Unwanted Man gets Respite

ISAIAH MOREWAGAE
Staff Writer | Monday November 28, 2011 00:00

 

As police and immigration officers were escorting him to the Kasane Airport from where he would be flown to Gaborone, Wilson's lawyers Lizo Ngcongco and Busang Manewe hurriedly put together an urgent application in a bid to get an injunction against the state.

The presiding judge Justice Singh Walia ruled in his favour. The injunction, in place until a full court hearing, will allow Ngcongco and Manewe to say why their client should not be deported. In his court papers Dr Wilson is challenging his removal from Botswana through a presidential order, while he still has a pending case in court against government following a decision by Labour and Home Affairs Minister to declare him a Prohibited Immigrant

The lawyers will argue on Wednesday when the matter resumes before Justice Walia that by deporting Wilson while his case is before the courts, the president is interfering with the judicial process.

The lawyers asked the court to instruct the state, represented by Attorney David Moloise to provide them with necessary documentation for them to be able to argue their case and also to allow them access to their client.

'We have difficulty meeting our client and the Immigration officers refused our client permission to come to court, can an order be made to help us in this regard,' Ngcongco complained.

Moloise did not oppose the request and Walia made it an order. However Walia said he could not instruct the state where to accommodate Wilson pending the hearing of the matter on Wednesday. It is reported that Wilson was whisked to the Gaborone Maximum Prison upon arrival in Gaborone, and remains incarcerated there.

Dr Wilson is the Founder and Director of Chobe Wildlife Rescue. He graduated from University of Florida, with a BSC in Zoology, in 1979. After a years break, working as a game warden in Sabi Sabi, Wilson then attended veterinary school at Onderstepoort Pretoria, graduating in 1987. Along with running Chobe Wildlife Rescue, Wilson maintains a veterinary practice in Kasane. Dr Wilson also works as the Wildlife Veterinarian for Chobe National Park in a volunteer capacity. He is a council member of The National Wildlife Humane Society Advisory Council, a group of people involved in various wildlife fields who provide the council with advice and information concerning their field of wildlife and/or environmental expertise.

Two weeks back Dr Wilson donated 10 Garmin handheld GPS units to the Chobe National Park, Wildlife and Parks officers. He also conducted a mass vaccination of local dogs for Canine Distemper Virus and other potential diseases. (Additional information from Wildlife1.Com)