Tim Marsland and Rapula Okaile were allegedly involved in the controversial misappropriation of P477 million of funds of the Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF) where they successfully fought the case at the High Court for charges to be dropped. Now the pair has been dealt a heavy blow as a full CoA bench this week granted the state a chance to bring up the same charges in an appeal against the previous judgment in a case that included money laundering charges among others.
According to the bench comprising retired CoA judge president Ian Kirby, Justices Isaac Lesetedi, Monametsi Gaongalelwe, Singh Walia and Leatile Dambe, Justice Boipuso Tshweneyagae's High Court judgment to acquit the pair was full of errors and that it did not reflect the law in a number of aspects. Justice Lesetedi said when granting the state the chance to appeal that it was with limited points the proceedings in the High Court were beset by a number of errors. “I do not intend to deal with all the errors in the judgement of the court a quo save to point out that it does not reflect the law in a number of respects,” he said. Lesetedi explained that it was the duty of the Executive not only to investigate the commission of crimes but to also bring the suspected offenders before the courts to be prosecuted for such offences and that the duty was a constitutional one.
