Suspect who attacked night shift doctor apologises

Lebogang Mosikare | Thursday September 27, 2018 14:56

 

The alleged robber, Koziba Stanford, found himself on the wrong side of the law following his decision to bang the dock accusing the magistrate of taking sides with the prosecution.

 

Chief Magistrate Taboka Mopipi subsequently sentenced Stanford, who is charged jointly with Michael Koloi for two counts of armed robbery, to three strokes for his actions.

 

The idiomatic expression ‘spare the rod and spoil a child’ aptly captures what may have influenced Mopipi’s decision to make an order that Stanford should be flogged for disrespecting the court.

 

Mopipi’s decision for Stanford to be flogged has worked wonders. On Thursday a remorseful looking Stanford pleaded for forgiveness when he appeared before Mopipi for another mention.

 

Before addressing what the prosecutor had earlier on said, Stanford whose face was clearly filled with regret and shame because of his previous transgressions ate humble pie.

 

He said: “Your worship I humbly apologise for the way I behaved during my last mention in this court. My actions were clearly uncalled for. In Setswana culture when children do something wrong, they are punished so that they can learn what is right and what is wrong. I have learnt a lesson and I will never repeat what I did. I sincerely apologise to this honourable court to forgive me”.

At the end of the mention, Mopipi accepted Stanford’s apology and set the matter for October 11 for another mention.

 

Earlier on, prosecutor Mandla Simon from the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) told the court that investigations to arrest the third accused person in the matter are underway.

 

Simon said the police believe that he is at Kalamare and it is only a matter of time before he is arrested.

 

“I pray that the accused should be further remanded in custody to enable the police to arrest the third accused person,” Simon said.

 

In response to what Simon said, Stanford pleaded with the court to tell the police to expedite their investigations because they are always saying that their investigations are continuing while he is rotting in jail.

 

Likewise, Koloi reiterated what Stanford said. This prompted Mopipi to tell the prosecution that she was giving them the last indulgence to complete their investigations.

 

Stanford and Koloi and another person who is still at large landed in hot soup after they allegedly attacked a night duty doctor in Area W clinic at knifepoint and robbed him of his cellphone.

 

Koziba Stanford was released from jail this year after serving time for robbery and still has other pending robbery charges, according to the police.

 

The trio allegedly arrived at Area W Clinic at around 8pm whereupon they entered the doctor’s consultation room while the doctor was still attending to a patient.

 

“They then drew knives and threatened to stab the doctor if he refused to give them money and his cellphone. The doctor did not have money. The thieves then took his cellphone and ran away,” one of the sources said. 

In April, furore erupted on social media after trade unions accused the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MoHW) of not doing enough to protect workers on night shifts at various 24-hour medical facilities around the country. 

This followed an incident in which a nurse was raped at Extension II Clinic in Gaborone while she was on duty at night on April 22, 2018. 

“The Sunday incident clearly shows that security and safety of workers in general and shift workers specifically needs to be enhanced since working at night and in some instances alone exposes workers to greater risk such as the one in question,” said a press release from Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU). 

Following the nurse rape incident, Botswana Nurses Union (BONU) also petitioned the MoHW to, in 30 days, provide a conducive and safe environment for nurses in the workplace failure to which they will seek alternative routes to get the ministry to act. 

“A petition is a legal document and we expect MoHW to act in good faith.  We have in our possession minutes that prove we have over the time engaged the ministry to no avail hence the petition was our last resort. We have had enough, and when somebody says enough is enough it means they just cannot take it anymore,” BONU president Obonolo Rahube said then. 

“We are gravely saddened and distressed by the most recent incident in which a nurse who was on night duty within the health care premises in Ext.2 Clinic Gaborone was brutally raped. Our deepest concerns, prayers and thoughts go out to her as she deals with the traumatic ordeal. The lamentable reality is that it is not an isolated incident. There have been many more in the past, which we have consistently complained about and highlighted in our dialogue with the powers that be. Yet, nothing has changed and the conditions continue to worsen,” Rahube, at the time, said.