...demands answers over leaked Scott letter
FORMER Minister of Small Business Development, Chalane Phori, has launched a scathing attack on the Lesotho Correctional Service (LCS) following the leak of an "incriminating" letter allegedly penned by convicted murderer and notorious criminal, Lehlohonolo Scott.
Mr Phori, who is also a prominent member of the All Basotho Convention (ABC), has demanded accountability from the LCS, accusing the service of gross negligence in allowing such sensitive information to be leaked.
The controversial letter, which was leaked to the media last week, contains shocking allegations implicating high-profile government officials, including Mr Phori, in Scott's escape from Maximum Security wing of the Maseru Central Correctional Institution in 2012.
Mr Phori has therefore accused the LCS of failing in its duties to maintain the confidentiality and security of inmates' communications, especially in such a high-profile case.
Mr Phori's demand comes after the Sunday Express, published an article dubbed "Former ministers fingered in Scott's escape" in which Scott claims to have been aided by Mr Phori and others to escape from the maximum security prison, a few months after his 2012 arrest.
Prominent lawyer, Advocate Haae Phoofolo KC, who served as Minister of Justice, Human Rights, Correctional Services, Law and Constitutional Affairs, the late prominent businessman and a financial sponsor of the ABC, Thabiso Tšosane, and a host of LCS officers had also allegedly facilitated the escape.
Mr Phori's lawyers, Hudssons Chambers, penned a letter to the LCS Commissioner, Mating Nkakala, yesterday. The letter is also copied to Minister of Law and Justice Richard Ramoeletsi, Attorney General Rapelang Motsieloa and Scott.
"We consider that a broad view should be taken of each letter or report Scott is said to have written in relation to circumstances of his escape from custody......
"We do not overlook the fact that Lehlohonolo Scott has no access to print media. That, of course, does not end the matter for you know very well that you should account for leaked communication of convicted criminals with the outside world and newspapers."
Scott allegedly wrote about four letters to the LCS deputy Commissioner, Matingoe Phamotse, seeking audience with the LCS command to discuss the escape and identities of people who had "helped" him escape. However, Mr Phamotse had denied knowledge of such letters.
However, Mr Phori demands the discovery of such letters which he says would advise his next move.
"We demand that you discover the letters and reports he (Scott) made so that we can adequately advise our client. We intend to deal with this matter in a manner that is objectively verifiable in order to avoid narratives that have the potential to spiral into subjective vortex of uncertainty. This point gives rise to an interesting enquiry which we feel must be conducted before we deal with the inept handling of sensitive security issues by your personnel.
"For the record, our client has nothing to do with Lehlohonolo Scott. We respectfully record that it is undesirable and not necessary in the circumstances of this case to blame Sunday Express newspaper at this stage before your officers who coordinated this whole defamatory scheme are identified and dealt with accordingly, hence we demand that you provide us with the letters and reports so that we can formulate our claims against the government with sufficient precision and particularity.
"We direct that you make sure Mr Phamotse and Scott get this correspondence. We wish to establish whether Mr Phamotse's explanation that he never received letters and or reports from Scott might reasonably possibly be true as it would seem from reading the newspaper that letters might have arrived at the office of Mr Phamotse at different times and for different purposes without query or demur. If the said Mr Phamotse received the letters and did not act lawfully in carrying out his duties of reporting crime, we cannot ignore the reality that it would be helpful to have clarification on his conduct unless the occasion arises where you might also be implicated.
"There are discreet legal issues of public importance that are going to affect the future conduct of LCS officials and inmates in the future arising from this Scott episode."
Mr Phori further alleged that the leak was a deliberate attempt by certain individuals within the LCS to tarnish the image of the LCS. He called for a thorough investigation to identify and punish those responsible for the leak, insisting that such incidents erode public trust in the country's correctional institutions.
"There are broader societal implications of the release of Scott from prison or his escape as it were to which you must assist in clarifying legal and constitutional obligations of your office in a manner that assures the citizens that you are fit for the job.
"We refer to this issue only to indicate that we need answers and not conspiracy theories of Vaseline. In any event, we also wish you discover the report compiled by the people who were commissioned to deal with the escape of Scott from prison. That report ought to have been shared with the families of the victims and the High Court of Lesotho.
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"We give all the parties involved chance to bring all proof, if any, to show that there are steps to be taken to probe accusations levelled against disservice at the prison," Mr Phori said.
Scott was first arrested on 12 July 2012 for the murder of his Koalabata neighbours, Moholobela Seetsa and Kamohelo Mohata.
He was accused alongside his mother, 'Malehlohonolo Scott, with whom he stayed at their Koalabata residence where body parts of Lehata and Seetsa were retrieved by the police.
Scott escaped from prison on 14 October 2012, allegedly by smearing himself with petroleum jelly (Vaseline) so he could slip through the window barricades.
After almost two years on the run, Scott was re-arrested in Durban, South Africa, on 6 April 2014, by the South African Police Service at the request of the Lesotho Mounted Police Service. He lost his fight against extradition in the Verulam Magistrate's Court on 5 May 2015. He was subsequently extradited to Lesotho on 21 October 2015, to stand trial.
Justice Teboho Moiloa found Scott and 'Malehlohonolo guilty on 23 June 2020 and sentenced Scott to life imprisonment while the mother, who was gravely ill at the time, was slapped with a suspended three-year sentence. 'Malehlohonolo died in January 2021. They are accused of committing the murders for ritual purposes.
