‘They are not our weapons’

MAJOR General Matela Matobakele says only a fraction of the weapons used in violent crimes in Lesotho are stolen by the military.

Major General Matobakle was last week responding to questions from the Parliamentary Cluster of the Prime Minister’s Ministries on human rights abuses by the Lesotho Defense Force (LDF).

He has been asked about speculation that rogue soldiers were stealing weapons from barracks and selling them to gangs who use them to unleash terror.

Major General Matobakele said that while a small percentage of illegal firearms are stolen by the LDF, “the majority consists of substantial weapons smuggled across the border via KwaZulu Natal”.

He noted that some criminals arrested in Mokhotlong reported that some Mozambican buyers of their marijuana paid them with weapons.

“They are new weapons and they are using South Africa as a transit country,” Major General Matobakele said, stressing that the majority of illegal firearms come from outside Lesotho.

“Only a small portion of these weapons come from Lesotho’s security institutions,” he said, stressing that the military has successfully recovered many of their stolen firearms.

“For example,” he said, “of the four weapons that went missing in 2015, three have been recovered in South Africa, while efforts are underway to locate the remaining weapons.”

At the same meeting, Commander Lieutenant General Mojalefa Letsoela said two soldiers who deserted to join the Zama-Zama groups in South Africa have been arrested and returned to the army.

However, Lieutenant General Letsoela did not say what the army did with the deserters.

“Their return was crucial to prevent potential threats to national security,” said Lt. Gen. Letsoela.

“We brought them back because they could be dangerous to the nation,” he said.

“They had joined the groups that recruit a lot of people.”

The commander also disclosed that some of his female soldiers fell in love with the Zama-Zamas and eventually married them.

“Their husbands are involved in criminal activities,” he said, adding that “our soldiers who are husbands of the Zama-Zamas become victims.”

He said they have a case of a soldier who is currently in custody after her husband was involved in criminal activities.

“We kept her there,” he said.

He recalled another recent case in which an officer was accused of taking bribes from illegal gangs.

“That officer was immediately recalled from deployment and taken to Maseru to conduct an investigation to find out if the allegations are true.”

“We found that the said officer was not guilty of taking bribes,” he said.

He further revealed that the influence of the celebrity gangs in their institutions is a real threat.

“We are working hard to put an end to it.”

The chairman of the committee, Rethabile Letlailana, asked Lieutenant General Letsoela why he attended a horse racing event organized by gangsters in Peka, Leribe earlier this year.

The army boss responded that he had been given the impression that the event in honor of Moshoeshoe’s Day on March 11 was organized by the government.

He also said he did not know the man behind the event was a gangster.

“I wrote in my diary that March 11, 2024 was the day I shook hands with an enemy of the state,” he said.

“I wasn’t aware of it, it was a betrayal, it hurts me.”

Staff reporter

The post “They’re Not Our Guns” appeared first on The Post.