Man fraudulently sells stepdaughter's house
Innocent Selatlhwa | Wednesday August 20, 2025 06:00
This is after the court established that Montsho fraudulently sold the developed plot to Obusitswe Moeng for P270,000 without the knowledge of Khumoyame nor his then-wife Gorataone Montsho (Khumoyame’s biologcal mother).
Khumoyame approached the court seeking an order firstly, declaring that she is the lawful owner of the disputed property having developed it after her parents had donated a barren piece of land to her. Secondly, she required that the property be registered in her name. Her claim was supported by her mother but opposed by both Benjamin and Moeng.
Moeng claimed ownership of the disputed property on the basis that it had been sold to him by Benjamin whilst Benjamin denies donating the disputed property to Khumoyame and asserted that he was entitled to sell it to Moeng.
Khumoyame had stated that some time in 2015, her parents donated an undeveloped residential plot in Sese village to her. The plot in question originally belonged to her stepfather (Benjamin) but became a joint family asset by virtue of her parents' marriage.
Having been shown the plot, she began to develop it from her personal savings and a P100,000 personal loan from Botswana Savings Bank.
Because she worked away from Sese village, Khumoyame testified that she entrusted the building of the house and dealings with builders to her stepfather, who had just retired from the Botswana Defence Force. Not only would she send money to him but left her bank cards with him so he could complete the house she was building.
It was also her evidence that she did not immediately have the plot registered in her name as she had no concerns about her parent's goodwill towards her. She also did not do so on account of her stepfather's advice that as she had applied for another plot she should delay registering the donated plot in her names to avoid jeopardising her pending application.
For her part, Gorataone who is now Benjamin’s ex-wife testified that the Sese plot was donated by them to Khumoyame. She stated that the plot was developed by Khumoyame as they never had the money to develop it themselves. She testified that when Benjamin retired from the army, he only got a pension payout of P90,000 out of which P45,000 was used to drill a borehole and the balance to pay household debts.
It was also her testimony that other than the donation to Khumoyame, she was not aware that the disputed property had been sold, let alone to Moeng, as she had never been asked by Benjamin to either consent to any sale or sign any transfer documents. According to her, she would have been expected to do all these because she was a person married in-community of property to Benjamin.
When it was brought to her attention that the disputed property was sold prior to her divorce, she expressed shock as she said Benjamin had insisted on the property being allocated to him as part of their divorce settlement agreement and that if she were to refuse, he would not consent to any divorce or property division. She stated that she was not aware of the true state of affairs or of her husband's fraudulent conduct.
For his part, Benjamin denied that he or Gorataone ever donated the Sese plot to Khumoyame. Although he could not produce any invoices in support of his own claim, he maintained that he developed the plot from his pocket and confirmed selling it to Moeng in 2020 for P270,000.
Asked how he could have sold and transferred the property without the consent of his wife, Benjamin could not provide any answer. Equally, he could not explain how he could have submitted fraudulent papers to various government institutions by claiming to be single when he was at the time actually still married to Gorataone.
Moeng was the last to testify. In his very brief testimony, he stated that he had bought the disputed property from Benjamin in 2020 for P180,000 and that at the time there was already an existing structure that only needed a plumbing system to be built.
Kebonang found that despite Benjamin’s denial, the Sese plot had been donated to Khumoyame and that he was entrusted with its development by her. “I am also satisfied even in the absence of receipts, that it was Khumoyame who developed the property in question and whose trust Benjamin betrayed,' he said.
He said only Khumoyame had title to the disputed property. “That title was not lost to Benjamin or any other party. Moeng, being a victim of Benjamin's fraud himself, must look to him for damages and/or compensation. Nothing confers title on him in respect of the disputed property,” he said.
Kebonang directed Ngwaketse Land Board to register the disputed property in the names of Khumoyame and to revoke any title that may have already been registered in favour of Moeng. He also ordered that Moeng should immediately vacate the disputed property. He further ordered that Benjamin and Moeng pay the costs.