Dust settles in missing spying case
Oarabile Mosikare | Thursday June 19, 2014 16:47
The Botswana Defence Force (BDF) hearing into the disappearance of ‘spying’ equipment died before reappearing before Judge Key Dingake yesterday, after the two parties in the matter settled out-of-court.
justice Dingake granted an order in terms of out-of-court settlement. Upon hearing attorneys Dick Bayford, Joao Salbany and Onalethata Kambai for the applicants and David Moloise appearing with P Kgoadi for the three respondents, Dingake ordered that the proceedings before the Board of Inquiry were terminated forthwith.
“The urgent application currently pending before this court in these proceedings is hereby accordingly withdrawn,” said Dingake.
It was also ordered that BDF commander Lieutenant General Gaolathe Galebotswe should not institute any further proceedings against Brigadier Peter Magosi and former Military Intelligence (MI) spy Dzikamani Mothobi in terms of the BDF Act.
The Judge also ordered that the Attorney General pay the costs of the application.
Magosi and Mothobi had interdicted the Attorney General, the BDF commander and the presiding officer at the Board of Inquiry, directing respondents to avail the applicants with further documentation in the matter in which they were being charged with the disappearance of intelligence equipment.
Magosi and Mothobi were supposed to appear before a BDF Board of Inquiry two months ago in connection with phone jamming devices that reportedly disappeared while Magosi was still the head of the MI.
According to the convening order, the inquiry was to report on among other things: “Whether there are laid down procedures for the storage and accountability of GSM jammers and Cellbrites at MI and whether the procedures were followed and if not why.
“Whether there are procedures to be followed for the withdrawal of GSM jammers and Cellbrites from the store to wherever it is going to be used and whether the withdrawal of GSM jammers and Cellbrites is done in accordance with the laid down procedure.”
Last week, Lieutenant General Galebotswe denied reports that there was bad blood between senior members of the army.
He told the Public Accounts Committee that there was nothing to cause alarm in the media.