Justice system in deep crisis

THE withdrawal of murder charges against former Prime Minister Thomas Thabane and his wife, ’Maesaiah, this week sends a wrong message about our justice system in Lesotho.

After failing to locate and bring to court four key witnesses who are said to be holed up in South Africa, the prosecution was left with no choice but to withdraw the charges against the Thabanes.

There are also fears that Thabane and his wife could eventually walk out as free individuals after the prosecution failed to bring them to court during a reasonable time.

By withdrawing the charges, the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) office has opened itself to vicious criticism from ordinary Basotho who remain thoroughly unconvinced by the reasons it has put forward for the withdrawal.

The Lipolelo Thabane murder case remains huge in the eyes of the international press. The reasons are clear: this is a former Prime Minister and his young wife who are accused of a heinous crime.

With the eyes of the international community firmly fixed on Lesotho’s justice system, this trial was a chance for Lesotho to demonstrate its firm commitment to justice and the rule of law. But we have flunked that test.

What the withdrawal of the charges seems to tell us is that there is a set of laws for the rich and powerful and another set for the poor. Unfortunately, the ordinary man and woman on the street thinks the Thabanes have been allowed to get away with murder, literally.

The real victim of all these legal shenanigans are the late Lipolelo Thabane herself, her relatives and friends who have had to endure the pain of loss. As things stand, there is now a very small chance that justice will ever be served for Lipolelo.

That is sad.

But this decision also leaves a huge stain on the office of the DPP. Their explanation is that they could not trace the key witnesses in the case. That sounds odd.

We take this position based on the nature of the case and the precedents that have been set in the last four months or so. And given these precedents, the DPP’s explanation simply cannot fly.

A pattern is slowly emerging of a DPP that is extremely reluctant to charge and prosecute to finality powerful individuals in politics as well as in business circles.

The perception that has been created is that the machinery of justice is only meant to deal with the poor while allowing the rich and well-connected in society to get away easily even when the facts appear to be so clear.

The ordinary man and woman on the street thinks this was a deliberate bungling of what was otherwise a very solid case. Their anger is understandable.

The DPP’s office cannot blame anyone for this perception. They sowed this seed and must now reap the consequences.

Take for instance the recent cases in which powerful individuals have been acquitted in our courts. We can only think here of Tšeliso Nthane, a powerful businessman in Lesotho, and Thabo Moramotse, the son of Lehlohonolo

Moramotse, a powerful government minister.

The people have now concluded, rightly or wrongly, that some of these high profile cases are well-choreographed charades with no real intention to convict the accused. The arrests, trials and court appearances are merely meant to give an impression that some work has been done.

The people are right to make such conclusions. And the DPP must shoulder most of the blame for this crisis.