DIS man takes over at DPP

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Tuesday August 3, 2010 00:00

 

Some might not take kindly to the appointment to the key position of a man who has had a stint with the spy outfit. Many fear that the appointment of Leonard Sechele will see the notorious DIS having a direct say in what cases to be prosecuted by DPP.

Sechele is a former Gaborone chief magistrate and deputy head of Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (MVA). Before his appointment to the DPP he was legal advisor to DIS. The head of the DPP has  constitutional  powers to decide whether a case is prosecuted or not. The DIS is headed by Isaac Kgosi, a man strongly believed to be the president's personal friend.

As a chief magistrate, Sechele handled sensitive cases like the Zakhem corruption case.

Interestingly when the Office of the President announced Sechele's appointment, nothing was mentioned about his responsibilities at the DIS.

The appointment comes at a time when the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crimes (DCEC) is headed by Khama's relative, Rose Seretse. The DCEC is currently investigating allegations of shady dealings by Khama's  cousin and Minister of Defense, Justice and Security, Ramadeluka Seretse, whose company has been supplying the police with security equipment. The DIS, DCEC and DPP fall under Ramadula Seretse's ministry. In the last parliamentary session, the minister was told by MPs to step down because his company was doing business with the police but he refused. He would later tell the media that he declared his interest to the president.

Meanwhile, the DIS is highly implicated in  a number of shootings and killings of civilians although this has not been proven. One of the cases involves a Zimbabwean, national Blessing Mukweni, who was declared a prohibited migrant last year after he was allegedly framed for the death of a DIS agent.  The case continues.

Another high profile case involves the brutal killing of John Kalafatis last year by security agents allegedly led by the DIS. When the Kalafatis case made its maiden appearance in the courts in April this year, a lawyer representing the accused agents, Phadza Kgalemang   said the killing could have been lawful, and sought to have the DPP's decision to prosecute the security agents dismissed. The four accused are out on bail. There has been speculation that a friendly DPP could decide to go soft on some of these cases and decide not to prosecute. 

Another sensitive case that is currently being pursued by the DPP is the one involving the late Louis Nchindo and his co-accused. While former president Festus Mogae was ready to testify against Nchindo, the other part of the executive have not shown the same gusto.  Cabinet ministers Ndelu Seretse, Phandu Skelemani have even written affidavits to say that there is no case against Nchindo. At the height of the Nchindo case former minister Jacob Nkate and now BEDIA chiefwas accused of perjuring himself just to have the case quashed.

However, the former DPP director instead made the late Nchindo's children Garvas (also a co-accused  with his father) and Nicola answer for some of the charges especially by virtue of their role as the executors of their father's estate.