Kwelagobe wants Good to pay him P1.2 million for damages.
It would seem Kwelagobe was spurred into action by Good’s paper entitled ‘Presidential Succession in Botswana: No Model for Africa’ which he presented at a politics seminar at the University of Botswana recently. The Molepolole North MP is generally aggrieved that Good’s paper, which he co-authored with Dr Ian Taylor depicts him as a corrupt leader by borrowing heavily from the Kgabo Land Commission report of 1992. Kwelagobe says the report has been cast out by the courts.
The former cabinet minister says he is particularly concerned at the paper’s insinuation that the BDP’s dominance was halted by the BNF in the 1990’s as a result of in-fighting and a series of corruption scandals involving top ranking government officials. In his summons, he isolates some of the statements, which he alleges defames and tarnish his good name.
He alleges in his summons that Good’s statements are not true and were published without verification. He alleges that he resigned from cabinet in order to sue and clear his name against the findings of the Kgabo Commission. He states that the High Court had after his successful application declared the Kgabo Commission report null and void and as such he was cleared of any wrong doing.
Kwelagobe contends that Good is guilty of defamation because he revived and published what he calls unsubstantiated falsehoods. Good is currently fighting a deportation order through the courts.
When asked if the defamation had put the spanner in the works, Good’s lawyers Dick Bayford and Duma Boko were dismissive saying it shows that the state is clutching at straws. They said it was obvious that the aim of the state was to divide Good’s attention by opening many battle fronts.
“The issuance of the summons by the minister is an after-thought. Surely if Professor Good had been deported within 48 hours, as it was initially intended, he could have long left the country and this defamation case would not have arisen,” said Bayford.
Boko sees the defamation case as nothing but an orchestrated campaign to harass, intimidate and victimise Good.
He said the state has unleashed a multiple of trumped up charges meant to hound Good out of the country.
“I do not think money is the motive here. Of course we have heard that some of them are broke but the aim is clearly not money but to hound the man out,” Boko said, adding that they are in fact expecting an avalanche of law suits. The lawyers insist they will not be distracted, not even by lawsuits.
They said they only have one request that the President should drop the deportation order so that Kwelagobe’s right to recourse of the law is not frustrated.
