Maaparankoe Mahao

Mahao joined the Lesotho Defence Force in 1996 as a lawyer. His task was to professionalise the armed forces and in 1998 he was promoted to the rank of captain. That same year, he married 'Mamphanya Mahao, with whom he had three sons. From 2002 to 2007 he served as the Commander of the Special Forces and distinguished himself during the evacuation of the National Assembly after attacks. He was promoted to brigadier general and received the post of military attache in the Basotho embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In 2012 he earned a Master of Peace Studies and Security in Africa from the University of Addis Ababa.[1]

In 2008 he was made chief of staff of the Southern African Development Community Planning Department at the SADC headquarters in Gaborone, Botswana.[1]

On 15 January 2014, Mahao was charged with indiscipline and "behaving in an unbecoming character of an officer, contrary to Section 75 of the Lesotho Defence Force Act 4, 1996" after reprimanding Commando Captain Tefo Hashatsi two days previously. Hashatsi had reportedly been inciting soldiers to rebel should a new commander be appointed, contrary to the law. Surprisingly, the event resulted in Mahao's suspension.[2]

On 29 August 2014, Mahao was promoted to lieutenant-general and appointed by Prime Minister Tom Thabane with the approval of King Letsie III to replace Tlali Kamoli as commander of the LDF. Kamoli had been dismissed for insubordination and refusing to hand over soldiers under his command accused of murder, attempted murder and robbery to the police. He refused to accept his demotion and remained in the post. Soldiers loyal to Kamoli carried out a series of attacks on police stations and high-ranking politicians' homes. Mahao's house was also peppered with bullets and his dog shot and killed, but he and the targeted politicians fled to South Africa, in what was widely deemed a coup- attempt by Kamoli. Pro- Kamoli soldiers claimed that Mahao could not legally be promoted to lieutenant-general, much less LDF commander, because he was still under suspension. The independent SADC commission of inquiry established under Botswana's Justice Mpaphi Phumaphi, would later deem Mahao's appointment by the Prime Minister as legal as the suspension had been quashed.[2]

Even after his return, Mahao was prevented from entering the barracks due to the tense situation, thereby preventing him from formally taking office. Sections of the army remained under Kamoli's control. SADC was called in to negotiate between the two sides, resulting in the snap election of February 2015. Kamoli, Mahao and the chief of police, Khothatso Tsooana, were ordered to leave the country in order to preserve the peace. Mahao was sent to South Sudan, Tsooana to Algeria and Kamoli to South Africa, after various countries refused to accommodate Kamoli for his role in the attempted coup.[3] The talks were led by Vice-President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa.

The election resulted in a narrow win by the opposition and a 7-party coalition government was formed, led by Bethuel Pakalitha Mosisili's Democratic Congress (DC). In April 2015, Mahao received a letter declaring his appointment as LDF commander as well as his promotion to lieutenant-general null and void. Tlali Kamoli was restored to post. Mahao went to court to fight his demotion.[4]

The funeral of Lt. Gen. Maaparankoe Mahao on 11 July 2015 at Mokema, Maseru.

The final report of the Phumaphi Commission[12] was made available in November 2015, but the government refused to receive or publish the report, claiming that interviewing witnesses outside the borders of Lesotho is a breach of legal procedure. The commission had interviewed, as part of its investigations, the three opposition leaders living in exile in South Africa. On 14 December, Prime Minister Mosisili declared that the government would continue to refuse to receive the report until the High Court had settled a case by Lieutenant-Colonel Tefo Hashatsi, implicated in the assassination, challenging the legitimacy of the SADC inquiry. Hashatsi gave testimony to the commission between 31 August and 23 October 2015.[13] In February 2016, the report was finally published. The commission called for the immediate removal of Tlali Kamoli as head of the army among other recommendations.[12] Kamoli remained in the post until he was forced into retirement in November 2016.[14] He was succeeded on 1 December 2016 by his deputy Lt-Gen Khoantle Motsomotso.[15]

In January 2017, the Mahao family appealed to the SADC to oppose the government's handling of the murder investigation. In particular, they opposed the Amnesty Bill[16] introduced in the National Assembly in November 2016 that would grant impunity for all crimes committed by security forces between 2007 and 2015. Professor Nqosa Mahao stated that "The Bill is a hardly veiled and cynical attempt by the government to protect and reward perpetrators of heinous crimes. The Bill is an affront to the rule of law and a license for impunity. It is yet again the clearest statement by the government that it is not intent on holding rogue elements in the LDF to account and amply captures the contempt with which it holds the international community."[17]