Kgowe gets maximum sentence for drug possession
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Tuesday September 11, 2018 11:27
Kgowe, who was found guilty on the two counts he was facing, has been fined P1,000 plus a three-year jail term for possession of cannabis and four years plus P4,000 for possession of methcaninone.
If he fails to pay the fine he will get a further three-year jail term.
Kgowe was recently granted bail in the murder case, but will not have time to enjoy time outside the walls of the prison cells after this sentence.
When sentencing him, magistrate Tonoki said that while he took into consideration the convict's mitigating point that he has never been convicted of the same offence, his view is that he faces serious offences.
'Although he has never been convicted of a similar offence before, this is a serious offence,' Tonoki said.
He said that the sentence should send a clear message that the courts do not condone such offences, which are a source of societal ill. Tonoki said that drugs use and abuse accounts for over 200,011 deaths annually and approximately $35 billion is spent annually to treat people affected by drug abuse.
He said that the use of drugs in Botswana is on the high side and the society should strive to curb it.
It has been revealed that on the first count, Kgowe was charged with possession of cannabis. On or about May 21, 2016 in Block 3, Gaborone, Kgowe being a person not authorised, licenced or exempted in any manner to possess habit-forming drugs, unlawfully had in his possession cannabis weighing 11.3 grammes.
On count two, he was found in unlawful possession of 4.3038 grammes of methcathinone. The drugs were brought before the court as exhibits.
The now decapitation murder suspect and drug convict will have his drug possession sentences run consecutively which means he would serve seven years.