Lesotho PM Thomas Thabane in dock to hear charges of murdering first wife

Published Feb 24, 2020

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Maseru - Lesotho's Prime Minister Thomas

Thabane appeared in court on Monday to hear charges of murdering

his estranged wife, a Reuters witness said.

Thabane, 80, is suspected of involvement in the murder of

his then wife Lipolelo, who was shot dead in June 2017, two days

before he took office for a second stint as premier - and two

months before he married his current wife Maesaiah.

Maesaiah Thabane, 42, has also been charged with the murder,

and police suspect her of ordering assassins to do the job. Both

deny any involvement.

Thabane had initially been scheduled to hear the charges on

Friday, but left to South Africa, which surrounds this

mountainous kingdom on all sides, for what aides said was a

medical appointment.

He has said he will resign at the end of July, and several

members of his own All Basotho Convention (ABC) party have been

pressuring him to go sooner to avert a political crisis.

Lesotho, a tiny mountain territory of 2 million people, has

a history of coups and political instability. Many fear a power

vacuum unless the ABC can agree on a successor, and analysts

expect a general election will have to be called soon. 

Reuters

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