Maaparankoe Mahao

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Maaparankoe Mahao (born January 27, 1968 in Thaba-Tseka , † June 25, 2015 in Mokema , Maseru district ) was a Lesothic general. His appointment as commander of the Lesotho Defense Force (LDF) in 2014 led to an attempted coup by his predecessor, Kennedy Tlali Kamoli . After Kamoli's return to office, Mahao was murdered by soldiers.

Life

Mahao was born the sixth of seven children. His father worked as a domestic worker and was socialist. Maaparankoe Mahao attended Mokema Primary School from 1976 and St. Joseph's High School in Maseru from 1982 . He became a member of the Lesotho Patriotic Youth Organization (LPYO), which stood up against the military government at the time. He received a Bachelor of Law from the National University of Lesotho in 1992 and an LL.B. There he was President of the Committee for Action and Solidarity for Southern African Students (CASSAS) and Chairman of the Students' Representative Council (SRC). He was a co-founder of the Lesotho Youth Federation and was one of the founders of the Popular Front for Democracy (PFD) in 1990/1991 , of which he belonged until it shifted to the right in 2014.

Joining the LDF

Mahao joined the Lesotho Defense Force as a lawyer in 1996. His task was to professionalize the armed forces. In 1998 he became captain . In the same year he married 'Mamphanya Mahao, with whom he had three sons. From 2002 to 2007 he was commander of the Special Forces and distinguished himself, among other things, in the evacuation of the National Assembly after attacks. He was promoted to brigadier and received the post of military attaché at the Lesotho embassy in Addis Ababa . In 2012 he obtained a Master of Peace Studies and Security in Africa from the University of Addis Ababa .

In 2008 he became Chief of Staff for SADC's Planning Department at the headquarters of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Gaborone . In 2014 he was supposed to answer before a military court for “indiscipline and behavior that was unworthy of an officer”.

Events from August 29, 2014

On August 29, 2014, Mahao was appointed by Prime Minister Tom Thabane with the approval of King Letsie III. promoted to commander of the LDF in lieu of Kamolis in the rank of lieutenant general . However, Kamoli did not accept his dismissal and attempted a coup. However, soldiers loyal to Kamoli raided several police stations and the homes of high-ranking government politicians, who then fled to South Africa . Mahao's house in Koalabata was also attacked, but Mahao had also fled; only Mahao's dog was shot.

Even after his return, Mahao was unable to enter the barracks due to the tense situation, so that he was in fact unable to take up his post while Kamoli had parts of the army under his control. Negotiations took place at SADC level, in which new elections were decided in February 2015 . In order to pacify the situation, Kamoli and Mahao as well as the police commander had to leave the country until after the elections.

The elections ended with a narrow victory for Thabane opponents under Bethuel Pakalitha Mosisili . Mahao received a letter from the new government in April null and void his appointment in August and downgraded him to the rank of brigadier. Instead, Kamoli was reinstated as commander with retroactive effect from August 30, 2014. Mahao tried to take legal action against his demotion.

Assassination attempt on Mahao and its aftermath

On June 25, 2015, Mahao left his farm in Mokema with two nephews. His car was wedged in by three military vehicles, soldiers shot him with AK-47 rifles, bleeding, dragged him into a military vehicle and drove him away. The nephews were first arrested and later released so that they could describe the attack in detail. The time of Mahao's death remained unclear. The Defense Department later claimed that Mahao should have been arrested for attempting a coup, but resisted and was therefore shot.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attack on Mahao on June 26 and demanded full clarification. South African Vice President Cyril Ramaphosa traveled to Lesotho after the attack and also visited the Mahaos family. The SADC decided to set up a commission of inquiry under the direction of the Botswana judge at the High Court, Mpathi Phumaphi (see also Phumaphi Commission ). Two South African doctors working on behalf of SADC and a doctor appointed by the Mahaos family carried out an autopsy . Accordingly, Mahao was inflicted eleven gunshot wounds with automatic weapons.

Employees at the National University of Lesotho went on strike in solidarity with Mahao's death. Mahao was buried in Mokema on July 11th. Thousands attended the ceremony. The opposition parties called for a general strike on July 13 and 14, which was partially followed.

The Phumaphi Commission interviewed three opposition politicians living in exile in South Africa. The Commission's final report was presented in November. However, the Lesotho government refused to accept it and thus to publish it, since it saw the questioning of witnesses outside the country's borders as a violation of the law. The report was published in February 2016 after Lesotho was threatened with expulsion from the SADC. The report called for Kamolis to be removed from office, but he remained in office until the end of November 2016.

In January 2017, the Mahaos family complained to the SADC about the slow investigation. Instead, the government presented an amnesty law to the National Assembly in November 2016 ( Amnesty Bill, 2016 ), which would grant impunity for all crimes committed by members of the security forces between 2007 and 2015. The Mosisili government was voted out of office in June 2017. Two of the officers who were instrumental in Mahao's death shot and killed Kamoli's successor Motšomotšo on September 5, 2017 before they were shot themselves. Eight other suspect soldiers were arrested on December 1, 2017.

The trial of eight suspects began on May 2, 2019. The presiding judge is Charles Hungwe from Zimbabwe .

Others

Maaparankoe Mahao's brother Nqosa Mahao was Vice Chancellor of the National University of Lesotho from 2014 to 2019 and has been Vice Chairman of the ruling All Basotho Convention since 2019 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f CV at publiceyenews.com (English), archive version
  2. ↑ a b Brigadier Mohao survives assassination attempt. lestimes.com, September 2014, accessed July 28, 2015
  3. ↑ Mahao resorts to legal means to fight his demotion. ( Memento from July 28, 2015 in the web archive archive.today ) informativenews.co.ls from April 28, 2015 (English)
  4. ↑ a b c SADC leaders to probe Lesotho killing soldiers shot Mahao and dragged his bleeding body across the road. ( Memento of August 7, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Mail & Guardian of July 4, 2015 (English)
  5. ↑ Statement from un.org (English), accessed on July 28, 2015
  6. ↑ a b Judge to lead Mahao death probe named. lestimes.com, July 16, 2015, accessed July 28, 2015
  7. ↑ Mahao autopsy revealed. lestimes.com of December 17, 2015 (English), accessed December 17, 2015
  8. ↑ Torched Taxis. lestimes.com of July 16, 2015 (English), accessed April 28, 2015
  9. ↑ Lesotho premier makes bold SADC declaration ( Memento from December 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) at en.starafrica.com from December 13, 2015 (English)
  10. ↑ SADC report (PDF), accessed on February 15, 2016
  11. ^ Mahao family appeals to SADC. Lesotho Times, January 27, 2017, accessed January 27, 2017
  12. ↑ Lesotho tilting towards gun culture. southernafrican.news of September 11, 2017, accessed on September 11, 2017
  13. ^ Soldiers arrested for Mahao's murder. Lesotho Times, December 2, 2017, accessed December 4, 2017
  14. ^ Zim judge to deal with army killings in Lesotho. bulawayo24.com dated February 8, 2019 (English), accessed on February 8, 2019
  15. ↑ Kamoli to wait longer for Mahao murder trial. Lesotho Times, April 9, 2019, accessed April 29, 2019
personal data
SURNAME Mahao, Maaparankoe
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Lesothic general
DATE OF BIRTH January 27, 1968
PLACE OF BIRTH Thaba-Tseka
DATE OF DEATH June 25, 2015
Place of death near Mokema , Maseru (district)