting the integrity of the NSS because of last week’s attack is baseless.
