By Kefiloe Kajane
Religious leaders this week strongly condemned the recent rampant killings of elderly women and children, describing them as ‘ungodly acts’.
According to the World Population Review report, Lesotho is rated the sixth highest in murder rate in the world.
According to this report, the global average murder rate is seven per 100,000 people. Lesotho had a rate of six times higher at 41.25. The report ranked Lesotho as only safer than El Salvador (82.84 per 100,000 people), Honduras (56.52), Venezuela (56.33), Virgin Islands (49.26) and Jamaica (47.01).
Speaking on behalf of Christian Council of Lesotho, Bishop Ishmael Mqathazane said it is shocking that a small and a Christian country like Lesotho can rank so high in murders.
He said it was heartbreaking that every single day a person is murdered in this country especially children and women.
He said rampant hatred seems to be taking a toll on some citizens who are mauling others.
“Why do Basotho no longer value life? Why has it become a normal thing practice to kill someone? This is very ungodly. We would like to make a plea to our security sector that they come together to stop these murders in order to allow for the safety of women and children.
“We know that our security sector also become victims to these murders but we would like them to protect us while they are also protecting themselves because they took an oath to protect this country. To our politicians, please do not use murders as an opportunity to lure votes as it is time for elections. We appeal to you to not go on media platforms, talking about murders just so you can get votes”, Mqathazane said.
He also appealed to the judiciary to ensure that those that perpetrators be charged and convicted for their criminal acts while appealing with men to protect their families and loved ones.
He expressed that the brutal murders are mostly heartbreaking to them because as priests and bishops they are the ones that lead the funerals
“We see how these murders break families with mothers and fathers leaving their children. We no longer know what to say to them when we console them. Basotho let us take this coming month, November as a month to pray for our country. Let us gather together and pray that this dark cloud of brutal murders hanging over our country goes away,” he said.
According to the report, contributing to Lesotho’s unenviable position are the unresolved killings of women and children that have rocked the country in recent years.
The report further explains that Lesotho’s underfunded judiciary is sitting on thousands of untried cases.
The Lesotho Correctional Service has in the past reported that there are many convicts who are being jailed for murder.
