I won’t contest but I remain BDP- Matsheka
Staff Writer | Tuesday October 17, 2023 16:14
Matsheka’s decision not to defend his position as the legislator for the town means that Lobatse will have yet another new legislator after next year’s general election.
Matsheka made the announcement this weekend during a BDP meeting in Lobatse. Matsheka, a former Minister of Finance was dramatically arrested on August 2, 2022, by DIS officers, its support staff, and members of the Botswana Police Service. Although he was never been officially charged, he was arrested in connection with the disappearance and murder of eight-year-old boy Tlotso Karema.
The incident which literally ended his political career and has compelled the Lobatse MP to demand damages from the government for humiliation and reputational damage he claims to have suffered at the hands of the DIS.
“I have been trying to convince my wife, I have been trying but she has refused. She said to me if there is one thing I did to her which hurt her was when she advised me not to participate in politics,” Matsheka said.
The MP also said after the DIS arrest ordeal, his wife said to him, “See what they have done to you. She has refused that I sign the form to contest for elections. Who else can I listen to if not to the one who rescued me from prison.
They asked her if I was indeed her husband, after 35 years of marriage. The DIS lawyers asked her to provide proof that she is indeed my wife. I will not stand for elections. I won’t ask for your vote but I promise that I will continue being BDP. I will remain a BDP member even after my term. I promise the BDP branch my support because ultimately it is about developing Lobatse.
And we should work hard for that,” he further said. Meanwhile, Matsheka has since slapped DIS with a wrongful arrest and detention suit. The MP in his defamation suit, said he was taken into custody without a warrant, detained unlawfully, treated as a dangerous criminal and as a flight risk, while there were no reasonable grounds for the murder offence.
“The arrest was effected in bad faith in full view of members of the public and journalists, which were intended to humiliate and injure my feelings. Same was therefore without justifiable cause, malicious, wrongful, unlawful and injurious,” he said.