It is a sordid affair at the top of the state which poisons the political life of the already unstable little kingdom of Lesotho. Thomas Thabane, the Prime Minister, is suspected by the justice of having killed in 2017, his ex-wife Lipolelo Thabane.

Friday, February 21, he was to appear in court to be charged with this murder in which is also involved his current wife Maesaiah Thabane. But the 80-year-old politician "left for medical check-ups in South Africa," Thabo Thakalekoala, his personal secretary, told AFP. He will therefore not be present in court.

"It's a routine check. He goes to South Africa regularly," added Thabo Thakalekoala. "When the doctors think he is well, they will let him go," he said. But coincidentally, Thomas Thabane left the country on Thursday, the same day that Lesotho police announced that he was going to be formally charged.

Is he running away from justice? If the Prime Minister tries to evade justice, the police will issue an arrest warrant, a police spokesman said Friday.

"We have been informed that he has left for a routine medical check-up," Paseka Mokete, police number 2, told reporters. "According to sources, he is in South Africa. We are waiting to speak with his lawyer who must tell us where he is exactly," he added.

"We have a lot of evidence against the Prime Minister. His phone is not the only evidence we have. There is plenty of other evidence," he said without further details. A suspicious phone call, made from the Prime Minister's cell phone, was located at the murder site on the day of the crime, police said.

A stalled investigation for two years

Lipolelo Thabane, 58, was murdered on June 16, 2017, in Ha'Masana, a village 35 km from the capital Maseru, two days before the swearing in of her husband as head of government. The couple was in the process of divorce.

Thomas Tabane had also appeared during the inauguration ceremony alongside his new wife Maesaiah Thabane, now 43 years old.

The investigation stalled for two years, until the latter was charged in early February with the murder of her rival. She is currently on bail.

According to the New York Times, the two women each claimed the title of First Lady as well as the benefits of the function: having a driver, a vehicle and a bodyguard. Maesaiah Thabane believed that she was the legitimate wife of the Prime Minister because of her continuous relationship with the Prime Minister. But in 2015, justice had concluded that this title reverted to Lipolelo Thabane, until the final proclamation of the divorce.

The many twists and turns in the case could take the Prime Minister and plunge the small country of 2.2 million inhabitants, landlocked in the interior of South Africa into a new chronic crisis.

On Tuesday, the ruling party, the Congress of All Basotho (ABC), as well as the opposition had issued an ultimatum to the Prime Minister to resign. Thursday, during a speech on public radio and television, Thomas Thabane announced that he would leave his post by "the end of July", for health reasons.

"I will be leaving the post of prime minister at the end of July this year or sooner if the preparations for my departure have been completed," he said. "Beyond this date, I will be available to give advice to my successor," he added.

Political instability

Lesotho has been plagued by political instability since the overthrow in August 2014 of Thomas Thabane, first elected in 2012, by his former chief of staff Tlali Kamoli, whom he had just dismissed.

Mediation from South Africa, which has a preponderant influence on the small kingdom, made it possible to organize early elections in 2015 won by the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) of Pakalitha Mosisili.

Back from exile, Thomas Thabane finds his seat as Prime Minister in 2017, after his party's victory in the legislative elections, precipitated by the fact that the then ruling coalition was in the minority.

If the head of government resigns, new legislative elections will have to be organized in the coming months. The fourth in eight years.

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