Of late the nation has been treated to a movie-like series of events where accused persons in high profile cases had charges against them dropped.
Just last week the High Court ordered that ex-spy chief Isaac Kgosi and former executive director at Botswana Energy Regulatory Authority, Kenneth Kerekang be freed from charges relating to P250 million National Petroleum Fund case. The High Court found charges against them in the case to be irrational and unreasonable.
Just recently, Zein Kebonang and his twin brother Sadique had charges against them dropped in the same matter. Bakang Seretse is also looking to have charges against him dropped.
As if that is not enough, Wilhelmina Maswabi who is accused of swindling government of P100 billion for financing terrorism had criminal charges against her dropped as well. Others named in the case including former president Ian Khama, Bridget Motsepe and Kgosi are suing the State for more than P100 million.
These are few of the cases where the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) has seemingly blundered and rushed to charging people before thorough investigations were conducted.
We thus stand to amplify the voice of Batswana that the Attorney General and the DPP should up their game. There is no doubt that besides the lawsuits, taxpayers have to part with huge amounts of money as legal fees. As Specially Elected legislator, Dr Unity Dow said in her response to the State of The Nation Address recently, “it is high time that DPP ensures that they have watertight cases before approaching courts”. The public is losing confidence in the highly esteemed institutions, which we trust to ensure that justice is served. The stated cases are not all that we have seen prosecution being embarrassed, as the media did not document all the cases. We thus call on the relevant Minister to stand up and ensure that something is done to redeem the stature of these institutions. The public is now questioning whether some of these cases were politically motivated at the expense of taxpayers. We challenge the Ministry and all the relevant authorities to urgently address this situation and restore Batswana’s trust in these bodies.
We also call on Members of Parliament to speak up against what we have been seeing happening. It is not about anyone wanting to see anybody being convicted; rather we want to see processes being thorough. This will also make Batswana appreciate that it is not that people with money get away with doing wrong, but rather justice should be seen to be equal for all.
