I live in fear – Kgowe
Sharon Mathala | Tuesday February 20, 2024 06:00
Now, Kgowe claims he lives in fear of state-sanctioned violence and seeks justice. In a letter submitted to the Office of the President with the intent to be shared with the international community, Kgowe accuses the Judiciary of being manipulated by the Executive and political interests.
The Monitor has the two-page letter. "I am going to give a narrative of what I am going through in my country of birth, the Republic of Botswana, being denied justice by the judicial system of the country that purports to be the advocate of the rule of law," the letter reads. He alleges that contrary to Botswana's reputation for respecting the rule of law, the Judiciary is often manipulated by the Executive for its benefit.
"Contrary to what the world has been made to believe that Botswana is a country that obeys and respects the rule of law and has governance premised upon the practice of separation of powers being legislature, Judiciary and Executive, in practical terms, in Botswana other arms of government are often manipulated by the Executive to its advantage, the Judiciary being in the forefront at being manipulated to pardon the guilty and punish the innocent to save the image of the state that has otherwise long decayed and corroded,” he states. Kgowe accuses the Attorney General of protecting the police, who, in turn, protect a "political murderer".
He claims to be a victim of a biased judicial system.
"I have a painfully true story to tell, spine-chilling, gruesome, and horrid it may sound, it is true and living," he says. According to Kgowe, in 2018, the police ambushed him at his home, initially claiming they were on a random operation searching for drugs. However, they revealed knowledge of his relationship with Bonolo Mapitse, whose decapitated body had been found three days earlier. "They went on to tell me that I was their suspect and they have come to search and conduct their investigations into that horrific death. They handcuffed and leg-chained me, searched my house everywhere, even the rooftops,” he recalls. Kgowe alleges he was tortured and abused by the police during their investigations.
“I was ... subjected to humiliating abuse, subjected to electric shock, suffocated with plastic bags and outright physical assault in a bid to force me into accepting the offence I did not commit, the offence that carries with it a death sentence or capital punishment by hanging through the neck until certified dead,” he says.
Prosecuted for 11 months, Kgowe was eventually released from prison with the option for the Department of Public Prosecution to reinstate the case. Years later, he has filed a P6 million lawsuit for wrongful prosecution and torture by the State. Kgowe argues that the court is deliberately delaying his case to impede justice and financially overstretch him. He claims to live in fear for his life, believing the State can stage a crime scene and kill him to protect a manipulated and corrupted system. Meanwhile, his P6 million suit is set to continue before the Gaborone High Court on March 4.