(MENAFN- The Post)
THE decision by Prime Minister Sam Matekane to set up a special task team to investigate a spate of high profile murders in Lesotho could not have come at a better time.
It is an acknowledgement that violent crime has become a national emergency requiring decisive intervention by our national security agencies.
The setting up of the special taskforce comes a few days after two senior business figures were brutally murdered after they had unearthed a multi-million maloti scandal at a local funeral insurance company.
There is widespread consensus that this was not an isolated event where the two were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Instead, there is a feeling that this was a hit and that they were conveniently eliminated after they discovered the rot.
We have no doubt that the latest killings have triggered much soul-searching among those tasked with ensuring our security. Almost a week later, there have been no arrests of the culprits.
That is scary.
What this means is that the killers are still prowling the streets with us, untouched by the long hand of the law enforcement.
What they have essentially succeeded in doing is to spread pandemonium among Basotho by highlighting the fact that no one is safe. We are as a result now living in fear and sleeping in fear.
What the latest killings have done was to merely confirm what we have always known: that we are a violent people who often resort to violence at the slightest of provocations.
We have a deeply entrenched culture of violence that must now be exorcised.
That is why Lesotho has the sixth highest murder rate in the world. The global average murder rate stands at seven per 100 000 people but Lesotho's murder rate stands at six times higher at 41.25.
This is an unwanted record.
But beyond the statistics, there is the pain and destruction these violent murders cause for families. We think of the thousands of children who will have to grow without parental supervision and love.
To fix the crisis, it is important that the government through its security agencies first identify some of the causes lest they misdiagnose the problem.
While most of the violent crime might have roots in our interactions with violent migrant labour hostels in South Africa, we have a judiciary that has struggled to adequately address these challenges.
Starved of resources, our courts system has not properly fulfilled its mandate to clamp down on violent crime. The conviction rate for violent murders remains woefully low.
The law enforcement agencies have not helped matters either. They have failed to crack several high profile murders leaving the perpetrators to walk freely. That has given the people an impression that they are on their own. It has also triggered revenge attacks by individuals aggrieved by the dysfunctional judicial system.
We also have thousands of unlicensed guns in Lesotho that are imported illegally from South Africa. To fight violent crime, the police must seize these weapons from unworthy individuals. Those found with unlicensed guns must pay a higher price through deterrent sentences in the courts of law.
We would also suggest that the government urgently looks into a project that has been gathering dust for years: the case for a“smart city”.
The police need better, sophisticated surveillance systems to combat and pre-empt violent crime. When individuals know they are being watched, they are more likely to toe the line.
The violent murders present perhaps the biggest test to Matekane since his election as Prime Minister last October. He must deliver on his promise to provide a safe environment to every Mosotho.