Moswaane has the last laugh
| Friday August 1, 2014 15:51
The party appealed judgments by Justices Tshepo Motswagole and Godfrey Nthomiwa who barred the BDP from contesting in Francistown West by-election last year. The matter arose from a disputed outcome of primary elections which Marobela challenged in the High Court.
The yesterday ruling confirmed Moswaane as the candidate for Francistown West constituency in the 2014 general elections. Last year Justice Tshepo Motswagole barred the BDP and Moswaane from contesting in the Francistown by-elections which were held on January 25 this year. However, yesterday the Court of Appeal Judge President Ian Kirby set aside Motswagole’s decision. The BDP was granted costs of the application up to October 31, 2013.
The BDP had argued that denying Moswaane his right to contest as an independent candidate and interdicting the BDP from exercising its regulation 23 powers were deliberately sought by design, notwithstanding that they were not founded on any factual averments on the papers.
The BDP advocate Francis Barrie, Senior Counsel instructed by Collins Newman and Company had argued that the court must express its displeasure at Marobela’s conduct. “The concession that the respondent was entitled to approach the court and obtain the rule nisi for an interdict in respect of some of the remedies it got must implicitly carry along a concession that in obtaining the interim order the respondent succeeded in the court a quo. It borders on abuse of court process,” he argued.
In another case the BDP had appealed, Justice Godfrey Nthomiwa’s judgment which was upheld by the Court of Appeal. The court ordered that Marobela should bear the costs of both Moswaane and the BDP.
Moswaane expressed content with the final judgment.
“Although I lost a lot during the campaigns in 2013, I want to thank Francistown people who have stood by me. During my first election campaign I spent more than P500,000, which was a waste,” he said, adding that courts should attend to similar cases urgently as it is useless to win a case after the by-elections.
Moswaane will battle it out with with Dr Habaudi Hobona of Botswana Congress Party (BCP) and Shathiso Tambula of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC).