MASERU – A bodyguard to Terene famo gang leader, Ntei Tšehlana, yesterday delivered a moving eulogy to his boss who was gunned down two weeks ago.
Kurata Lehloka was speaking during a memorial service for Tšehlana that was held at The Memorial Hall in Maseru.
Addressing the mourners yesterday, Lehloka said he was sleeping in his car when Tšehlana was shot dead.
Lehloka said they had attended a Democratic Congress (DC) concert in Mokhotlong when an unknown man shot him.
Lehloka told the mourners that Tšehlana left him in the car when he went into his house.
And minutes later, he heard gun shots.
But he was not aware that it was his boss that was being gunned down.
He said the persistence of the gun shots sent a signal that there was something amiss.
Lehloka said during the commotion, one woman came to him and asked about the whereabouts of Tšehlana.
He said the lady told him that Tšehlana had just been shot.
The lady then showed him the car that was rushing him to hospital.
Amid the chaos, Lehloka said he quickly removed stickers of Terene from his car as he thought he might also be in danger.
The mourners heard that the following Monday when Tšehlana was admitted at Queen ’Mamohato Memorial Hospital, he communicated with Lehloka.
Lehloka further told the mourners that he did everything he could to see that his boss got medical attention.
Sadly, the nurses told him they would then only attend to him on Thursday.
He said the following day, which was Tuesday, Tšehlana was online and they talked again.
In that conversation, Lehloka told Tšehlana that he would see him on Thursday.
Forcing back tears, Lehloka said on Thursday at around 4am, he received the devastating news from the DC youth leader Moeketsi Shale that Tšehlana was dead.
“I could not believe what I was told,” Lehloka said.
A large group of DC supporters attended the memorial service.
His friends and colleagues were also in attendance.
Mokherane Tsatsanyane, who is the MP for Stadium Area constituency, said Tšehlana was an influential person because he persuaded him to join the DC.
Tsatsanyane said Tšehlana always wanted to maintain peace between the two warring famo groups – Seakhi and Terene.
Libuseng Malataliana, Tšehlana’s comrade in Terene, said Tšehlana was “a parent and a friend” to them.
Malataliana said Tšehlana loved his work and was always calm when approaching people.
Lemohang Tšehla & Mpana Mofao