Prisoners bay for Ntsuape�s blood
Dolly Bathobakae | Thursday December 8, 2016 17:31
At the time of the accident, Ntsuape, 30, of Ramotswa was facing four counts of threat to kill, one count of murder and two counts of arson. He allegedly committed the offence because he could not fathom the fact that his former girlfriend, Dorcas Kgosietsile, had decided to end their love relationship.
Last Thursday afternoon, Ntsuape allegedly wrestled for the steering wheel of a Quantum van he was traveling in, in the company of four police officers and six other prisoners, enroute to the Francistown Centre for Illegal Immigrants (FCII).
The Quantum overturned several times killing a special constable and an on remand prisoner from Zimbabwe who was charged with rape. Other prisoners and police officers are currently at Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital in varying conditions. Ntsuape, meanwhile, survived the accident with minor injuries to his head.
On Monday and Tuesday, members of the public, prosecutors, lawyers and journalists who came to the court in large numbers to get first hand information about Ntsuape’s latest charges, left the court a disappointed lot after he failed to appear.
Sources told Mmegi the reason was because he had been transferred to Serowe Prison from the FCII.
“The situation at FCII was very tense and volatile. It was not conducive for Ntsuape to be kept at FCII with other prisoners because they wanted to avenge the death of their fellow prisoner,” impeccable sources said.
Botswana Prison Service spokesperson, Wamorena Ramolefhe could neither confirm nor deny Ntsuape’s relocation.
“What I can say is that from time to time, we transfer prisoners between our various prisons in the country.
The decisions to transfer prisoners are taken for security reasons. These decisions are privileged information that cannot be shared with the media.
When we take these decisions, we do not take them looking at a particular prisoner. We have a procedure of transferring prisoners between our prisons,” he said.
While, Ntsuape is yet to be arraigned before court to be formally charged in connection with the latest, police and private lawyers are of the opinion that he may face counts of murder, causing serious bodily harm and traffic related offences.