‘Mantšali Phakoana
The family of a former soldier who was found dead on May 20 this year in a single cell at the Maseru Maximum Security Prison are demanding answers after a preliminary medical report suggested he may have died of poisoning.
The aggrieved family said they suspect foul play after the Lesotho Correctional Service (LCS) told them that former Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) corporal, Ntabejane Kanono, had died from stroke.
Kanono was among the 15 soldiers who were arrested in connection with the alleged 2015 mutiny against the then-army commander Tlali Kamoli.
The deceased’s younger brother, Chopho Kanono, told theReporter the family was not convinced by what the LCS had reported as his cause of death.
He further stated that the manner in which the family was informed about the death was also doubtful.
They were also keenly awaiting a full toxicology report after the preliminary medical report indicated the deceased may have died of food poisoning.
The family further want to know who killed Ntabejane or who would want to see him dead.
Chopho said his other brother had visited Ntabejane on May 21 at the prison only to be told that he had passed on during the night.
The devastated Chopho said this was surprising because he had visited the previous day and Ntabejane looked healthy with no signs of a stroke.
“I was with him just a day before he was reported dead. He was very healthy and had no signs of stroke. If he had died two years ago, it would make sense because then, he was sick but now he had fully discovered.
“That day when my brother had visited, he went through the normal procedure of reporting at the gate and was accompanied by a correctional officer to proceed to the waiting room, upon where the officer claimed he was going to call someone to assist him.
“He waited patiently for almost an hour without being attended to. Then one officer called him and they kept on moving from one office to another without saying anything. The two eventually reached the last floor of the building where a counsellor came and told him that the person he had visited had died and his body had been moved to a mortuary,” Chopho said.
He added that the distraught family was hoping to receive not just condolences from the correctional service but also a convincing explanation.
He however, said they were waiting for the final toxicology report to confirm the preliminary issued on May 3o.
Chopho revealed that a correctional service officer privately told them that the same night he died, the deceased was lying on the bed in his cell with foaming from the mouth.
He described the two months they waited before burying the deceased while awaiting the autopsy report as torture.
He left behind a wife and five children.
“We want to know how he died. If it was really poisoning, who would have wanted him dead, and why?
“Again, the question is; had my brother not decided to visit the prison, when were the LCS officials going to inform us about this death?” Chopho questioned.
The late former LDF member was laid to rest on July 15 this year at his original home in Maliba-Matšo in the Leribe district.
Chopho said the family was now leaving in fear that whoever was behind their brother’s death might come after them, giving his military background.
The family suspects that Ntabejane’s death was connected to the mutiny charges he was facing and his alleged subsequent torture by army personnel.
On his part, LCS public relations officer, Senior Cadet Officer Pheko Ntobane, said it was a coincidence that the deceased’s brother had visited the day after he died.
Ntobane indicated that the LCS was yet to send representatives to deliver a message to the late soldier’s family.
He noted that from the time the late Kanono was detained with others at the correctional service, his medical records showed that he had a stroke and was walking with the aid of two crutches.
The now deceased’s health kept deteriorating until he was kept under arrest in the LCS’s mini clinic because he could not walk anymore, Ntobane said.
“At the time he was detained, one could tell that he was not doing well at all. Our nurses at the mini clinic where he was kept under arrest had tried. He had been going through his checkups properly.
“But, also remember, prison is not a healthy environment especially for a person who is already sick. Although we always do our best to rehabilitate inmates and provide them with the best medical care, Kanono’s health kept deteriorating,” Ntobane also said.
He added that a nurse had reported that Kanono had died from stroke because that is what she observed while treating him.
“It could be she was wrong but that is what her report says.
“A nurse and a doctor are two different professionals who can prove or declare a cause of death based on what they have discovered,” Ntobane explained.
He noted it was not wrong for the family to do their own autopsy on the deceased. Procedurally, they should have laid a formal written complaint with the correctional service, so that all parties approach a pathologist together.
According to Ntobane, the deceased was reported to have vomited the night that he was declared dead. However, he said the correctional service could not confirm if this was caused by the alleged poison or not.
He could not confirm the ‘poisoning’ incident, only stating however, that it was possible for a detainee to consume poison while in custody.
“The LCS cannot rule out such incidences.
“Firstly, family members of the detainees are allowed to bring in food from outside. Correctional services officers check the food in the presence of both the visitor and the detainee.
“Secondly the food eaten by the inmates is prepared by them. Even those with special diet requirements are well known and ntate (Ntabejane Kanono) was not one of them. That would prove that he ate the same food as other inmates.
“Thirdly, inmates can share food among themselves and in such cases, correctional officers would not be in a position to know whether the food had poison or not,” Ntobane said.
He further pointed out that poisoning could mean that the food consumed was not fresh, “which was not the case in this instance.”
He maintained that the LCS does not have anything to do with Ntabejane’s death. “We cannot kill a detainee. Yes, mistakes do happen but LCS had nothing to do with his death or has nothing against his family,” Ntobane concluded.
