Freed Seretse pursues his millions
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Friday December 11, 2020 15:39
Seretse has two cases running at the High Court with respect to the millions. In one, he is suing the State for contempt after prosecutors defied a ruling by Lobatse Justice Gaolapelwe Ketlogetswe to return P82 million in cash to the asset manager.
In the other, Seretse is fighting a civil forfeiture case against prosecutors, demanding assets, including property, back from the State, which seized them as part of the NPF case.
Judge Ketlogetswe is due to rule on the P82 million case on Tuesday, December 15, while in the civil forfeiture case on Thursday, Justice Godfrey Radijeng granted Seretse relief to file key evidence later than permissible.
Radijeng granted Seretse leave for late filing of supporting affidavits from former defence minister, Dikgakgamatso Seretse, ex-Botswana Defence Force commander, Gaolatlhe Galebotswe and former Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) boss, Isaac Kgosi.
The affidavits talk to the spy agency’s (DIS) role in procuring anti-poaching equipment for the DIS from Israel, which is the heart of the P250 million National Petroleum Fund saga.
“The application to condone late filing of supporting affidavits is granted. The Court will hear the substantive application on April 29, 2021,” he said.
Prosecutors say Bakang was involved in diverting funds from the NPF to the DIS and onwards to the alleged procurement of anti-poaching equipment.
They argue the diversion was illegal and the funds instead lined the pockets of various suspects.
Amongst the Directorate of Public Prosecutions evidence is an affidavit from BDF ground force commander, Major General Molefi Seikano who insists that the army alone had the purview over wildlife poaching.
In his affidavit, however, Dikgakgamatso Seretse says Seikano was “misguided, wrong and misinformed”.
“Anti-poaching is by law, the primary mandate of the anti-poaching unit of the Ministry of Wildlife, Environment and Tourism,” the former minister said in documents before court.
He explained the BDF and other disciplined forces such as the Botswana Police Service, Botswana Prisons Service and the DIS, may by law, be called upon to assist the holder of the primary mandate, depending on the classification of anti-poaching activity in the national security threat analysis.
“During my tenure by virtue of my position I was a member of the Central Intelligence Committee which received and approved intelligence and security assessments and advised the President on courses of action to take.
“I am therefore privy to the mandate and general responsibility of the disciplined forces and their involvement in anti-poaching.”
Kgosi had strong words for Seikano, saying the ground forces commander’s claims were “opportunistic and false”. The former spy chief said the involvement of the BDF in anti-poaching activities was the result of an executive order by the President.
The case continues in the High Court with oral arguments set for April 29, 2021.
On Tuesday, the Extension Two Magistrate’s Court freed all accused persons in the NPF criminal case, including (Bakang) Seretse. When freeing the accused, the court ruled that most of charges were “big, ambiguous and speculative.”
The accused persons included amongst others ex-spy chief Kgosi, the Kebonang twin brothers, Zein and Sadique as well as Kenneth Kerekang who were facing about 126 charges related to the NPF ‘loot’.