Security concerns: Officials fearful

• Ombudsman not stripped of security on army’s instruction
• Govt assets recovery team’s boss also uneasy with her personal security.

LINEO MALATALIANA,

‘MATHATO SEBOKA and

MOTSAMAI MOKOTJO

MASERU – Two female heads of government institutions have in recent weeks been gripped by fear, concerned of their safety and security, Public Eye can reveal. The Ombudsman, Advocate Tlotliso Polaki, hinted in a recent media briefing upon release of the hard-hitting ‘Military torture and detention inquiry’ report that her safety and security had become a source of concern for her.

Advocate Polaki, on March 12 tabled the report which detailed tales of horror on how police and military operations affected victims and their families – when also traumatizing communities from which they came as the security agencies went in search for illegal firearms.

It is following this publication of the report that the Ombudsman first, felt signs of unease surrounding her personal security. Advocate Polaki has confirmed in a Public Eye interview that she does not feel particularly safe given the state of her security. She, however, said she was not in a position to discuss the finer details pertaining to her safety and security – only admitting that to harbouring grave concerns.  

Polaki compared her current situation to that of the Ugandan Inspector General who was brutally assassinated in broad daylight. Assistant Inspector General of the Ugandan Police force, Andrew Felix Kawesi, who was also the police spokesperson and head of the Human Resource Development department, was brutally murdered by four gunmen on March 17, 2017. The shooting took place as he was leaving his home in Kulambiro, a suburb of Kampala, the capital, to go to work.

The gunmen also claimed the lives of Kaweesi’s driver, Godfrey Mambewa, and his bodyguard, Corporal Kenneth Erau.

Kaweesi was the third government official to be killed in this manner within a three-year period. One of the victims during this period was a Senior Principal State Attorney, Joan Kagezi, who was working on several high profile cases. She was killed on March 30, 2015, as she stopped by a fruit vendor on her way home.

Advocate Polaki highlighted that: “Due to the sensitivity of investigations carried out by the Ombudsman’s office, the bearer is naturally faced with the risk of breach of security.”

She said the Office of the Ombudsman, globally, faces similar risks attached to their safety and security.

“The ombudsman’s office is designed to probe and investigate issues that unsettle people and their lives, and these people find ways to retaliate…and in ways that may put the Ombudsman at risk,” Advocate Polaki said.   

Sources close to Polaki’s office have confirmed to this publication that she had indeed been rattled and worried about her safety, feeling threatened by the Lesotho Defence Force following the release of her report. She was terrified most by visible public disdain hurled her way by the institution – with allegations that even her private phone number was deliberately shared with the public by the army, the source said.

While her military security was stripped, this paper has learned from the same source that the revocation was not done under instructions of the LDF commander, Lieutenant General Mojalefa Letsoela, but “by a government minister who went as far as interrogating the police Special Operations Unit (SOU) demanding answers on the reasons the unit was engaged to protect the Ombudsman after her military protection was withdrawn at the behest of the same minister.”

The SOU continues to shoulder security functions related to the Ombudsman to date, following withdrawal of her military guard.

The source further said the minister, known to the Office of the Ombudsman, went on to justify these actions by arguing that Advocate Polaki does not qualify for VIP protection because of her salary bracket.

This has been done despite that fact that due to the nature of the Ombudsman’s work and the sensitivity of the cases she handles; the Ombudsman is entitled to security.

But the source revealed that in just over a year of having military security detail, Advocate Polaki was “stripped of protection by parliament.”

According to Members of Parliament Salaries (Amendment of Schedule) of 2023, Regulations, Members of Parliament in the salary bracket Category A to C enjoy among other benefits the privilege of a bodyguard detail.

However, Members of Parliament in Category D and those under the Statutory Salaries (Amendment of Schedule) of 2023, Regulations, enjoy standard benefits devoid of the privilege of bodyguard detail.  

Public Eye has established, despite this claim, that other bearers of statutory positions in the Ombudsman’s salary bracket still enjoy VIP protection – such as the director general to the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences and commissioners to various statutory establishments.

Advocate Polaki reels from this security quandary while Government Assets Search Recovery Task Team (GASRTT) chairperson, Advocate Seeng Matšosa, has also castigated government for lack of security in the position she holds, a risk stemming from dangers associated with her job.

A concerned Matšosa told Public Eye this week that unlike other senior officers in high-risk positions such as the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Ombudsman, she has been left to fend for herself when it comes to personal safety and protection.

“My job inherently is dangerous, it doesn’t make sense that I don’t have security. I remember that during an investigation relating to the alleged December 2023 violations of torture at the Lesotho Correctional Services, one senior official conducting investigations was provided with a security detail, which he still enjoys.

“Prime Minister (Ntsokoane) Matekane and the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Limpho Tau, are aware of my situation. However, the buck stops with the Principal Secretary-Cabinet, who needs to inform superiors,” a concerned Matšosa said.

Apart from security concerns, she further highlighted that the GASRTT does not have a legal standing since they were established via a cabinet decision, it makes it difficult for them to execute their duties.

“Only yesterday (Tuesday), everyone was searching for me because the Minister had to go and provide answers to the Senate about the work of my team.

“My fear is that one we will be faced with a legal action if continue to operate in this fashion. We were promised that Ntate Tau and the Minister of Law (Richard Ramoeletsi) would expedite our legal existence, but this hasn’t materialized,” the chairperson told this publication.

She further said that budget constraints have also contributed to their lacklustre, yet dangerous, duty of recovering seized government assets. A meagre M3 million was allocated to the team when it first started operations, but that was cut the following year to M2 million.

“Currently we solely depend on the Cabinet and don’t have even the budget we used to receive for operations,” she said.

During his inauguration in 2022, Prime Minister Ntsokoane, announced that the government would take stock of all properties belonging to it in a bid to reduce wastage.

This was further articulated by Tau in March 2023, when he said the government had established an 11-member task team meant to investigate and reclaim its assets.

“The team has hit the ground running and is leaving no stone unturned in our quest to recover government assets that were acquired unlawfully by individuals since independence in 1966,” Tau said during a press briefing.

Commenting on these developments, political scientist and analyst, Dr Tlohang Letsie, said that if indeed the Ombudsman was stripped of her military security detail then that simply shows that we are exposing the country and bearers of sensitive key positions in government.

“Security reforms are urgently needed as they will clarify and clearly apportion responsibilities such as that for protecting VIPs,” Letsie said.

He showed that in other countries there are specific agencies mandated solely for the protection of the VIPs.

“In other countries there are VIP teams inside the police department mandated to protect the VIPs” Letsie added, indicating that this has to be explicitly outlined in the constitution.

“That team has to have a constitution which will obligate them to do their job, this is the reason why Lesotho has to speed up the security reforms” Letsie said.

On the other hand, Government Spokesperson, Thabo Sekonyela, said that the Ombudsman was not stripped of her security detail.

He said the security was changed ordinarily from military to the police SOU.

“It was just administrative issues. This has not happened because there is a problem between the LDF and Ombudsman. The perception that the soldiers were withdrawn because of the Ombudsman’s report is untrue, her security and protection was allocated to the SOU even before the publication of such a report,” Sekonyela said.

Sekonyela indicated that Ombudsman’s main concern about the current security is the number of personnel on the detail.

“Her main concern is the limited number of police that guard her, when others have gone off-duty she is left at a high risk.”