A Lesotho immigration officer has been acquitted of charges that he allowed Harvest FM station manager, Reverend Pholoana Lekhoaba into the country, despite a ban on his return to the country, writes Mzimkhulu Sithetho.
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Neo Fosa permitted Reverend Adam Lekhoaba into Lesotho on March 21, 2008 at the Moshoeshoe I International airport.
The Lesotho News agency (Lena) reports that the accused’s lawyer told the magistrate’s court that Fosa had stamped Lekhoaba’s passport by mistake but alerted the National Security Service (NSS) as soon as he realized his mistake.
It states that Lekhoaba was followed and then deported by the police.
Delivering judgment, Magistrate Charles Mathaba, said the court had taken into account the fact that Fosa had been on leave when a circular informing all immigration officers was issued. He said their there was a chance that he had not seen it.
According to the news agency, the magistrate also noted that the court had taken note that the accused had not attended the staff meeting that discussed the restriction on Lekhoaba.
Lekhoaba has made a number of surprise and illegal entries into the country.
Recently, he was again deported by police after he arrived to run his radio station’s popular morning phone-in-programme, Rise and Shine.
Lekhoaba’s predicament comes at a time when the attorney general has been ordered by the appeal court to amend Lesotho law to provide for dual citizenship.
