AP to rescue Mogalakwe
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Monday August 30, 2021 08:54
Mogalakwe is supposed to pay Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) P392,117.68 petition legal costs which he is struggling to raise.
On Tuesday this week, Mogalakwe suffered a double whammy when he failed to block auctioning of his property following a judgment at the Gaborone High Court.
But Mmegi has learnt that some members of the Mogalakwe family met with the BDP attorneys to pay part off the amount owed and propose a payment plan for the remaining balance.
Mogalakwe’s property was supposed to be auctioned on Wednesday this week but could not be sold because he promised to pay a certain amount of money on that day.
Information reaching Mmegi is that if Mogalakwe fails pay the debt by the end of this week, his properties will be auctioned.
However, he might get a reprieve in that, in an interview on Wednesday, AP secretary-general Phenyo Butale said: “We have been engaging the relevant people on this case to give us time so that we could help where possible to save some of his properties from being auctioned.
The party is appealing to the public to help it raise funds for Mogalakwe and other party activities. We have opened an account which people could use to contribute any amount.
This is an unfortunate situation that blocks people from going to court when they feel aggrieved. Again, it kills democracy because people should not be afraid to go to court if they feel elections did not go well.”
The BDP attorney Busang Manewe confirmed that the auction did not go on because the Mogalakwe family has promised to pay.
“ Yes we had a meeting and they are supposed to pay,” he said.
By Wednesday late afternoon, the attorneys for both the BDP and Mogalakwe were in a meeting discussing the way forward.
Mogalakwe’s attorney Faustino Ngandu confirmed that they are discussing a plan to pay the legal petition costs.
The issue comes after Justice Omphemetse Motumise threw out with costs Mogalakwe’s bid to have a writ of execution of his property rescinded.
Delivering the judgment Motumise said: “The applicant has failed to show that the matter is urgent.
It is clear that the applicant had accepted the taxed amount and if not, he would have followed the court process to object to the taxed bill. Therefore, the application is dismissed with costs”.
Meanwhile, a case in which Mogalakwe want a review application of P392, 117.68 bill to be given another look after he incurred election petition legal costs in a previous case is still before the court.
His argument is that the deputy registrar did not properly tax him.
Equally, he reasoned that the registrar had failed to interpret the court judgment properly.
“If the sale in execution is allowed to proceed, I stand to suffer prejudice as the sale will have the effect of defeating the review application,” argued Mogalakwe, who was vying for councillorship under the Alliance for Progressives banner in the 2019 general election, which polls he lost and protested.