Prisoners’ release sparks fresh crisis
MASERU — A new crisis has hit the judiciary after revelations that the government is vehemently opposed to Chief Justice Mahapela Lehohla’s decision to release two women last week.
Last Friday Justice Lehohla issued an order to the Department of Correctional Services to release 192 prisoners who include a former magistrate ’Mampai Lesupi and Kholu Manyala, a former treasury department employee.
The two were jailed for corruption in 2011.
The government through the Ministry of Law, Attorney General and Commissioner of Correctional Services is said to be virulently opposed to the release arguing the release of the two was irregular.
They argue Chief Justice Lehohla did not have powers to release the duo.
Despite Justice Lehohla’s order the two remained in prison after the Commissioner of Correctional Services, Matingoe Phamotse, refused to comply with the order.
Lesupi was one of two magistrates who were convicted of defeating the ends of justice and sentenced to jail in October 2011.
High Court judge Justice ’Maseshophe Hlajoane sentenced Lesupi and Itumeleng Letsika to one year in jail or alternatively pay a fine of M10 000 each.
The two magistrates were found guilty of tampering with court records to allow a South African national, Stephen Dlamini, who was facing charges of fraud, to escape from prison in 2005.
Dlamini was slapped with a 62-year jail sentence for defrauding the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority of M2.8 million in 2004.
Lesupi and Letsika were accused of receiving bribes from Dlamini to tamper with the records to make it appear as if his fraud charges had been withdrawn.
Lesupi appealed against the conviction and sentence but the Court of Appeal confirmed the conviction and increased her prison term to three years.
The second prisoner, Kholu Manyala, was sentenced to an effective five years imprisonment, the two counts on which she was convicted being taken as one for the purpose of sentence.
She was convicted of fraud in that in 2002 she created two cheques within the Department of Treasury.
Both cheques were created in the name of Metropolitan Services, the first on November 6, 2002 with an amount of M486 719.50 and the second on January 24, 2003 with an amount of M489 625.21.
She appealed against the conviction and sentence but the Court of Appeal confirmed Justice ’Maseshophe Hlajoane’s judgment.
On Tuesday the Attorney General Tšokolo Makhethe’s office, Commissioner Phamotse and Justice Minister Haae Phoofolo filed an urgent application seeking to block the women’s release from jail.
The application was heard on Wednesday afternoon by a judge who said he could not hear the case if the three parties had not served the Chief Justice through his registrar.
This case is likely to be heard today.
The Lesotho Times understands there were frantic negotiations yesterday to try to break this impasse between the government and the Chief Justice.
This paper is reliably informed that Phoofolo, Makhethe and Phamotse met in the Chief Justice’s chambers to try to find common ground on the matter.
After that meeting they also met Prime Minister Thomas Thabane.
The Chief Justice is said to be adamant that he did the right thing.
This comes at a time when there is a call from several quarters for the Chief Justice to resign.
If the Chief Justice is found to have erred, then more pressure will mount on him to resign.
Comment by Phoka-li-maotong on 7 February 2013:
The Chief Justice seems 100% bent to serve the judiciary, government,Lesotho and the entire Basotho nation a dis-service and injustice. He seems to take himself as omnipotent, as alpha and omega.
Government should rescue Basotho as a matter of obligation and urgency and remove the Chief Justice from the entire judicial service, and send him in for mental observation in an approved institution.
Comment by Batho on 7 February 2013:
Mrs.Kholu Manyala was used as a sacrifice by her superiors to steal, the evidence implicating her is flawed. She had no authority whatsoever to create cheques, her job was to capture data and she is checked by someone. The man who received that money from one employee (Neo) of the same ministry said it before the court, ”the money is in my bank acc. I received it from Neo Ntseke”. There is no evidence whatsoever that shows that Kholu benefited from the money. I think that is why CJ seeks her release because the real culprits are known.
What we read in the news here is rather superficial.
Comment by nthabeleng on 7 February 2013:
@Batho u bua nnete e tsoileng matsoho, Kholu haa na molato at all, empa the culprits are free and enjoying the stolen money while she suffers.
Comment by Reason on 7 February 2013:
Ke nahana hore Lehohla o se a hlanya kannete. He should seriously be checked into a mental facility…
Comment by Queen on 7 February 2013:
Feela joale Batho, ua fosa to say CJ is seeking Kholu’s release because the real culprits are known. He doesn’t have the powers to release a convicted person “just because the real culprits are known”, when the convicted person’s guilt has been established beyond reasonable doubt, even confirmed by the Court of Appeal.
Comment by Lefefooane on 7 February 2013:
@Batho, don’t take your eyes from the ball. The appeal court judgement clearly implicates Kholu Manyala. Below is the extract from the hudgement:
That accused 1(Kholu Manyala) was responsible for creating the cheques in question is beyond doubt. She purported to have done so on the strength of valid vouchers and supporting documentation. The undisputed evidence reveals that the authorized payment voucher No. 1455 only came into operation on or about 20 December 2002 i.e. more than a month after that voucher number was used by accused 1 for the creation of the first cheque. Furthermore, voucher No. 1785 had not yet been authorized and issued when accused 1 used it for the purpose of creating the second cheque. There is no evidence to suggest that duplicate voucher numbers might have existed within the Treasury system.
Comment by Mosotho on 7 February 2013:
Hela! Phamotse e se e le eena Commissioner?
Lehohla eena should have long retired. Mantsoe a Makherehla ana a ke a ilo ts’osa likhoho hae koana.
Comment by Lefefooane on 7 February 2013:
I think it is high time that Thabane sets up the commission of inquiry to find out if the CJ Brother judge Lehohla is fit to hold office. I have a feeling that he has brought the judiciary into disrepute. Lehohla and Ramodibedi must be releaved of their duties lest the further increase the damage that our judiciary already has. We as a nation cannot afford to read these nasty stories day in day out involving the chief justice and the president of court of appeal. A mere last week we were reading about massive payments being made to Ramodibedi. The week before we were reading about the scuffles between Ramodibedi and Lehohla. This week we are reading Lehohla “releasing 192 prisoners”. In no way can we as a nation afford to read these bad news about our ailing justice system.
Comment by Lefefooane on 7 February 2013:
Sad though is that the poor journalist failed dismally to tell us the reasoning and/or rationale behind the decision of the hief justice to release the 192 prisoners. I wonder if this ommision of such a vital peace of information was on purpose or just a sheer usual incompetence from our so-called journalists. We need that information so that we the readers can make our own judgment. Besides why do we have the picture of Police PRO Masupha Masupha on this news yet he (Masopha) does not form the bulk of the story. Has our poor journalist forgotten why the pictures are inserted in stories.
Comment by molapo on 7 February 2013:
THANK U CJ FOR GIVING US MORE RESONS TOHAVE U REMOVED. LAW SOCIETY AND LAWYERS 4 HUMANRIGHTS THERE COMES AMMUNITION TO CLEAN THE JUDICIARY. THIS MAN OVER STAYED HIS WELCOME.
Comment by Batho on 7 February 2013:
@Lefefooane, the should be something wrong with the operative system of Treasury department then :
“The evidence established that in order for a cheque to be captured and created within the operative systems of the Treasury a confirmed and authorized payment voucher with underlying and supporting documentation was required. After the creation of a cheque there would be a “signing off” process undertaken by a different section of the Treasury designed to confirm that the cheque corresponded with the captured information. In the event of a created cheque being found without the necessary payment vouchers and supporting documentation the cheque would be sent to the bank reconciliation section of the Treasury where it would be placed in a deposit box and later cancelled and reversed. This was an integral part of the system that operated within the Treasury and was well-known to all who worked there. However, not everyone in the Treasury had access to the cheques that were sent to be cancelled”
Looking at all this, there is no way in which a person whose duty is solely to capture data create cheques !
Comment by shh on 7 February 2013:
Chelete e etsa batho melingoana….sooner or later one will loose his powers and come to reality that we are all living on mother earth where we are all equal…sik
Comment by Batho on 7 February 2013:
Christian Nescilescu testified before the court that he had opened an account in Bloemfontein with ABSA bank into which the cheques handed to him by Neo were to be deposited. Why can’t the honourable court do further investigation into that ?
Comment by critical on 7 February 2013:
Khulola Manyala the poor lady is innocent
Comment by Bobete on 7 February 2013:
@Batho
You are spot on,the data capturer processes a voucher that has been manually compiled by one person, checked by another and authorised by another one with all supporting documentation and all these people append thier signatures on the voucher. Then it is sent to examination section where it is scrutinized for accuracy and completeness in all respects and the person checking also signs to confirm. Thereafter, the voucher is sent to data capturers whose job is just to capture the info on the voucher without further verification as it has passed through so many hands.
The lawyer who represented Mrs Kholu Manyala failed her terribly and sent her to jail. The lady is innocent and like you are saying there are well known culprits and they are enjoying themselves. Neo Ntseke is one of them and Bloem guy testified so. It beats me to understand why the lawyer failed to bring to the attention of the court that Kholu had nothing to do with the accuracy and completeness of the voucher and for that matter she was not an accountant.
Comment by Bobete on 7 February 2013:
@Lefefooane
Ho hoholo ke ho pepeta, o bona e le Masupha motho ea fotong moo kapa o sefofu? O sitoa fela le ho bona krone ea LCS. Ha ke tsebe na Chief Justice o ne a shebile eng ha lokolla Kholu fela ke lumela hore o hlokometse hore ha na molato. Lekhotla le ahlola ho latela bopaki le hore na ‘muelli oa moqusuoa o beha litaba tsa hae joang, mona ho hlakileng ke hore ‘muelli oa Kholu o hlotsoe ho bonts’a role ea Kholu ka hara payment process ea Treasury. O mo lieletse tora. Bashanyana ba jeleng chelete eo Kholu a sa fumanang le sente ea eona ke baruihali kahara Maseru. Bo tsebanyane re bolelleng, ho shejoa eng hore mots’oaruoa a lokolloe? Mohlomong re tla tseba ho etsa liqeto tse hlakileng, mona ke ne ke mpa ke beha litaba ka moo ke li tsebang ka teng.
Comment by Mokhatla on 7 February 2013:
Hantle haeka ho hlaha Mampai a le mong tjee Itumeleng eena o ne a felle kae tabeng tsee hoba ba ne a nkile appeal ba le babeli?
Comment by Chesa Mpama on 7 February 2013:
Lehohla might have realised flaws of the case, the reason why he decided to release Kholu. Lawyer ee ea Kholu e selehe ke mang re hle mo qobe?
Comment by Chesa Mpama on 7 February 2013:
@Mokhatla, Itumeleng was probably acquitted by Appeal Court.
Comment by thabatseka on 7 February 2013:
Good people, Lehohla enoa oa lona is always and boldly making stupid mistakes without any regrets. Here in our good country there is what is called PARDONS COMMITTEE. It is only, and I repeat, only this committee that has the power to advise the king to release a person from prison after all the legal process has been finalised. Whether the highest court has erred or not. Lehohla does not have such powers AT ALL.
The only conclusion one can make under the circumstances in that the BULLDOZER was trying to spite his worst enemy the president of the court of appeal (the carrier of the lesotho money bag).
Lets forgive him hle batho, he was carried away by his hatred for the president to the extend that he forgot his bounderies.
It is not wrong to pardon a person but correct procedures have to be followed. Haeno montu! Haeno! Khale ba ne ba u joetse hore e chaile.
Comment by LEKHOARA on 7 February 2013:
Sephoqo sena sa motlalehi oa litaba hase re joetse hore na hobaneng Lehohla a lokolla bats’oaruoa. hee re lekehile ke ntho tsena tse ipitsang baqolotsi ba litaba.
The Chief Justice has all the powers to order the release of prisoners who were convicted for not serious offences. This prerogative is exercised to release prisoners who have shown signs of rehabilitation to prevent over-crowding.
Joale hale lla tjee ke hobane le ne le nahana hore batho bao bane ba tlameha ho phela chankaneng bophelo ba bona kaofela? [they were going to be release soon anyway]. The Attorney General and the Minister are acting within the law if they feel that some of the prisoners are not yet ready to be integrated back to society.
uena moqolotsi oa litaba o bonahala ona le agenda [I believe you intentionally concealed the reasons for the release of prisoners to promote your agenda, tsoela pele o lore o tlositse Chief Justice le baetsana ba hao]
Comment by Batho on 7 February 2013:
@Bobete, I could not said it better, her lawyer failed her dismally. CJ saw that she is innocent, she only lacked competent legal representer. Her case was easy, if got a competent legal represantation !
Comment by Motlotsuoa on 7 February 2013:
Our judiciary is in shambles and I agree with the majority that it is high time that the the two bullsin this kraal must bit the dust, this fighting has gone past its time. If the government will let this situation then Lesotho will without a shadow of doubt become the banana Republic in no time. This saga is purely political, for eg CJ thinks He can make decisions because now there i a change of government while the President of the Court of Appeal also believed He was untouchable in the past government. We need lasting solutions in this impasse for eg the tenure of the two bull need to be reviewed to have time frame, and for now the Lesotho judiciary needs a foreigners of impecable integrity with no political connections to head both the Appeal Court and the Judiciary… kannete we are tired of this cat and mouse squabbles.
Comment by Sampo on 7 February 2013:
Lefefooane how are you? Got back your spectacles? Lol!
Comment by Lefefooane on 8 February 2013:
@Bobete, @Sampo, I mistook the picture to be that of Masopha. Ke ferekantsoe ke botenya le mafura a bona. Not that I hate fat people but rather I never spent any of my time looking at fat people. That man on the picture is too fat for me to notice who he is. If he is that Phamotse/Scott/vaseline/Motsoetsoe oa mafura then I was correct not to notice him. That LCS PRO is the most stupid of all PROs I have ever hear with my ears. Actually I urge the minister of justice to relieve that Phamotse guy of his duties. Hantle, how did he land on that job? Ka ho haila? He ho haila ho ne ho re senyelitse naha kea cho. People would just get away with anything and everything without any accountability. Even now, people are still stuck in the past. How on earth does our cheif magistrate woops justice justify the release of one hundred and ninty twoi prisoners? My good lord, e tjena taba ke qala ho e utloa!!!
Comment by thabatseka on 8 February 2013:
I repeat, the chief justice has no power to order the release of a convict from prison, whether the offence is big or minor. That is the prerogative of the king on the advice of the pardons committee.
Comment by Lefefooane on 8 February 2013:
@Bobete, bear with me man. Ha kea mo shebisisa monna eno hobane sefahleho sa hae e kae tleu e qetang sebetsoa ka mosaqa. Kamehla tleu ha ke e shebe haholo kamora ho e sebetsa.
Comment by Batho on 8 February 2013:
“If he is that Phamotse/Scott/vaseline/Motsoetsoe oa mafura then I was correct not to notice him”
lol !
Comment by sefate on 9 February 2013:
he banna scott o kae
Comment by kouslousky on 9 February 2013:
constitutional crisis Lesotho, hantle the nigger wants to over excert his power
Comment by keizer on 9 February 2013:
people must stop blamiing the gudges. the collition goverment must have policies that are evented to produce sustainable economy through (LOCAL DIRECT INVESTMENT) when will the goverment of lesotho implement its own laws that suit Basotho not foreiners. its your tern Dr Thabane to show what you are capable of, At first we say bua Thabane now Etsa Thabane kharafu eka letsohong. STOP blamming any one.
Comment by Noko on 9 February 2013:
I just don’t understand the noise about the two convicted criminals being released….
as far as i understand…anyone who has served half of his sentence qualifies for parole….i am not sure under what circumstances the CJ can release prisoners as such powers reside with the King.
Nobody says anything regarding the 190 released prisoners….how holy are the 190….may be you guys know something we do not know….Can you(Lesotho Times) put forward the cases against them as well so that we can make informed judgement as well…..
If the Minister, Attorney General and the Commissioner of prisons can “gang” up against Chief Justice,(excuse the pun), something is not right in our system….i would suggest that we all leap before we jump into conclusions…If it wasn’t Lehohla????…
We have seen criminals released, there was never this noise…nobody ever asked if justice was being served to the children of the deceased….
The 2 criminals in question are not as holy, the issue is, they should not be singled out as though the others have their cases overturned..its all about clemency if i understand clearly…
Lesotho Times is good at giving one sided stories, maybe they have a good reason for that…
When all the news papers were reporting about the exorbitant salaries(M1.2 to M2.4 millions) of the Zimbabwens working at Econet, not a single article was ever published even though the paper is famous for reporting corrupt activities…including this very issue of the release of the two out of 192 prisoners….
Let us first establish if the CJ has such powers, the role of AG, and the Minister in all this…If the commisioner can refuse the instruction from the judge, he can in the future refuse an instruction to imprison…this will set the wrong precedence…. I REST MY CASE…
Comment by halieo on 11 February 2013:
jo
Comment by Lefefooane on 12 February 2013:
@Noko, the reason Lesotho times never reported about looting at Econet Lesotho is a puerely because both Lesotho times and Econet L:esotho are owned by the Zimbabweans. Tsoe ha li tsoane. As for the CJ releasing prisoners I beg to differ. I must admit I am not a law expert. In any case we never have any law experts in this country. However there should be the difference between PAROLE AND PARDON. The former is awarded based on so called “good behavior” and is awarded by the prison officials and or the minister. While PARDON awarded by his Majesty on the advise of the pardons committee.
Comment by Herota on 12 February 2013:
Ma-DC tlohelang lipelo tse bohloko hleng banna, le tla re ha le so bone hore letsatsi le chabetse ka tlung.
LEQE, LEQE, MOHLOLI O CHELE
Ba mo potileng ke mamina feela.
Comment by MJ on 15 February 2013:
Kholu does not qualify, whether she is guilty or not, is not the issue at this point. That was decided some time ago. Which time does not allow her to be released at this time.
Now, who really stole the money doesn’t matter. If she was involved, and was later on caught, then picked a lawyer who couldn’t win her case, then Kholu is guilty.
Sholu ke le ts’oeroeng.