DPP again pursues Kgori Capital
Staff Writer | Friday August 23, 2019 14:21
The directors and the company were served with summons on August 21, 2019.
Insiders close to the case say the move by the DPP has the hallmark of malicious prosecution.
They reason that the CoA’s judgement determined on July 26, 2019 that, there was no corruption in Kgori’s involvement with the National Petroleum Fund matter and that the DPP had been wrong to elevate a commercial dispute into a criminal matter.
“In arriving at the conclusion, the apex court in the country used a lower standard of proof, that is the balance of probability,” a legal expert said.
“In a criminal matter, the standard used is beyond a reasonable doubt, a higher standard.”
Legal sources said if the DPP could not prove any wrongdoing on a balance of probability, it would be impossible to do so on a scale of beyond reasonable doubt.
“The prosecution has became personal rather than factual,” one criminal lawyer scoffed.
Another said the decision of the CoA had significant bearing on the prosecution of the accused persons.
“What the DPP ought to have done was to take a fresh look at the charges and withdraw nthem and pursued the parties civilly through arbitration to settle the disputes. This is so given that the parties were lawfully awarded contracts, the subject of the so-called present criminal charges.”
He added that the pronouncement of the CoA could not be ignored by the lower courts including the DPP no matter how much they do not like the outcome.
“What is happening now is new in Botswana; it should not be allowed to happen. It’s malicious abuse of institutions.”
DPP officials were unavailable for comment yesterday.