THE old adage that justice delayed is justice denied certainly rings true in the case of Lesotho where the failure to prosecute criminals appears to have emboldened others to follow the same path to notoriety.
Ours has become a nation of murderers. We have people who murder defenceless children and women within an impunity that is borne out of the knowledge that nothing will ever happen to them.
Such characters know that cases are hardly investigated and if they are, they will probably be out on the streets in no time at all.
There is a spiral of violence which will continue as long as justice continues to be denied to victims and their families.
This is a subject we have gone to great lengths to discuss and some of our readers will wonder why we keep returning to it.
It is not that we have run out of issues to discuss. It is simply because we believe that not enough is being done to combat crime, particularly violent crime.
For that reason we will continue raising the issue.
And if need be, we will proclaim it on rooftops, we will go and tell it on the mountain too.
Elsewhere in this edition we report on a woman whose husband was senselessly gunned down in cold blood more than six years ago.
The criminals had the audacity to commit the dastardly act right on the doorstep of an honourable member of parliament- a place where one would expect to be fully secure.
And yet the criminals among us know no boundaries and fear no-one.
’Matšepang Kaizer is still crying out for justice six years after her soulmate and breadwinner, Motlalepula Kaizer, was murdered in yet to be explained killing.
“The memories of that fateful day when my husband was gunned down by unknown assailants still brings tears to my eyes,” the 38 year-old widow told the Lesotho Times this week.
The incident continues to traumatise and it is like a horrible nightmare she wishes she could wake up from.
Unfortunately, it is a reality she will have to live with til her dying day.
While nothing and nobody will bring her husband to life, the police can at least bring the culprits to book.
There was a time when the country had no hope that such cases could ever be solved but these are new times and the police have done so much over the past year to redeem themselves.
We have seen how previously seemingly unsolvable cases have been cracked.
For that reason we have full confidence in the police when they say they will get to the bottom of this issue.
Beyond the police work, we really need to do a thorough self-introspection to find out where we are going as a nation.
WE should really be ashamed of the irony we find ourselves in, being a violent nation and yet our Kingdom was founded on the values of peace, hospitality and tolerance.
Our nation’s founder must be turning in his grave considering the extent of the depravity of our nation.
Let us return to the source and begin to see human life for what it is.
Let us begin to once more respect the sanctity of God’s creation, fashioned after his own image.
We grieve with all those who have lost their loved ones and those who are victims of violent crime.
We know that the police will do their best to bring the perpetrators to book.
But we need to remind them to make haste because justice delayed is justice denied.
