BCP takes the police on
Chakalisa Dube | Friday May 5, 2017 14:47
It has become even clearer that Moswaane and his team including their general supporters will never face the law for what they allegedly did at Monarch four years ago.
The contention of the police as contained in a recent letter authored from the police headquarters by one David Mosetse, apparently Deputy Commissioner of Police, Crime Investigations, is that the police have, “In the absence of identifiable accused persons and intention for all possible offences, therefore has left us with no option but to close the matter due to insufficient evidence”.
Mosetse’s letter dated April 25, 2017, which was apparently a response to the concerns raised by the leadership of the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) further contends that, “In appreciation of what is pivotal in establishing factors to be proved in respect of any possible suspected offences as alluded above, the circumstances surrounding this matter have been considered. However, the investigations could not identify any accused person or intention for all possible offences in the matter”.
In essence, the police investigations that took about four years are done and dusted, with no hope that anyone of the petitioners or the leaders of the group will ever be brought to book. The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) petition, which was engineered by MP Moswaane and his team, saw a by-election for Francistown-West parliamentary seat postponed.
Moswaane had to come up with a plan after a High Court decision had barred him from contesting the by-election after his party colleague, Whyte Marobela had secured a court injunction barring Moswaane from contesting the elections as a BDP candidate. Marobela had cited irregularities in the BDP primary elections that saw him losing.
That is how this discredited, bogus and scandalous petition came to being. It however raises eyebrows that the police have made a determination not to prosecute the petitioners. That is clearly a function and the preserve of the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP).
The BCP leadership had also written to the police suggesting that the BDP petitioners, mostly based at Monarch, had committed a number of offences, which the police are adamant there is no evidence.
Forgery, uttering, giving false information were suggested as possible offences that the petitioners and other related people could have committed. Alternatively, the BCP has also suggested that the police should investigate if offences like procuring execution of documents by false pretences, obtaining by false pretences and personification, which were also dismissed.
Mmegi would later expose the bogusness of the petition just under the noses of the police who are skilled enough in the area of crime investigations as it was apparent one person or a few persons had appended their signatures for many persons appearing on the long list of the purported petitioners.
What emerged as a blow to the already discredited petition was the expose of a dead man, former Botswana Peoples Party (BPP) operative, Tolani Poiso who appeared on the list of petitioners with his signature, and a national identity number, albeit a dead man.
Despite the unfolding truth about the bogus petition, one of its drivers and defenders through the Monarch Community Development Centre (MCDC), Tuelo maintained that the petition was genuine and above board.
A swirling list of angry people who disowned the petition was the order of the day but this could not dampen the spirits of Moswaane and his team. They soldiered on as if nothing had happened.
In 2014 Mmegi conducted its independent forensic investigation and compare the different writing and signature on the documents to determine if any of the writings and especially the signatures were written by the same person/s.
Retired Brigadier and managing director of a company called Forensic Document Consultants and based in Pretoria, J.F. Hattingh after his forensic examination came to a conclusion that, “The writing on several of the pages or portions of the pages were completed by the same persons. Several of the signatures exhibit corresponding characteristics which indicates that the signatures were signed by the same persons”.
Another interesting finding made by Hattingh relates to the reality that, “It is also highly unlikely that so many different writers would sign with the same quality of writing and slant”.
It really boggles the mind why a reputable Botswana Police Service chose not to prove the petition matter beyond any reasonable doubt by engaging handwriting and signature expert to determine how genuine the petitioners are or the petition is. If they did, the question is where are the results for public consumption?
Even when the police were questioned why they did not engage an expert in this matter, the police spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Witness Bosija was not forthcoming. He told Mmegi in clear terms that the police cannot give a detailed explanation to the media as to how they reached a conclusion not to charge those behind the bogus Francistown West petition.
He could not disclose information whether a forensic expert could not be engaged to compare handwriting and signatures. “We can only disclose detailed reasons why we did not charge those who were alleged to be behind the petition to the BCP who are the complainants. It will be unethical to disclose anything relating to the petition with third parties,” he was steadfast in an interview this week.
The BCP president Dumelang Saleshando said this week that they have secured an appointment next week Monday with the Commissioner of Police, Keabetswe Makgophe to discuss issues surrounding the investigations of the bogus petition.
“What we will attempt to establish is why it has taken too long to conclude the investigations especially that we submitted part of the evidence. It has been three years of no communication from them, even though they had undertaken to keep us informed,” he stated.
He was particularly irked by the fact that the police only wrote to them on decision to abandon the investigation when the BCP requested a meeting.
“We presented them with credible expert evidence. We would want to know why they can’t prosecute,” he said. He added that during the meeting they would also establish if the police engaged the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) before concluding that the evidence was insufficient to prosecute the wrongdoers.
“In our view the DPP is the only body that can recommend that a party cannot be prosecuted not the police as it’s the case with the bogus petition,” the BCP president insisted.
Yesterday Francistown West legislator Ignatius Moswaane told Mmegi that the petition has vindicated his supporters.
“I have always maintained that some people infiltrated the petition. That is why we ended up having fake signatures. During the initial part of the investigations fifty of my supporters were questioned and nothing linked them with the bogus petition.
My other supporters were questioned last year and they were also cleared by police,” he claimed. Moswaane said that the investigations involved collecting of handwriting specimen of those thought to be behind the bogus petition. He said that he suspects that some opposition operatives were behind the petition. “Police have done their job and we have to accept it,” he said.