Silence Charumbira
A TERRFIED Prime Minister Thomas Thabane asked his wife, ‘Maesaiah to join him in praying for their acceptance into heaven after receiving information that soldiers on their way to the State House to kill him on the night of 30 August 2014.
Dr Thabane also expressed gratitude to the Deputy Prime Minister, Monyane Moleleki, for convincing him to return home from exile in South Africa when he had given up hope of ever coming back.
He said he had even contemplated requesting the South African government for a plot of land where he would live until his death.
Dr Thabane said this while relieving the events of the night of the 2014 attempted coup against his first government at a weekend event that was held a Maseru hotel to celebrate his 79th birthday.
The premier said he was grateful to his wife for saving his life when he had resigned himself to what he believed was his inevitable fate after receiving intelligence that Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) officers were on their way to the State House to assassinate him.
He said they were already in bed when they received information that the soldiers were on their way to the State House.
He said while his only thought was to pray, the First Lady calmly instructed him to dress up and prepare to leave the country immediately.
“I owe it to you (‘Maesaiah) to tell the world that there was one evening when I could have died,” Dr Thabane told an attentive audience.
“We were already in bed when we got information that some people were coming to kill me and then I said to her, ‘let us kneel down and pray so that when they kill me I will go to heaven’.
“Then she (‘Maesaiah) said, ‘you are not going to heaven’… She said we must dress up and go. I left the country and spent two years in South Africa because she dragged me there and saved my life,” Dr Thabane said to an applause from the audience.
While Dr Thabane narrated their experiences, the First Lady stood beside him and all the while maintained an expressionless face.
Dr Thabane also expressed gratitude to the South African government for their hospitality from the time he arrived there until he was able to return home early last year ahead of the 3 June 2017 elections which brought him back into power.
Dr Thabane said while he was in exile in Ficksburg in the Free State province, he never thought he would return to Lesotho. He said he had even started talking to the South African authorities to give him a plot of land where he would live until his death.
“I have to sincerely thank the South Africans who kept us there until we were able to come back and contest in the elections.”
He also thanked Mr Moleleki, for persuading him to return home from exile where he had been joined by Basotho National Party (BNP) leader, Thesele Maseribane and Reformed Congress of Lesotho (RCL) leader, Keke Rantšo.
“We never thought we would come back home. I was already negotiating with some of my South African friends to get a plot to live and die there.
“But one man called Monyane Moleleki and dragged me back to Lesotho. Dragging me to Lesotho meant dragging Thesele Maseribane and Keketso Rantšo as well.
“We owe it to that man (Moleleki). I am also aware that you (Moleleki) were getting very good advice from your wife and I thank her too,” Dr Thabane said to a thunderous applause while Mr Moleleki nodded his head in acknowledgement.
The Lesotho Times recently published the contents of a confidential report prepared by a leading law firm which lifted the lead on the events that transpired before and during the attempted coup against the first government of Dr Thabane in August 2014.
The report said two LDF officers disobeyed their superior and decided to escort Dr Thabane and his wife out of the state house in a private car.
The two officers had been ordered by their superior to wake up Dr Thabane who was thought to be already asleep on the night of 29 August 2014.
The two officers were also told to ensure that Dr Thabane summoned then and current minister, Chief Maseribane and former police commissioner, Khothatso Tsooana to his State House residence for a meeting with senior army officers as the attempted coup unfolded during the early hours of the 30th of August 2014.
The law firm was commissioned by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) last November to help in formulating the charges to be preferred against all the culprits involved in the 30 August 2014 attempted coup.
The report shows that at least three cabinet ministers in the first Thabane coalition, which ruled from 2012 to 2015, and 15 LDF officers will face a plethora of charges including treason for their part in the 30 August 2014 events. The Lesotho Times is nonetheless withholding publishing their names for professional reasons.
The charges will range from high treason, kidnapping, attempted murder to unlawful damage to property. The three former ministers, according to the law firm’s report, “met with the army officers and planned and executed the operation of 29-30 August 2014”.
“The salient facts that led to the events of 30 August 2014 was the removal of the then army commander, Lt-Gen Tlali Kamoli on 29 August 2014 by the then Prime Minister Thabane and appointment of the late Lt-Gen Maaparankoe Mahao as the commander.
“This move by Dr Thabane became unpopular and was not well received by Lt-Gen Kamoli and most of the army command as well as some coalition partners in government, in particular, members of the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD).
“In the evening of 29 August 2014, the removed army commander Lt-Gen Kamoli called an urgent meeting of senior members of the LDF at Makoanyane Barracks (in Maseru),” the law firm chronicled.
The report shows that a leading former LDF officer then ordered attacks on police stations in Maseru. He also ordered two of his subordinates to go to the State House to ensure that Dr Thabane would not escape.
“Two army majors were ordered by their superior of the rank of Lieutenant General to wake up PM Thabane who was then expected to call Honourable Maseribane and Compol Tsooana to the State House for a meeting with the army command,” the report reveals.
“Upon arrival at the State House, one of the majors instead secretly escorted Dr Thabane and his partner in a private car that was driven by a relative of the Prime Minister in the company of one Dr Thabane’s children.
“In the early hours of 30 August 2014 at 3:30am, the Lieutenant General arrived at the State House only to discover that Dr Thabane had secretly been escorted out the State House against his orders. It should also be mentioned that at the time the Lieutenant General arrived at the State House, there were a lot of members of the LDF in the yard of the State House. The Lieutenant General appeared very furious that PM Thabane had been allowed to escape,” the report further states.
