Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) Parliamentary candidate for Gaborone South who lost recent elections to Botswana Democratic Party candidate Kagiso Molatlhegi , Murray Dipate, is accusing Naledi Police of conniving with suspects in a case in which a man is suspected of having been found with unused ballot papers.
Dipate said what makes him suspicious is that after he had requested to be given the records of the case in order for him to make a decision on whether to take the matter to the court or not, the police still insisted that investigations were still continuing even though they had taken statements from suspects.
“I think the police are conniving with suspects and suppressing information I need. I have been to their offices on several occasions and have received the same information that investigations are still continuing all the time,” fumed Dipate. He also accused the Station Commander of Naledi Police Station King Tshebo of neglecting his job by not making sure that the matter is resolved as soon as possible. “I do not think Tshebo is doing his job well regarding this matter. I think he is neglecting his job and in a way conniving with suspects”.
Asked what he intends on doing next, Dipate said that he was going to meet his lawyers to map the way forward, adding that he was worried that time was running out for him to make up his mind on whether or not to approach the courts on the matter.
For his part, Tshebo said that their investigations into the matter are still ongoing. When told about Dipate’s worries that they are conniving with suspects by not finalising the investigations he said that it was not true and that they are doing all they could in the case.
On Dipate’s fears that he was running out of time to make a decision on whether or not to approach the court, Tshebo said, “I think he can go to court whilst we are continuing with our investigations”. He went on further to deny that their records and statements are needed in order for Dipate to make a decision.