He was shot around midnight on Saturday as he parked his car after returning from work. His wife, Tsitsi Mutungamiri, said she heard several gunshots and then screamed for help before going out of the home after the shots had ended. She found her husband slumped in the car bleeding profusely after one bullet shattered his jaw.
The shooting is the culmination of what has been a few tough weeks for the company, which has faced serious hostility from the government of Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili, who accuse its newspapers of being too critical of it.
Mutungamiri was initially picked up for interrogation by police detectives on June 23, 2016, after the Lesotho Times published two reports deemed to have defamed the powerful commander of the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) Tlali Kennedy Kamoli. One report suggested that the Lesotho government was discussing a proposal for a hefty R40-million pay-out for Kamoli to exit the LDF in line with a recommendation by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) inquiry into Lesotho’s instability that Kamoli be relieved from his post. Another story was a satirical column which argued that Lesotho was far better off without General Kamoli.
Publisher and CEO Basildon Peta was subsequently summoned to the police and charged with criminal defamation and crimen injuria over the contents of the satirical column that goes by the moniker Scrutator. He was released on R30 800 bail and surety on July 6, 2016. He is due back in court on July 19.
