Mzwinila wins, loses, lives to fight another day

It was a partial victory which was carefully reasoned, legally restrained, and devastatingly precise. The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), armed with the full machinery of the Proceeds and Instruments of Crime Act (PICA), had descended on the Mzwinilas’ empire, which includes cash, farms, machinery, shares, vehicles, and real estate. The State was alleging corruption, money laundering, and possession of unexplained wealth. The application was brought ex parte, under a certificate of urgency, seeking to freeze almost everything.

But the High Court drew a line on Friday, and at the heart of the State’s case was fear that assets were being moved, sold, or spirited away beyond Botswana’s borders. The DPP alleged “that the Mzwinilas are dissipating the property that is the subject of investigations” and warned that if the court followed ordinary timelines, “there is the possibility of all the property having been dissipated when the matter is finally heard”.