Moorosi Tsiane
MABILIKOE Leuta Mahao has given a chilling description of how soldiers, led by then-army general Tlali Kamoli, murdered Lieutenant General Maaparankoe Mahao in cold blood on 25 June 2015.
Mabilikoe took the stand on Monday this week before Justice Charles Hungwe where he recounted how the soldiers shot Lt. Gen Mahao, unprovoked, before dragging his lifeless body face-down and bundling it into a vehicle.
Kamoli and eight others are currently on trial for the murder, which happened in June 2015 at Ha Lekete, Mokema, near Maseru.
Mabilikoe told the court that the day began like any other and he left his home in Ha Mabote, Berea to work on his uncle (Lt. General Mahao)’s farm in Mokema.
When he arrived at about 7:00 a.m., he saw a white double-cab 4×4 without registration plates parked near Lt. Gen Mahao’s house. As he passed by, one person in the vehicle looked away as if to avoid eye contact.
A fellow farm worker, Thakali Ntsasa, had approached him and asked who he was with. After Mabilikoe told him he was alone, Ntsasa said that Lt. Gen Mahao’s vehicle had just passed by, with some passengers in the back and heading toward Sekhutlong. Mabilikoe said he doubted it was Lt. Gen Mahao, as that did not match their plans for the day.
Mabilikoe then went to fetch sand with a tractor and when he returned at around 10:00 a.m., Lt. Gen Mahao arrived and spent the rest of the morning pruning trees with his son.
By 2:00 p.m. they had finished and went to Lt. Gen Mahao’s parents’ house. At around 2:30 p.m., Lt. Gen Mahao, Mabilikoe and another nephew to the slain army boss headed to town in his (Lt-Gen Mahao’s) white pick-up truck.
Mabilikoe recounted that as they approached the village of Ha-Lekete, three 4×4 vehicles suddenly sped up to them and stopped abruptly.
“One vehicle stopped in front, another pulled up on the driver’s side, and the third was behind us,” he said.
Mabilikoe further recounted how one Hashatsi (Tefo), a staunch Kamoli sidekick who died in cold blood in 2017, got out of the front vehicle “pointing a gun at us”.
According to Mabilikoe, Lt. Gen Mahao cried out, “Ke meleko ea eng ee? (What kind of evil is this?)”
“Immediately, shots were fired — three in total — from the car parked at the side. Maaparankoe turned his back to the gunfire to shield me and his nephew. I tried to escape by opening the door, but when I reached the vehicle behind, someone pointed a gun at me. I turned around and was confronted by another armed individual. One of them demanded to know where I was going, and I replied that I wasn’t going anywhere.”
Mabilikoe said he returned to the truck and Lt. Gen Mahao got out of the vehicle. As he tried to get out from the passenger side, he fell face-first onto the ground, his legs still inside the car.
“Two people came over, each grabbing a leg, and dragged him face-down along the tarred road to one of the vehicles while also kicking him. They tried to put him in the back but couldn’t, so they laid him on the rear seat instead. That vehicle and the one behind it then drove off, leaving us with the vehicle in front.”
Mabilikoe also told the court that Lt. Gen Mahao was still holding the steering wheel with both hands when he was shot. His gun was on his lap and he did not fire back.
Mabilikoe further recounted that Hashatsi made a phone call, telling the person on the other end that they had found “him” (Mahao) and had shot him, further stating that he was with one Sergeant Makara.
“But Hashatsi quickly ordered us to leave and kept talking on the phone. About an hour later, Hashatsi called us again and asked where we were headed. I told him we were going to town. He said it was our choice to continue to town or return to Mokema. I replied that we would go to town,” Mabilikoe said.
He added that one soldier instructed them to gather plants on the side of the road to sweep the broken window glass from the vehicle, while another ordered them to clean up the blood.
The soldiers then got into their vehicle and drove off towards Mokema.
Mabilikoe tried to call Professor Nqosa Mahao, Lt. Gen Mahao’s eldest brother, but could not reach him so he called the other sibling, Qamako Mahao to inform him that Lt. Gen Mahao had been shot.
“Qamako asked me where he was and I explained that they had taken him. Later, Nqosa called me and told me to drive the truck to his place at Qoatsaneng (in Maseru), which I did.”
The trial in which Kamoli, along with his former subordinates, is accused of murdering Lt. Gen Mahao resumed on Monday after a lengthy hiatus.
Kamoli’s co-accused are Captains Litekanyo Nyakane and Haleo Makara; Sergeants Lekhooa Moepi and Motsamai Fako; Corporals Marasi ‘Moleli, Motšoane Machai, Mohlalefi Seitlheko; and Tšitso Ramoholi.
The group also faces charges of attempting to murder Lt. Gen Mahao’s nephews, Mahao Mahao and Mabilikoe Leuta, by allegedly firing into the vehicle they were travelling in.
Additional charges include damaging Lt. Gen Mahao’s vehicle with automatic rifle fire and Kamoli’s alleged theft of Lt. Gen Mahao’s 9mm pistol and Samsung Galaxy mobile phone.
