Tributes for Khopolo – ThePost (2024)

Kholuoe’s mother was sitting close by, basking in the sun. She looked visibly distraught.
Kholuoe’s wife, ‘Mamahali Kholuoe, was also seated next to her mother-in-law, shielding herself with a cloth so that people could not see her eyes.
In a shaky voice, ‘Mamahali Kholuoe told us that they were still in shock and were not yet prepared to entertain any questions from journalists following the brutal gunning down of her husband last weekend.
She said the death of her husband had left them deeply hurt.
Kholuoe, 42, was gunned down in Masowe I, together with a presenter from MXXL radio station, Pulane Macheli, 27, while a woman and a man who were with them survived the attack on Saturday night.
Kholuoe was a famous famo musician whose music resonated with the struggling masses. He was also a member of the Seakhi famo music gang.
As a famo musician, Kholuoe openly sang about death, which he knew lurked close by.
In one of his famous songs, titled Lefu (death), Kholuoe depicts members of his Seakhi gang as “men who vowed to press on even in extreme hardships”.
Those who died was not because they were weak, he sang in the song.
The idea of resilience, never giving up against all odds was a common theme in his songs.
In his hit Khom*o ea Lefisa, Kholuoe expressed how hard times changed him as a person.
In the song he portrays himself as a cow that was lent to a friend and on its way to the friend’s home the herders changed its identity.
The song shows that while he grew up as an innocent boy, it was hardships that changed his perceptions of life.
Kholuoe was ambushed by unknown gunmen at around 8pm in Masowe I on Saturday. He was in the company of Macheli, a woman and a man.
“Kholuoe was shot while sitting in the driver’s seat, Macheli was in the passenger’s seat, while two other people were sitting behind,” Inspector ’Mareabetsoe Mofoka, the police spokesperson, told thepost.
A survivor told the police that the he tried to reach out to Kholuoe who had opened the car’s door and fell to the ground.
“He said he tried to help Kholuoe, but realised at that time that he was no more,” Insp Mofoka said.
Inspector Mofoka said the survivors called the police and reported about the shooting.
“On arrival, the police found 9mm bullet shells on the ground,” she said.
She said Kholuoe, Macheli and the other passenger were waiting for another passenger who later arrived but “before their vehicle could move, they were shot”.
Kholuoe, popularly known as Lisuoa (Spitefulness), was killed just a week after he spoke at a funeral of Mohapi Moholi, a famo musician from a rival gang, Terene ea Mokata-Lirope.
At the funeral of Moholi, also known as Bohome (Stick-tights), Kholuoe called on the government to reverse the ban on famo music, saying he was “not appealing on behalf of a certain gang”.
A day before Moholi’s burial, his friends were waylaid as they attended the night vigil near his Ribaneng village.
A man, known only as Lefifi (Darkness), and his wife ’Makotelo were killed.
Lefifi was a member of the Terene gang.
It is not clear if Kholuoe was killed for speaking at the burial of a member of a rival gang.
Kholuoe, was part of famo musicians who attended a national prayer rally led by Queen ’Masenate Mohato Seeiso and Prime Minister Sam Matekane last month.
The rally was called following a spate of killings that have elevated Lesotho to number three in world rankings.
Kholuoe had even composed a dirge in which he and other Seakhi musicians prayed to God to cleanse Basotho of stains of blood in their hands.
The song, which was played at the prayer walk, exhorts Basotho “to go back to the old ways and seek where we got it wrong so that we can start from there to correct ourselves”.
The famo song also calls on Basotho ancestors to come to the aid of the nation to stop the murders that are happening daily in the country.
Kholuoe’s daughter and only known child, Mahali, whom he sang about in many of his songs, delivered a moving eulogy on national television earlier this week calling her father her pillar of strength.
She cried while stating that she was “both the son and daughter to my father”.
“Molamu oaka o khaohile, O oele Mokoena e motle (My fighting rod is broken, a handsome Mokoena (totem) has fallen)” Mahali said.
“I have lost the purpose of life due to this incident,” she said.
Kholuoe’s best friend, Thabang Lethena, said his wish is for Lesotho to gain peace through his death.
“For peace to prevail, blood has to be shed, I hope his blood will bring about the peace that we are all craving for,” Lethena said.
A relative, Makitiri Kholuoe, expressed his sadness, stating that they were still expecting much from Kholuoe as he was their brother and also their father.
“I am not okay at all with this death, he has been doing a lot of good things for us,” Makitiri said.
Manale Shale, known as Matšoao in famo music, said Kholuoe was his trusted friend in the Seakhi group.
“This means we worked together,” Shale said.
He said Kholuoe would invite him when he went to the recording studio to record a new album or a track.
Similarly, he would inform him when he went to the studio.
Shale said he would ask for Kholuoe’s back-up while singing if need be and Kholuoe would do likewise.
What distinguished him from the crowd was the manner in which he would relate past events in famo music in his lyrics, he said.
“He was still young but he had a rich history of famo music and tales around it.”
“We have lost a hero in the famo music genre who was undeniably talented.”
A pioneer of women famo singers, Puseletso Seema, said Kholuoe was a young promising artiste.
“The country has lost a hero who was going to take over from (us).”

Nkheli Liphoto