Lesotho soldiers� wives put their hopes on Khama
Onalenna Kelebeile | Wednesday June 29, 2016 09:19
In fact, Khama the president, will be judged against Khama the army commander, who in 1998, played a big role in restoring peace and stability that seems to elude the mountain Kingdom every time it holds elections.
While Lesotho Prime Minister Phakalitha Mosisili was enjoying the company of fellow Heads of States attending the SADC Troika, his compatriots were sleeping in their vehicles on the outskirts of Gaborone hoping for good news from the Gaborone International Convention Centre where the leaders were meeting since yesterday.
Many of them have come here wearing political party regalia.Among the Basotho ‘attending’ the Heads of State extra ordinary Summit, which ends today, are close to 20 wives of Lesotho Defence Force soldiers who are detained at Lesotho Maximum Security State Prison. Their hope is that Khama will restore political stability in their troubled Kingdom before the arrival of King Mswati III of Swaziland who will take over at the next SADC summit in August. They fear for the worst under King Mswati who does not even allow political parties in his own country.
They also hope that their presence will trigger the international community to take action against what they call human rights abuses inflicted on their husbands.
The 24 soldiers were detained in 2015 and charged with planning mutiny. Eight of them have since been granted bail. Twenty-six others are in exile in South Africa.
Leading the group is the widow of slain army commander Mamphanya Mahao. The women bemoaned that their country seems to fail to attract any slight attention from the international community. They said they are also suffering emotionally, physically and financially.
“Our husbands have been subjected to torture, unlawful arrest and various forms of human rights abuses for a period of over a year now. These include the right to fair trial, the right to life, which was taken from the former commander of the Lesotho Defence Force,” they said in a statement. The soldiers were detained last year on charges of planning a mutiny and have not been brought before a court of law. The soldiers’ wives said that the situation worsened recently when the children of the detained and exiled soldiers organised a Father’s Day celebration and the prison warders heard about it.
“In preparation for the event, the children went to different media houses around Lesotho. Subsequent to that, the detained soldiers were subjected to more dehumanising torture, they were denied food and medication for two days. The five senior soldiers in detention were put in solitary confinement for a period of three days as part of punishment for their children organising the Father’s Day celebrations,” the statement reads. The women said that the harassment was extended to the Mahao family whose dogs were poisoned and killed a few days later, followed by a break-in at the medical facility where they often take their husbands for medical check-ups. Medical records were stolen during the break-in.
“Further we wish to express disappointment that the government of Lesotho is not willing to address similar concerns raised by us to them. We believe that the government approves of what is happening to our husbands,” they stated.