Assistant Commissioner Ezekiel Senti suspended indefinitely for allegedly leaking confidential information to the media
Keiso Mohloboli
The Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS) Assistant Commissioner, Ezekiel Senti, has been suspended indefinitely for allegedly leaking confidential police information to the media.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Senti was slapped with the suspension letter on Friday last week by LMPS Commissioner Khothatso Tšooana.
Highly placed police sources told the Lesotho Times this week that ACP Senti stands accused of allegedly leaking confidential information discussed in top management meetings to select media houses, and also being “very aggressive” when he was asked about the issue by the LMPS authorities.
“The police had been worried for a long time that information which would have been discussed in management meetings was somehow finding its way to certain media houses, and decided to investigate.
“During the investigations, it emerged that a certain reporter had taped an interview she had conducted with ACP Senti, and the police somehow managed to get the tape. This interview was then played to ACP Senti when he had denied any knowledge about these leaks to the media.
“However, he still disputed the accusation of being the mole in the LMPS, leading to his suspension on Friday last week, pending the finalisation of the case,” said the source.
According to the source, ACP Senti, who is responsible for Strategic Management and Support Service in the LMPS, was suspended in line with Section 53 (1) of the Police Act of 1998, which reads: “Any member of the police service may be interdicted at any time by the Commissioner, pending the resolution of any disciplinary or criminal proceedings against him/her, but he/she shall not, by reason of such interdiction, cease to be a member of the police service.”
Police spokesperson, Lebona Mohloboli confirmed ACP Senti’s suspension, but would not go into details regarding his alleged wrongdoing.
“He is suspended from duty as a police officer, until further notice, and the interdiction was with effect from 8 August 2014.
I cannot go into details of ACP Senti’s case, but what I can only say is he was suspended due to administrative issues,” Senior Inspector Mohloboli said.
Contacted for comment, ACP Senti said he was not going to discuss “anything” with the Lesotho Times.
“I am not going to talk to you about anything, and please stop calling me because the media has not been fair in handling my issues,” ACP Senti said.
“Let’s simply stop here.”
