Maseru, May 28 — The Commission Of Inquiry has found one of the Lesotho Correctional Service Recruits, Khethisa Masenyetse, untruthful to the Commission based on evidence he provided.
Mr. Masenyetse, who is currently the Correctional Officer was implicated in the testimony provided before the Commission earlier by one of the Lesotho Defence Force inmates Marasi Moleli.
He said he did not kick the latter, nor see any recruit assaulting inmates or hear anyone crying during the general search exercise that was conducted at Maseru Central Correctional Institution (MCCI) on December 22, 2023.
The Commission Chairperson Justice Realeboha Mathaba therefore said the observation he has made is that Masenyetse was not telling the truth unless someone gives a different version supporting his testimony.
He added that there are aspects in Masenyetse’s testimony that gives him no reason to say he was not lying before the Commission.
” Where the witness lies before the Commission, we have to say it” he added, saying Masenyetse does not want the Commission to believe Moleli yet he said he had no reason why the commission could not trust what Moleli said.
Justice Mathaba therefore said he was telling Masenyetse what the commission has observed so that he could not be surprised as he will have to provide submissions on why the above cannot stand.
Although Masenyetse said he did not see any inmate assaulted or heard anyone crying, he said he only saw one inmate who was on wheelchair and is now paralysed, also denying that the search exercise was chaotic.
He also maintained that of the 110 recruits he trained with for nine months, he only knows 5 and others are called by their nicknames but even failed to mention those nicknames when instructed to.
The Commission therefore found him untruthful even on this matter.
The Commission of Inquiry is expected to complete the work within two months and was established with the objective to investigate the circumstances that led to the escape and assault of inmates which resulted in the death of one inmate leaving the other paralyzed in December last year at MCCI.
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