Nchindo: Dead men tell no tales

Staff Writer | Tuesday February 16, 2010 00:00

One thing is clear though. Nchindo is dead. While waiting for the final DNA results, the police have not definitely confirmed his death.

But his family would not have gone to the length of issuing a media statement, organising a memorial service tomorrow unless they had positively identified the body as his. So that all these ideas about the man having staged his own death while he could be in Belarus, Russia or the Isle of Man are just pure fantasy. Nchindo is dead and dead men tell no tales. Meanwhile the living have the license to tell tales about the dead.

Information from the police indicate that they will release the forensic report today. From henceforth it will be known whether it is Nchindo murder or suicide that people have been talking about. Of course the police report might not  end speculation especially with some people calling for independent forensic experts to be called in.

In search of any strings that could shed some light on Nchindo's death, the focus will necessarily shift onto his family, his lawyer, the police, state security agents and everybody else who could help feed public curiosity on the  tragedy.

Nchindo had been a client of Collins Newman for a long time. He initially dealt with David Newman at the firm. But Newman is now a judge of the High Court. When Newman left the firm, most of Nchindo's matters were largely handled by Parks Tafa, the senior partner at the company today. Nchindo once identified Collins Newman in an affidavit as the only capable firm in the country - much to the chagrin of local lawyers.

As a firm Collins Newman have built a niche as a company that does civil, conveyancing and labour law. Most of its clients are big companies. It has in the process avoided criminal lawyering. In the words of Tafa, criminal law is a no-go area for his firm. 'We do not do criminal law,' he said.

But when Nchindo came along in December 2007 facing over 30 criminal charges including fraud, the firm was prepared to make an exception and break the long tradition of non-criminal lawyering for this one man. 'We have had a long relationship with the man,' said Tafa adding that they felt that the charges were trumped up.

Two years after the onset of the meandering case, nothing has been achieved. Not even pleadings have been taken. Nchindo is dead and there are suggestion that the inseparable marriage between him and his lawyers of record could have been shaken to the foundation.

Tafa admits that they indeed had differences with Nchindo.

'We did not differ on the case or anything except that we felt apprehensive when we saw leaks in the media about him, De Beers and that stuff which were attributed to him. In our opinion as lawyers, we thought all these were not benefiting his case. It made the whole thing look desperate,' Tafa explained the source of their differences.

Was the lawyer against the revelations in the press?

'No not at all. In our view, we felt that the best forum was court during the criminal trial. At the level of strategy this was the advice that we gave him. We could not stop him from doing what he wanted to do if at all it was him who leaked the stories, after all it was his case. When we asked him if he was responsible for the leaks, he denied it,' Tafa said.

The lawyer ventures into comparison. 'Look at the case of Nelson Mandela during his treason trial, he made a powerful political statement that reverberated around the world. The statement was powerful because the platform was right.' Without saying much, it would appear that this was the platform that they would have wanted Nchindo to use.

There is a theory that Nchindo might have been disillusioned with continuing to use Collins Newman. Perhaps this is predicated on the knowledge that Collins Newman is the official legal advisors to the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) and has over the years acted for Debswana.

Tafa admits that the possibility of dispensing with the firm from his case was open to Nchindo to exercise. But he maintains that Nchindo was a very expressive and assertive man who would have made it clear that he no longer needs the services of the firm if he wanted to and no one would have stopped him even if they tried. Tafa insists that Nchindo never mentioned to them that he was dissatisfied with their services.

'The bottom line is that we understood each others' point of view on the leaks and we continued with the case. That is why on February 4, 2010 when he went for mention at the Gaborone Village Magistrate Court we represented him. After that court session, he came to our offices and we sat here chatting about so many things including the case. We were all looking forward to the day the case would start. It is not true that Nchindo moved his files to any other law firm. His files are still here with us,' Tafa said. He said Nchindo knew and consented to the engagement of three senior advocates who are experts in the different facets of the case. Tafa told Mmegi that one advocate who is an expert in criminal law, Advocate Webster, who was called in to look at the forensic audit done at Debswana has just completed his report. He said the report clears Nchindo of the wrongs he was accused of. 'We received the report on Friday and it is unfortunate that Nchindo died before he could lay his hands on this report,' he said.

Was Nchindo bankrupt?

Tafa says he would not discuss such issues with third parties even if he had any personal knowledge of his client's financial circumstances.