Wife Of Lesotho Prime Minister Accused Of Murdering Ex-Wife

Lesotho police on Tuesday charged the wife of Lesotho Prime Minister Maesaiah Thabane of the 2017 murder of the former wife of the head of government.

“She has been charged with murder along with eight other people who are in Lesotho and South Africa,” Deputy Police Commissioner Paseka Mokete told reporters.

He said the police had “a solid case” regarding the involvement of Maesaiah Thabane, 42, in the murder of the Prime Minister’s wife.

Lipolelo Thabane, 58, was shot dead in June 2017 in Maseru, two days before the inauguration of her husband Thomas Thabane at the head of the government of this small landlocked country in the territory of South Africa. The couple were in the process of divorce.

Maesaiah Thabane, who was the subject of an arrest warrant, “took the initiative to return him,” police spokesman Mpiti Mopeli told AFP. She was “picked up at the border” with South Africa, following an agreement between her lawyer and the police, he said.

New elements appeared at the beginning of January when a letter from the Lesotho police chief was made public, mentioning a telephone call located at the crime scene and made from Mr Thabane’s mobile phone.

Mr Thabane, 80, was also questioned by the police on January 22 about the murder.

Under pressure from the opposition and his own party, he announced that he would resign on a date yet to be determined.

Lesotho has a long history of political instability, illustrated by military coups in 1986 and 1991.

Struck by unemployment, an AIDS epidemic that affects 23% of its population of 2 million, and a glaring lack of public services, it is one of the poorest countries on the planet.