Boko criticises presidential deportation

EPHRAIM KEORENG,br>Staff Writer | Thursday November 18, 2010 00:00

Speaking at a BNF meeting to brief members of the diplomatic corps, trade unions and members of public about BNF's response to President Khama's address, Boko said the deportation orders that have seen a lot of foreigners being bundled and removed from the country without trial does not reflect democratic ideals that Botswana claims to cherish.

The BNF leader said Sayed Fakhan Shah, a businessman of Asiatic origin, was slapped with a deportation order signed by the president.  Through section 7(f) of the Immigration Act, Shah was declared an undesirable inhabitant of, or visitor to Botswana last year October.

Boko, who represented Shah as his attorney, told his audience that the order was shocking because the man had been freed after the prosecution withdrew its case against him.

Boko said though the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) withdrew the charge of the use of insulting language against the president contrary to Section 93 (1) of the Penal Code, the police arrested him and said he was being deported because he was an undesirable element.

'The poor Indian man, when he tried to tell them that he had been freed by the court, the police said 'you are saying court, we are talking about a presidential order. He had simply asked about the president's sexual orientation and the next thing he was deported. This tendency of declaring people prohibited immigrants and deporting them without trial is undemocratic,' he said.

Boko said in a democratic setting, people should be allowed to talk to a leader and about him or her. The BNF leader said Khama is very harsh on foreigners and has no qualms about deporting them before their cases can be heard by the courts, 'and he goes on to talk about the rule of law? He should lead by example,' he said.

Boko, who is a known human rights lawyer, said the conditions in Botswana prisons are very bad and dehumanising. He said police cells are even worse. Giving an example of cells in Mogoditshane, Boko said one time whilst working on a case he was shocked to learn that the toilets for prisoners are flushed by a police officer from outside the cell.

'I asked what prompts an officer to do that? A bona jang? A bona go rileng?  - How does he know it's the time to flush? I also wondered what kind of officer is given this duty. Was it some form of punishment? This is a blatant abuse of human rights and the president is quiet on these things,' he said. 

The BNF president said that is why parents always hide their children when the police want them.

'It's not like the parents condone what their children are doing. It's just that they fear that the prisons are inhospitable and not good for rehabilitating people. These parents would rather take their children to churches go kgwisiwa dijeso -for cleansing,' he said.