Maseru - A memorial service is set to be held for Maaparankoe Mahao, the former lieutenant-general of the Lesotho Defence Force who was gunned down by soldiers in front of his family home last week.
It is alleged the assassination was ordered by the Mahao’s successor Tlali Kamoli, as part of a series of hits throughout the week.
According to sources, some of the targets included junior officers still loyal to former prime minister Tom Thabane, who fled the country in the wake of bloodshed last year.
The memorial service for Mahao is being organised by the Congress of Lesotho Trade Unions (Coletu) and is set to take place on Thursday.
Meanwhile, his family are demanding a comprehensive international investigation into his death.
In a statement addressing UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, President Jacob Zuma and SADC chairperson Robert Mugabe among others, they described how Mahao had been killed.
They claimed he was murdered in cold blood after being ambushed by soldiers driving three vehicles.
The family’s statement relies on the accounts of Mahao’s two nephews with whom he he was driving before being ambushed and shot in cold blood.
The family said the official version being proffered by the Lesotho government that Mahao had died in an exchange of gunfire showed that it was complicit in his assassination.
In a statement released this morning, the union described Mahao as “a democrat, bone and marrow”, who had played a pivotal role in transforming Lesotho into a democracy.
“Let us remember him for dedicating his life to building strong trade unions from 1990 to 1994,” said Lesotho Teachers Trade Union’s general secretary Vuyani Tyhali. “Comrades, let us make a big memorial service to celebrate the life of Lieutenant-General Maaparankoe Mahao, promoted to this rank in 2014.
“He was a true democrat, visionary and revolutionary.”
A venue and time for the memorial service had not yet been announced by the time of going to print, but the union assured its members that it would take place despite turmoil in the country.
On Tuesday, President Jacob Zuma sent his deputy, Cyril Ramaphosa, to Lesotho amid concerns at the deteriorating situation in the country.
This was after a fact-finding mission headed by SA defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, and her Zimbabwean and Namibian counterparts was told by rival parties in Lesotho that a peace and stability would only be possible if the country’s controversial military leader, Kamoli ,stepped down.
Ramaphosa’s visit to the country last year helped avert a coup and brought the elections forward from 2017.
Cape Argus