Motlhabani beaten, arrested and detained again
Koketso Kgoboge | Saturday April 11, 2020 14:23
Motlhabani’s phones rang unanswered this morning. He allegedly met his ordeal around 10pm last night, and allegations suggest he was held at the Palapye Police Station.
Palapye Police station commander superintendent Mokopi Nawa denied reports of a case associated with the BPF spokesperson.
“I saw that on social media last night and I called the office. There were no such reports at the station. Up to now, we have not received any report and if there are any, maybe they will come,” superintendent Nawa said this morning in a phone interview.
However, BPF president Biggie Butale confirmed otherwise. He said they have received reports from Palapye police that Motlhabani was kept at the station’s cells.
When he narrated the story, Butale said that around nine in the late evening yesterday, Motlhabani called some members of the party informing them that there was a suspicious car parked at his gate with the headlights brightly lit at his house.
He requested them to report the matter with the police on his behalf. The police officer that answered the phone allegedly advised for Motlhabani to seek refuge at one of his neighbours’ houses. The suspicious car took off before he could leave his house. While Motlhabani got into his car in an attempt to get away, the vehicle would not start.
He reportedly went back inside the house and locked himself in. The same suspicious car came back about an hour later. Again he contacted his party members to inform them that he could see two men and a woman. While on the phone he could hear his attackers breaking the door lock to get into his house. Moments later, he was reportedly screaming before his line went dead.
“We got informed by the police that they found Motlhabani beaten at his house and they took him in. No one was arrested. When we told them we are coming to Palapye today, they informed us that they have handed him to DIS operatives that took him to Gaborone,” Butale said.
“It doesn’t add up that the police arrested him when they found him beaten up at his house, and it doesn’t add up that the police would hand him over to the DIS. It should be the other way round. We want to establish what is going on,” he worriedly added.
It is alleged that Motlhabani was beaten to a pulp, and law enforcers and security agents did not want his party cadres and attorney to see him in that state.
Hardly two months ago, the DIS and the serious crimes squad detained Motlhabani in Palapye. At the time the security agents claimed they were addressing issues of fake BPF social media pages that they said were used inappropriately.
On the contrary, Motlhabani dismissed the security agents’ fake account investigation claims, and confirmed he was detained and questioned over information on Jaco Hubona of the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC).
The information was leaked to social media, and the authorities suspected the BPF spokesperson was responsible. Hubona is the alleged originator of the Bank of Botswana P100 billion affidavit that was reported widely in the media.
Hubona’s life was alleged to be under threat with plans to eliminate him. The agents suspected that Motlhabani had access to the information that Hubona’s life was under threat and the details of his allegations threatened national security.