The scandal currently gripping Lesotho has everything you’d need to write a compelling soapie plotline.

After nearly a month on the run, Lesotho’s first lady has been formally charged with the murder of her husband’s first wife.

That’s not the whole story, though. To get to the bottom of this, we have to go back to 2017, when it all started.

News24 reported at the time that Lesotho’s Prime Minister, then 78-year-old Tom Thabane, was getting married again.

That in itself is fine, and nobody would have taken much notice, except that the marriage announcement came just three months after the death of Lipolelo Thabane, his estranged wife, who was attacked and gunned down on the side of the road.

Tom Thabane had filed for divorce and his ex-wife was fighting him on it, despite the fact that she knew that he had been seeing another woman.

This is where the current first lady, Maesaiah Thabane (above and below, with her husband), enters the picture.

The attack on Lipolelo (below) was initially assumed to be the work of unknown armed men, but recent court papers filed by the country’s police commissioner paint a different picture.

Over to CNN:

Police told CNN the first lady became a prime suspect after she failed to appear for questioning in January in connection to Lipolelo Thabane’s killing.

She later turned herself in on Tuesday morning at a police station close to the border with South Africa.

Apparently, the court papers suggest that there was telephonic communication at the scene of the crime. Here’s the BBC:

The evidence, seen by AFP news agency, included a copy of a letter that the police chief wrote to Mr Thabane.

The letter, dated 23 December 2019, read: “The investigations reveal that there was a telephonic communication at the scene of the crime in question… with another cell phone. The cell phone number belongs to you.”

The first lady and her husband won’t be the only ones going to court.

Eight others in Lesotho and South Africa are also reportedly facing charges over the murder.

Last month, Mr Thabane agreed to be questioned by the police. On the day he was questioned, hundreds of opposition supporters marched through the streets of the capital, Maseru, demanding his immediate resignation.

He has agreed to step down but claims that it’s his decision and time to retire.

Tune in next time.

[source:news24&cnn&bbc]