The bad blood between the country’s top cop, Police Commissioner Advocate Borotho Matsoso, and one of his deputies, Peseka Mokete, could not have come at a worse time.
No sooner had Prime Minister Sam Matekane managed to convince the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to remove Lesotho from its Troika’s agenda than the two carelessly allowed their acrimony to spill into the public domain.
Outsiders, particularly the hard-to-come-by potential investors, will inevitably read the tension between the two as typical of Lesotho’s behaviour, perpetuating the country’s unwanted tag as the region’s problem child.
Since 2012, with the advent of the first coalition government under former Prime Minister Thomas Thabane, Lesotho’s poor international image has largely stemmed from frictions within the top echelons of the security cluster. The attempted coup of 2012, which resulted in the deaths of one police officer and former army commander Maaparankoe Mahao, can be traced back to tensions among the security cluster’s leadership.
More than a decade later, following the passage of the Tenth Amendment Bill and SADC’s nod at the Madagascar Summit of 17 August 2025, many believed the country would finally turn a new page.
There are, however, more pressing concerns—particularly creating a conducive environment to generate much-needed jobs and grow the economy.
It turns out that Lesotho’s removal from the SADC Troika agenda was merely a lull before another storm. The feud between the two senior cops now threatens to unravel law and order, taking the country two steps backward.
In a post-Covid global economy, investors are spoilt for choice. Every country on the planet is vying for capital, and a nation where top law enforcement officers are publicly fighting paints a deeply undesirable picture.
Lesotho already fares poorly on the ease of doing business index, ranking a meagre 131 out of 137 countries according to the 2024 index. Any chaos in the police branch of the security cluster only signals shaky law and order, discouraging the few investors who may have been willing to give the country a second chance after SADC’s redeeming nod.
We call upon both Adv Matsoso and his deputy to sit down and resolve their differences, sustaining a collegial working relationship for the national good. We hold no brief for either of them, despite some unsubstantiated social media rants by an opposition politician who has been throwing stones at the Lesotho Times.
The Lesotho Times will continue to report on national news “without fear or favour”, because that is journalism’s sacrosanct role: contributing to crucial conversations on national issues.
Authorities must treat this feud with urgency, ensuring the two police leaders rebuild a professional and amicable working relationship that transcends personal differences.
All allegations against either Adv Matsoso or DCP Mokete should be thoroughly investigated and transparently aired, both to reassure Basotho and to allay any fears among the country’s critical development partners and potential investors. False allegations should be exposed, allowing stakeholders to restore confidence in the nation’s senior police officers.
Lesotho’s political environment and economy are still reeling from the ripple effects of dysfunction, exemplified by former army commander Tlali Kamoli, who remains in remand prison nearly nine years after his incarceration. The tremors of Kamoli’s reign of terror continue to reverberate through the country’s political and social fabric, and it will take many more years to restore confidence in Lesotho.
Men and women in blue must remember that they are the last line of defence in efforts to elevate the country’s image from the doldrums of a pariah state. Only by working together can they help Lesotho reclaim a respectable place among nations that others would want to do business with.
