Now that his withdrawal has been rejected by the highest court in the land, Morupisi’s appeal shall proceed as critical days lay ahead in his legal battle. Speaking of battles, this is one battle Morupisi brought onto himself after he filed a notice of appeal on numerous grounds among others seeking an order that his convictions and sentences be set aside and replaced by an order directing that he be discharged and acquitted of all the counts.
Morupisi later attempted to withdraw his appeal on February 29, a move which was met by resistance from both the CoA bench and the prosecution.
Morupisi was last year convicted by the High Court on two counts of corruption and one count of money laundering.
The current Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) chairperson habours ambitions of contesting for the 2024 General Election and as it stands, he is disqualified from standing in a national election because of a previous criminal conviction. Morupisi has previously indicated that his past criminal conviction, sentence and fine cannot bar him from holding public office.
The precise timing of this week’s CoA ruling matters a great deal for Morupisi with less than five months before the October General Election.
The ruling spells a new phase in Morupisi’s legal troubles but many questions remain unanswered chief among them, how the CoA will decide on the actual appeal.
Morupisi, who was hoping to emerge from this revitalised, knew that at some point he was given more time to consider whether he should proceed with his appeal or not. As this appeal goes ahead now against his wishes, the former public service helmsman is aware that the CoA could discharge and acquit him or change his conviction and sentence altogether.
Now the BPF chairperson’s 2024 campaign is uncertain.
Any judgment can throw him off the ballot because he hoped to make a contentious debut in Parliament years after being forced to step down as PSP because of corrupt allegations during his time in office. His party, the BPF had put Morupisi at the top of its list of aspiring parliamentary candidates, despite the fact that the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) was still going to disqualify him by pointing out his conviction.
With his main contender, Prince Maele, contesting under the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) in Tswapong North where he was scheduled to contest out of the way, Morupisi was banking on a certain charisma and populist appeal and the fact that the BPF is very strong in the area. Despite his disgraced end to years of public office, Morupisi still holds some loyalty and credibility, especially among people he knows in the constituency. He wishes he could be spending more time campaigning than in a courtroom.
A chairperson of a political party is an engine or heartbeat if you like, therefore, it is up to the BPF to retain Morupisi even if he is barred from running for elections. Some commentators, however, argue that Morupisi’s legal entanglements make him a terrible pick as the public face of the party.
“I don’t live in the past and I have never seen a system that bars people from contesting for public office forever just because they were found on the wrong side of the law. My attorneys have advised me that there is nothing wrong with me competing for positions of power within the BPF and at a national level. I see where you are coming from but in terms of the law, there is nothing that stops me from contesting for positions of authority,” Morupisi previously told this publication in an interview.
Any ruling really could crank things up, and it is bound to raise political tensions ahead of the General Election. In 2020, Morupisi announced that he had joined the BPF and thrown his weight behind former president Ian Khama, the same man he had tormented in 2018 during his tenure as PSP under President Mokgweetsi Masisi. Between now and the CoA ruling, Morupisi’s character will be tested because he is still absorbing the gut punch of his High Court conviction last year.
