THE two policemen who killed the former Lesotho Electricity Company (LEC)’s head of Internal Audit Thibello Nteso over three years ago have begged for mercy, claiming they were victims of treason and never received counselling.
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Dec. 15, 2020
THANDIE MTHIMKHULU
2 min read
Nteso’s killers beg for mercy
The late head of LEC's Internal Audit Thibello Nteso
Police Constables Moeketsi Dlamini and Monaheng ’Musi were last week convicted of the murder and the High Court on Tuesday this week scheduled their sentencing to January 13, 2021.
Pleading for a lesser sentence, the duo’s lawyer Advocate Lebohang Ramakhula told Justice Moroke Mokhesi that his clients acted the way they did because they were still traumatised by the treason that allegedly occurred in 2014.
Mr Nteso was gunned down execution style near former Police Commissioner Molahlehi Letsoepa’s residence in Maseru West on February 6, 2017.
The convicted police officers were members of the police Special Operations Unit (SOU) and were on guard duties at Commissioner Letsoepa’s residence when the incident occurred.
Mr Nteso was murdered immediately after presenting preliminary findings of a forensic audit, which showed that more M170 million had been embezzled from LEC.
In their defence, the convicts who had pleaded not guilty claimed that they opened fire on the deceased’s car after they had noticed a firearm holder in the vehicle, which was parked near Letsoepa’s home.
They argued that they thought the occupant of the car was planning an attack on the former commissioner’s residence.
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“The trauma forced them to act the way they did when they saw the gun holder in Mr Nteso’s car and they used their AK 47 assault rifles because those were the only firearms they had in their possession at the time,” Adv Ramakhula said.
He submitted that the convicts are family men with wives and children to support, adding they are also sole breadwinners of their families.
“They even helped the deceased to get medical attention after he was shot, which shows that they never meant to kill him,” he also said.
The convicts were also found guilty of maliciously damaging Mr Nteso’s car, which they riddled with bullet holes during the attack.
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