Businessman and Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) Treasurer Satar Dada has fended off a legal battle between the BDP and its estranged former Secretary General Gomolemo Motswaledi by clearing the party’s legal bill owed to law firm Collins Legal Consultants.
The law firm had dragged the BDP to court demanding P20 000 as payment for a legal opinion that they had tendered last year.
The legal opinion was tendered at the height of the standoff between Motswaledi and President Ian Khama.
On behalf of the party, Motswaledi had asked Collins Newman and Company, Collins Legal Consultants and Sidney Pilane Legal Consultants to clarify if Khama had powers to make unilateral decisions without consulting the party central committee.
After Motswaledi was banished from the BDP, the party refused to pay the legal bill, insisting that the former secretary general had sought the legal opinion in his personal capacity.
Party chairman Daniel Kwelagobe was next week expected to appear in court on behalf of the BDP, but Collins Legal consultants withdrew the case after Dada paid up.
BDP Executive Secretary Batlang Serema however said that he is not aware that the party has paid up, referring all questions to Dada. In a separate interview Dada confirmed that he has indeed cleared the party’s debt using his own finances.
“I paid,” said Dada, adding that the bill was not worth the fight.
He however refused to be drawn into discussing if his paying the bill is a concession that the BDP owed the debt, or if it was a way of saving his old friend, Kwelagobe the embarrassment of appearing in court. It is understood that Kwelagobe accompanied Motswaledi to seek the legal opinion from Collins Legal Consultants.
