Lesotho police seek first lady for questioning

Messiah Thabane, the wife of Lesotho’s prime minister, is wanted for questioning by police in connection to the killing of the prime minister’s former wife two years ago. 

Ms Thabane failed to appear in court for questioning on Friday, prompting a magistrate to issue a warrant for her arrest. Her whereabouts remains unknown after police raided the prime minister’s official residence on Friday, finding nothing. Ms Thabane has until Monday to present herself to the police. 

Government spokesperson, Nthankeng Selinyane, told the BBC that the police are ready to request international support if necessary. 

Prime Minister Tom Thabane’s former wife, Lipolelo Thabane, was shot dead on the outskirts of the capital, Masero, in June 2017. Two days later, Mr Thabane acceded to the premiership and he remarried within a couple of weeks. New court documents filed by Lesotho’s police commissioner claim that a call was placed from the murder scene to the prime minister’s phone on the day of the shooting. 

The killing of Mrs Thabane was initially blamed on a wave of political violence in Lesotho, which had been teetering on the political brink since an attempted coup in 2014. 

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