The incident, which allegedly occurred in 2016, involved the deceased, Ja Chul Koo and his compatriot Moonhan Jang, who were working on a project led by a Korean company to refurbish Morupule A Power Station in Palapye. The accused three, Kabelo Mooketsi, 33, alias States and Stagga, Kitso Makati, 32, alias Skechekeche, both unemployed and Kagiso Gaadingwe, 44, known as Tshidi or Mtshidi, who was a student at Palapye Technical College, allegedly murdered Ja on October 30, 2016 in Palapye during a botched robbery. The trio is also charged with robbery, grievous bodily harm, unlawful possession of ammunition, and unlawful possession of a firearm.
According to the charge sheet, all the offences happened at around 2am in Extension 3, Palapye, at the lodgings of the deceased and his compatriot. When the matters appeared before Justice Bengbame Sechele on Friday for a continuation of trial, Prosecutor Ditshotlo Mpale from the DPP told the court that the prosecution requested to secure the attendance of its final witness, Moonhan, who is also the alleged victim. “Immediately after the court adjourned, we were furnished with a subpoena for the witness (Moonhan) to appear in court. We then transmitted the subpoena to the head of our Mutual and Legal Assistance and Extradition Unit (MLAEU). The subpoena was sent to the head of the MLAEU, Merapelo Mokgosi," Mpale said.
"I would like to inform this honourable court that processes to secure the attendance of Moonhan have been exhausted as per Mokgosi but there is a delay by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to transmit the documents to South Korea. "We had informed Mokgosi to appear before this court today and appraise his lordship about the cause of the delay by the foreign affairs ministry to transmit the documents to South Korea,” Mpale added. “Unfortunately, Mokgosi told us that she was held up since she was appearing before the High Court in Gaborone today. In short, the papers are still lying somewhere in the foreign affairs ministry in Gaborone. From our side here, we transmitted the subpoena well in time to Gaborone but they have never been transmitted to the requested state, South Korea.”
At that point, Justice Sechele instructed Mpale to provide the court with a timeline at the next mention, detailing when the subpoena was issued, when it was received by the DPP and when it was received by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The defence attorney for Mooketsi, Luanda Antonio, said that he wished to place it on record that the matter was registered in court in 2016. “Since 2016 when this matter was registered, my client has been languishing in custody. It is almost eight years since this matter was registered. We plead with this honourable court that perhaps in the next mention, the prosecution should put its house to secure the attendance of its last witness, Moonhan.
The delay in securing Moonhan’s attendance is greatly prejudicing the accused because he has a constitutional right to be tried within a reasonable time,” Antonio said. The attorneys for Makati and Gaadingwe also told the court that the case aligns with the submissions of Antonio. The matter was adjourned to August 23 for mention and also to address Mooketsi’s bail application.
