…as Justice Hungwe sentences two accused cops to 23 and 15 years
Moorosi Tsiane
JUSTICE Charles Hungwe has warned members of the Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS) against abusing their powers to commit crimes, saying police officers who use their authority to break the law deserve harsher punishment than ordinary citizens.
Justice Hungwe issued the warning this week when he sentenced Inspector (Insp) Mothibeli Mofolo to an effective 23 years in prison for his role in the killing and subsequent cover-up of his colleague, Police Constable (PC) Mokalekale Khetheng, in March 2016.
Former Hlotse Police Station Commander, Senior Superintendent (SSP) Thabo Tšukulu, was sentenced to an effective 15 years’ imprisonment after being convicted of an alternative charge of being an accessory after the fact to murder, together with several charges relating to obstruction of justice and perjury.
The court found that PC Khetheng’s killing was aggravated by an atmosphere of hostility within the police service towards him, as well as subsequent efforts to conceal what had happened and frustrate the administration of justice.
Justice Hungwe said the circumstances surrounding Khetheng’s death painted a disturbing picture of police officers turning against one of their own and then using their positions and influence to conceal the crime.
He said the hostility towards PC Khetheng had allegedly stemmed from suspicions that he was involved in arson cases, including an incident in which the residence of a senior police commander in the Northern Region was torched.
According to Justice Hungwe, those suspicions created an environment in which PC Khetheng was viewed as a problem that had to be dealt with rather than as a police officer entitled to the protection of the law.
“The hostility towards the deceased which resulted from a suspicion that he was involved in arson cases in which a residence of a senior commander in the northern region was torched, created an environment in which he was regarded as ‘a problem to be dealt with’, rather than a colleague entitled to the protection of the law,” Justice Hungwe said.
The judge, however, made it clear that such hostility could never justify the killing of a police officer.
“The institutional hostility does not justify what was done to the deceased and it does not diminish the gravity of the killing of a police officer by fellow police officers.”
Justice Hungwe went further, stressing that police officers carry a special responsibility because they are entrusted with enforcing the law and protecting members of the public.
“The police officer who commits a crime in the exercise of powers conferred on him for the protection of the public commits a graver offence than a private citizen who commits the same act.”
The judge was particularly critical of what happened after PC Khetheng’s death, saying the concealment of the crime amounted to a direct assault on the administration of justice.
He said the deceased’s arrest was not properly recorded and records relevant to investigations into the matter were made to disappear.
“The conduct of the accused in which the crime was concealed, the arrest of the deceased not recorded and records relevant for the investigations into the case were made to disappear, directly injures the administration of justice.”
Justice Hungwe said the cover-up had consequences beyond the immediate case, as it deprived PC Khetheng’s family of the truth and potentially exposed innocent people to suspicion.
“That denied the family of the deceased the truth and exposes others to wrongful suspicions.”
Against that background, the court imposed lengthy custodial sentences on the two former police officers.
Mofolo gets 23 years
Insp Mofolo was convicted on five counts arising from the matter.
He was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment for murder, three years for obstruction of justice, five years for perjury, three years for attempting to induce another person to commit perjury and three years for inducing perjury.
The court ordered that the three-year sentence for obstruction of justice should run concurrently with the 18-year murder sentence.
The three-year sentences imposed for attempting to induce another person to commit perjury and inducing perjury were ordered to run concurrently with the five-year sentence for perjury.
“On count one, murder, the court having found that the offence was committed in the presence of extenuating circumstances within the meaning of section 40 subsection 3C of the Penal Code Act number 6 of 2010, the accused is sentenced to 18 years imprisonment in count one,” he said.
This resulted in an effective sentence of 23 years’ imprisonment, commencing on 22 September 2026.
He then imposed the remaining sentences before explaining how they would run concurrently.
“So the total effective sentence for accused number two is 23 years imprisonment,” Justice Hungwe said.
Tšukulu sentenced to 15 years
Tšukulu, the former Hlotse Police Station commander, was not convicted of the murder itself but was found guilty on an alternative charge of being an accessory after the fact to murder.
He was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment on that count.
He was further sentenced to three years for obstruction of justice, five years for perjury, three years for attempting to induce another person to commit perjury and three years for inducing perjury.
The court ordered the three-year sentence for obstruction of justice to run concurrently with the 10-year sentence for being an accessory after the fact to murder.
The three-year sentences for attempting to induce and inducing perjury were also ordered to run concurrently with the relevant longer sentences.
Explaining the final position, Justice Hungwe said: “To Tšukulu, the total effective sentence is therefore 15 years imprisonment.”
The defence was represented by Advocates Karabo Mohau KC and Zwelakhe Mda KC, while the prosecution was represented by Advocate Nthabeleng Nkoe.
