Give Seretse cabinet minutes -court orders

Staff Writer | Thursday November 4, 2010 00:00

 

At the last hearing, the defence applied for the prosecution to avail it with the Cabinet minutes as 'it is possible that after comparing such documents we might all realise that there is no basis for prosecution, lest we find ourselves pursuing a malicious prosecution,' defence attorney Parks Tafa had said then.

He thus asked for access to Cabinet files from December 2004 to October 2009, and certified documents and exhibits related to the case and a list of witnesses and their statements.

Tafa had also offered the prosecution unlimited access to all the defence's documents, 'even though it is not a normal thing for the defendant to share their information with prosecutors for a fair trial'.

However, leading the prosecution, director of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Leonard Sechele argued then that it was unnecessary for them to give the defence team access to the Cabinet files. 'If Cabinet files form part of our evidence we will definitely give the defence access to them, but if not we cannot give you access to something we have no control over. It would be like asking us to give you a pie in the sky,' Sechele said.

However, Tafa believes that the files are critical for the defence of his client and applied for an order that the DPP should avail the documents. Seretse, the former Minister of Defence and Security, resigned his Cabinet post soon after being indicted on corruption charges early this year.It is alleged that between May 17, 2008 and June 18 of the same year in Gaborone, Seretse, as the Minister of Defence, Justice and Security and as such responsible for the Botswana Police Service, knowingly failed to disclose to President Ian Khama that a company (RFT) that he was shareholder and director in had entered into a contract with Botswana Police for the supply, delivery and commissioning of Aviation Ground Support Equipment.

The prosecution hopes that the case will take five days. Trial dates have been set for February 21-23, 2011, and the first week of March 2011. The prosecution will call 10 witnesses. The next mention is on December 03. Seretse remains on bail.