The party is over and the curtains has come down on the Prime Minister of Lesotho, Thomas Thabane.
On Thursday, in a televised speech in the capital, Maseru, Mr. Thabane announced his resignation.
“Today I wish to reiterate my announcement to retire from office. I might still have the necessary zeal and fervor to continue serving my people and country, but the truth is that at my age I have lost most of my energy. I’m not as energetic as I use to be a few years ago,” he said.
The 80-year old said the decision has been the hardest he’s made in his career. His resignation follows immense pressure from the ruling party and the opposition to resign after he was linked with the murder of his former and late wife Lilopelo Thabane. Lilopelo was shot dead in June 2017 near her home in the capital Maseru two days before he took office.
On Thursday, the deputy police commissioner, Paseka Mokete, said the 80-year old leader will be charged with the murder of his late wife.
“The prime minister is going to be charged with the murder. The police are preparing directives and he will probably be charged tomorrow,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Paseka Mokete told Reuters by telephone.
Already police are closing in on his current wife, Maesaiah Thabane, who is accused of ordering the hit. She was detained this month and charged with ordering the murder, but is currently out on bail.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta was the last head of state to see him before he was forced out of office.
Last year in the month of December, Mr. Thabane became the first Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Lesotho to undertake a state visit to Kenya after he touched down at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for a three day state visit.
He was formally received by his host President Kenyatta at a colourful ceremony that included a guard of honour mounted by a detachment of the Kenya Army and a 19-gun salute.
The elaborate state reception ceremonies were followed by a private meeting between the two leaders before they led their respective delegations in bilateral talks that culminated in the signing of three pacts namely; a Joint Commission for Cooperation (JCC), a Memorandum of Understanding for Bilateral consultations as well as a Memorandum of Understanding in the Field of Sports.
Mr. Kenyatta was banking on Thabane’s support and through him that of other members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in campaigning for Kenya’s candidature for the UNSC non-permanent seat in the election slated for June next year.
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