Four year old land dispute drags on

Innocent Selatlhwa | Friday June 30, 2017 18:03

 

Molatlhegi is accused of having transferred a plot in Block 8 in Gaborone to a buyer without the consent of the owner. The Gaborone lawyer on the other hand claims ignorance to the deal and that his signature had been forged.

In the Deed of Transfer No. 1965/2006 dated August 18, 2006, Molatlhegi is stated as having acted as a conveyancer, with power of attorney granted to him by the applicant Kaone Molapo on August 14, 2006. In the deal it was stated that Molapo had sold all his rights and developments over Lot 34124, Block 8 to one Ralph Maganu, the second respondent. The third respondent is Bank of Botswana, which is the mortgagee in the mortgage bond No. 2997/09 dated October 19, 2009 in which Maganu is the mortgagor of the property on the disputed plot.

Other respondents are the Registrar of Deeds, Stanbic Bank, Emy Kgaswane, Lands Department and Gaborone City Council (GCC).

In his answering affidavit, Maganu said he paid P90,000 to the property agents attorneys, Molatlhegi and Associates on June 15, 2006.  A few days later he claimed that Molatlhegi called him to come and sign transfer papers whereafter a title deed in his name was issued on August 18, 2013. Construction of the double storey began late 2007 and was completed on March 2009. He and his wife had taken out two bonds on the house from the Botswana Building Society and Bank of Botswana.

He said on the basis of the transfer effected by Molatlhegi, he developed the property, the current market value of which stands at P2,840,000 as at August 27, 2013. “I am an innocent party, who placed his reliance in Mr Molatlhegi to effect the transaction and transfer the property in compliance with the laws of Botswana.”

In his affidavit dated October 14, 2013 Molatlhegi said it has since emerged that the deed of transfer is a forgery and was not signed by him, alluding to the fact that he is a victim of fraud or criminal conduct by persons presently unknown. He said what he may have signed was a Standard Chartered Bank cheque, a matter routinely done for the trust account. Molatlhegi said he was not the author or the conveyancer of the document to the extent that he did not sign the Deed of Transfer and the accompanying documents.

The trial was supposed to begin on Wednesday but the plaintiff Kaone Molapo moved an application to amend their declaration and also that the defendants had the honours to prove to court why the plot should not be returned to him.

Molapo’s attorney Advocate Sunday Ogunronbi told the court that his client had the title deed of the state land, which was awarded, to him and therefore the honours were with the defendants to prove that Molapo was not the rightful owner of the plot. “Our client holds the right to the land. He doesn’t even have much proving to do as Molatlhegi in his affidavit stated that he did not sign the papers. He alleges fraud, so the court has to order that the house property be returned to my client because it was transferred unlawfully,” he said.

Ogunronbi said the respondents will see how they deal with the issue of fraud separately as it was clear that his client had not sold his property to Maganu as he did not even receive any payment.

Molatlhegi’s lawyer Advocate Sidney Pilane however said it was not as easy as Ogunronbi put it. “Your client has to prove that indeed the plot is theirs. The 2nd defendant states that he purchased the plot for P90,000 and spent almost P2.8 million developing it. He stays at the property and has its valid title deed. Your client has to prove that the plot was offered to them and they purchased it. It might well be that they have never owned it before,” he said.

Pilane also said Molatlhegi could have or could have not signed the said documents. He said the plaintiff has to prove that indeed Molatlhegi signed the papers.

Maganu’s attorney associated himself with Pilane’s submissions. He further proposed that in the case the plaintiff is granted the plot, the court should consider compensation for developments at the plot.

Justice Bengbame Sechele reserved his ruling on how the case will advance and said will communicate when it is ready. A new trial date was set for November.