‘Killer’ cops in hot soup
Innocent Selatlhwa | Tuesday January 16, 2024 06:00
The police allegedly shot the 35-year-old in cold blood while he walked towards their car as his fiancé looked on holding their six-month-old baby.
The police would then give the family P10,000 to assist with funeral arrangements.
Through Modimo and Associates law firm, Potso’s fiancé Keneilwe Sekopo and his mother Ponatshego Joseph are demanding P20 million in compensation.
They have since served the Attorney General and the Commissioner of Police a statutory notice to institute proceedings against them.
According to the notice by attorney Dr Tshepang Makwati, on or about December 22, 2023 between 7pm and 8pm, Sekopo and her fiancé, Potso, were driving along a gravel road having just left Kediretswe Clinic in Palapye, where they had just taken their six-months-old infant for medical attention. As the couple was driving towards their house, they came across a police van allegedly based at the Palapye Police Station, which van was driving in the opposite direction. However, soon after the police van passed, it made a u-turn and followed the couple’s motor vehicle of which the deceased was the driver.
The blue light came on as the police vehicle signaled for the deceased to stop. “The deceased came to a stop on the side of the gravel road as the police van drove closer and parked next to the deceased’s motor vehicle. The deceased alighted from his motor vehicle to attend to the police officers leaving Sekopo and the baby.
However, the deceased had not taken more than three steps when a gunshot rang out, seemingly shot through the windshield of the police vehicle, hitting the deceased on the head. The deceased fell in front of the police van’s grille and as he lay in a pool of blood, the police officers did not immediately come out of the vehicle but remained in their seats as though nothing had happened,” he states. Makwati further states that it was only when Sekopo, still carrying the baby in her arms, alighted from Potso’s car crying at the top of her voice that the two police officers who were allegedly members of the Special Support Group (SSG) came out of their vehicle and coldly asked Sekopo about the identity of the deceased as they picked his dead body up and threw it like a sack of potatoes into the back of the police van.
“Despite Sekopo asking them why they shot and killed the deceased in cold blood, the officers ignored her as one officer drove off with the deceased’s body at high speed, while the other officer drove the deceased’s sedan with Sekopo and the baby as passengers, towards the Palapye Primary Hospital. Succinctly put, the deceased died as a result of conduct that carries all the trappings of a premeditated murder as the murderous police officers never gave the deceased a chance to talk to them or identify himself but shot him on sight,” he wrote. Furthermore, according to Makwati, on December 23, 2023, police officers confiscated the deceased’s vehicle from his residence without any explanations for such confiscation and have held onto it ever since. The family also doubt the credibility of the pathologist engaged.
“The BPS has despite clear principles and guidelines on investigations into deaths as a result of police action or in police custody, proceeded to engage their own conflicted pathologist to conduct a postmortem. The pathologist, who is a foreigner working for the Botswana Police Service cannot be held to be independent and not prone to undue influence. Our clients reject the admission of any report emanating from the police pathologist regarding the death of the deceased. The securing of a credible autopsy report is a simple issue of an administrative nature which every reasonable police officer should know,” Makwati wrote. The family submits that the deceased leaves behind four minor children aged between six months, two years, nine years and 12 years. Sekopo as the guardian of the minor children, institutes action on behalf of herself and the minor children.
Furthermore, they submit that the deceased was the only one financially supporting his elderly mother, Ponatshego, who has now been left in the lurch due to the actions of incompetent and irresponsible police officers. The family demands the immediate return of Potso’s car in the condition that it was in at the time that it was confiscated. “Our clients demand that the Botswana Police Service to not adduce the report of a conflicted pathologist as evidence as that will be vociferously rejected. Our clients reserve the right to demand a credible autopsy by an independent pathologist. We are further instructed to demand as we hereby do, that within a month, the Botswana Police Service pay to our clients, a sum of P20 million being damages for loss of support as well as psychological lesion in respect of our clients,” Makwati wrote.
Meanwhile, BPS spokesperson, Senior Superintendent Near Bagali said they were investigating the case. He said Potso was shot in a mishap during an encounter with the police in the wee hours of December 22, 2023 around 1am. He said an inquest has been opened to establish what exactly happened.