F/town West petition is bogus

Tshireletso Motlogelwa | Friday January 10, 2014 17:58

 

 

Pretoria-based Forensic Document Consultants, which Mmegi engaged late last year to authenticate the petition, have found the document to be fraudulent. The findings of Brigadier Hannes Hattingh are that large quantities of writing on the different documents were done by the same writers. The report shows that although the signatures look different to an untrained eye, the letters exhibit corresponding characteristics, which indicate common authors on the different pages. 

Hattingh noted that it is also highly unlikely that so many different writers would sign with the same quality of writing and slant.

In conclusion, Hattingh’s report revealed that the same people wrote on different pages – meaning a small group of people authored the document. Moreover, several of the signatures exhibit corresponding characteristics, indicating that the same people signed against different names on the list.

The experts’ examinations and findings show that the writing and signatures were analysed and compared microscopically in order to determine the construction, quality, sequence of strokes, habitual individual characteristics in the design, size, proportions, alignment, connections, slant, spacing and other elements as well as the degree of natural variation occurring in the writing and signatures.

The significance of the corresponding characteristics and or differences in the writing and signatures were then evaluated.

The different pages of the document were examined and the most obvious writing and signatures which exhibit corresponding characteristics were identified.

Reacting to the findings, Botswana Congress Party (BCP) spokesperson Taolo Lucas said this was a clear confirmation that the petition is a fraud.

“We are proceeding with our case at the BCP against the petitioners. This is really embarrassing and we strongly believe that Ignatius Moswaane and BDP (Botswana Democratic Party) knew something about it,” he said. Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) secretary General Wynter Mmolotsi said they was never any doubt that some of the signatures on the petition were forged. “I think the President has to apologise to the nation for postponing the dates of the by-election on the basis of fraudulent piece of information. I will take the matter up with Parliament more so that a handwriting expert had proved that indeed the petition was fraudulently obtained,” he said.

In November, vice president Ponatshego Kedikilwe, then acting president, postponed the Francistown West constituency by-elections after some residents of that area petitioned to him wanting BDP candidate Ignatius Moswaane’s name to be accepted by Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) for nomination. The by-election is set for January 25.