The Recoil

By Bothata Kennedy Silase

Masilo Mokoena was one of the best intellectuals in Lesotho. After completion of his Cambridge Overseas School Certificate (C.O.S.C.) he enrolled at the National University of Lesotho to attain his Bachelors’ Degree. Unfortunately, he succumbed to peer pressure, failed the first year of his BSc Computer Science course and ended up committing a series of crimes.

He decided to join the Lesotho Defence Force when he lost his funding to attend university, and he passed the vetting process of the army as his malicious deeds had not yet come to light. The army was impressed by his meritorious service and he was subsequently sent to India to attend a cadet course. Upon his return from India, he was promoted from the rank of Private to that of Second Lieutenant.

An investigation carried out subsequently revealed his previous crimes and impacted significantly on his life.

About the Author.

Bothata Kennedy Silase is a 28 year old Lesotho Defence Force soldier stationed at the Mejamatalana Air Base. He is a single parent to a six year old boy and a four year old girl.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bothata Kennedy Silase
• Release date: Feb 20, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463305706

Book preview

The Recoil

Bothata Kennedy Silase

Copyright © 2019 Bothata Kennedy Silase

Published by Bothata Kennedy Silase Publishing at Smashwords

First edition 2019

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without permission from the copyright holder.

The Author has made every effort to trace and acknowledge sources/resources/individuals. In the event that any images/information have been incorrectly attributed or credited, the Author will be pleased to rectify these omissions at the earliest opportunity.

Published by Bothata Kennedy Silase using Reach Publishers’ services,

Edited by Vanessa Finaughty for Reach Publishers

Cover designed by Reach Publishers

P O Box 1384, Wandsbeck, South Africa, 3631

Website: www.reachpublishers.org

E-mail: [e-mail]

Acknowledgements

I would like to express the deepest appreciation to my beloved family, who had an attitude and the substance of persuasion while asking me to draft the manuscript, The Recoil.

I would also like to thank my co-workers at Lesotho Defence Force Air Wing: Private Lesole Solomon Moeketse and Private Bokang James Makoko, whose additions gave me an inclination to see the realness of the whole scenario of the book.

Lastly, thank you to Dr Molibeli Taele, who allowed me to write about some of the ‘underlying structures’ that hinder the future of some undergraduate students at the National University of Lesotho.

Chapter 1

I... Let my family utter the final prayers before I face this ordeal… Those were the last words that came out of my mouth before the police handcuffed me.

You have the right to remain silent; whatever you say or do may be used against you in the courts of law. You have the right to inform your lawyer; if you don’t have one, the state shall provide you, a police officer said.

Tears; neither tears of rage nor joy, but tears born of legitimate confusion and total frustration were cascading down my cheeks as I looked at my parents, wife and siblings, who stared at me while an agony of remorse had whipped them unexpectedly. I was in a catch-22 situation. They had cordoned off my place and their cars’ blue siren lights seemed new to me that particular day. They wore helmets and armoured jackets and were armed with AK-47 rifles. They pushed and murmured some incantations as they escorted me to the pick-up. I hopped in. I could see tears that were dripping down my wife and mother’s cheeks through the pick-up burglar-proofed window as they drove off.

This is neither the beginning nor the end of my story; it is just a few memories that have crossed my mind. At long last, it was 26 October 2006. I had been waiting for this day, since my friend’s brother would be wearing academic regalia as a commemoration of a meritorious completion of his first degree. Thank God it was D-day at last.

The spiders’ abodes were still dripping with water