Moorosi Tsiane
ONE of the police officers accused of murdering Police Constable (PC) Mokalekale Khetheng has told the High Court that the case against him was fabricated by colleagues seeking promotion under the Thomas Thabane administration.
The trial took a dramatic turn on Monday when retired Inspector Mothibeli Mofolo alleged that police officers who investigated Khetheng’s death and later testified against him and his co-accused were rewarded with promotions by former Police Commissioner Holomo Molibeli.
Mofolo further claimed that Khetheng’s death was exploited by Mr Thabane’s All Basotho Convention (ABC) during the run-up to the 2017 general elections, after which Mr Molibeli was appointed Commissioner of Police and allegedly spearheaded efforts to implicate him and his co-accused.
Mofolo is standing trial alongside former Hlotse Police Station commander Senior Superintendent Thabo Tšukulu, Inspector Mabitle Matona and Sub-Inspector Haleokoe Taasoane. The four are charged with the murder of PC Khetheng on 26 March 2016 and are currently remanded at the Maseru Central Correctional Institution.
Testifying in his defence and led by his lawyer, Advocate Zwelake Mda KC, Mofolo told the court that the case against him was politically motivated and built on concocted evidence.
He accused several police officers; Lebajoa, Lethoko, Thamae, Mohoang, Nkeane, Seutloali, Nthejane and Tshabalala, of fabricating evidence during his arrest in order to shield the real perpetrators and advance their own careers. He did not provide their first names or ranks.
Under cross-examination by Crown counsel Adv Masenate Sekoala, Mofolo insisted that the eight officers who arrested him on 2 August 2017 framed him for the murder.
Adv Sekoala referred him to the evidence of Superintendent Mabohlokoa Makotoko, PC Tumelo Ntoane and Inspector Khothatso Mphutlane, who testified that they travelled to Sebothoane to arrest PC Khetheng on arson charges.
Khetheng was alleged to have burned down the Mokhotlong district police commander’s house and Pitso House in Leribe.
Mofolo, however, denied that Khetheng was ever arrested.
“Khetheng was not arrested. I instructed those officers to go and fetch him,” he told the court.
Adv Sekoala challenged this version, arguing that Mofolo was not present at Sebothoane and therefore could not dispute what had occurred.
“I suggest to you that you were never at Sebothoane, and therefore you are not in a position to deny or confirm what happened there. The officers who went there have already testified that they arrested Khetheng,” Adv Sekoala said.
He further argued that the officers who travelled to Sebothoane were best placed to testify on whether Khetheng was arrested.
Asked why he believed those officers would fabricate evidence against him, Mofolo claimed they were promised promotions by the then government and the former Commissioner of Police.
“I do not know why they fabricated evidence against me. It may be because it was easy to implicate me since I had ordered that Khetheng be fetched from Sebothoane,” he said.
“I also suspect they were promised promotions because they were later promoted by the government and the Commissioner of Police,” he added.
Mofolo said his suspicions were reinforced by the political climate at the time, as the country was heading towards the 2017 elections.
“The ABC was using the Khetheng murder to canvass ahead of the elections,” he said.
When asked whether it was possible for a Commissioner of Police to connive with other officers to orchestrate the killing of a fellow officer, Mofolo answered in the affirmative.
This prompted Adv Sekoala to suggest that it would therefore not be far-fetched to argue that Mofolo himself could have connived with former Commissioner of Police Molahlehi Letsoepa to kill PC Khetheng.
PC Khetheng was arrested on allegations of arson in 2016 but was never seen alive again. Police later claimed he had escaped from custody under unclear circumstances.
His disappearance sparked national outrage, and in August 2017 his remains were exhumed from Lepereng Cemetery in Maseru, confirming that he had been secretly buried.
The trial continues on 18 February with Mofolo’s cross-examination.
