Suspended gov’t officials back Dow against 'France Museveni'
Sharon Mathala | Friday September 16, 2022 19:41
The affidavits filed today at the Gaborone High Court include that of suspended Directorate on Corruption And Economic Crime (DCEC) director-general, Tymon Katlholo, his former deputy Joao Salbany, and legal officer Tsholofelo Bareetsi, senior lawyer Kgalalelo Monthe, MP’s son Tumisang Dow, Cheshe Dow, and Doru Aldea.
This follows Dow’s February press conference where she spoke about the abuse she suffered at the hands of the controversial Museveni. Later on, Dow was alleged to have named Director of Research and Analysis at the Office of the President, Botho Seboko as the person behind the Museveni account. Seboko hit back with a cease and desist request and later on filed a restraining order against the Specially Elected legislator for her "unbecoming conduct of cyber-harassment, cyberstalking, and offensive electronic communication".
Seboko stated in his founding affidavit that Dow believes he is Museveni, a controversial Facebook account holder who describes themselves as a whistleblower. He states that a segment of the population in Botswana doubts the credibility and legitimacy of Museveni’s whistleblowing work. “There is a general but distinct feeling that France Museveni maligns, impugns, or traduces the reputations of individuals at will and with reckless abandon by accusing them of all sorts of offences and misdeeds that include but not limited to corruption, money laundering, racketeering, treason, subversion of executive authority, ritual killing etc,” Seboko wrote.
Seboko stated that due to the false or mistaken belief that he is Museveni, Dow has taken to sending him obnoxious and odiously objectionable messages by way of WhatsApp. "These unfounded accusations by Dow have traduced my reputation enormously and caused me a breach of peace. In addition, these accusations inevitably expose me to danger or harm by victims of France Museveni,” Seboko further indicated.
According to court papers, Seboko wants Dow’s conduct to be declared to constitute cyberstalking or offensive electronic communication contrary to sections 17 and 18 of the Cybercrime and Computers Related Crimes Act, 2018. Seboko recently called on Dow to apologise, but she dared him to march on to court. “Neither myself nor my attorney and/or agents will be tendering any apology to your client nor his principals on any beliefs I may or may not hold as to the identity of France Museveni. As an officer of the courts of the Republic of Botswana, I shall eagerly await the service of your court papers to facilitate a judicial process to reveal the identity of France Museveni,” Dow wrote. The two-time Specially Elected legislator said she is ready to fight back and indeed through a spine-chilling affidavit a strong lobby backs Dow. She has hit back at Seboko and Museveni.
In a detailed affidavit, Dow and company accuse Museveni of harassment, “France Museveni’s trolling are founded on information that he boldly asserts he receives from the state and even when he does not make such a claim, the source of the information is clearly the state.”