Chief Justice, Terrence Rannowane believes Judge Gaopalelwe Ketlogetswe is colluding with some politicians to tarnish his image and that of Minister of State President Kabo Morwaeng
In a confidential letter to President Mokgweetsi Masisi, the Chief Justice states that he suspects that Judge Ketlogetswe is colluding “with his political handlers to fabricate the malicious fairy tale.”
In the letter, the Chief Justice claims that Justice Ketlogetswe was at the forefront of the stone throwing saga at Palapye that sired Botswana Congress Party over twenty years ago after a BNF split.
The letter, seen by the Sunday Standard was in response to a letter first written by Justice Ketlogetswe to the president alleging that Chief Justice Rannowane and the Minister of State President Kabo Morwaeng had tried to influence him ahead of his decision recently when he ordered the release of former minister Thapelo Matsheka who had been detained by the intelligence services (DIS).
The Chief Justice described judge Ketlogetswe as “irresponsible”, “deceitful “and “cankerous” (sic).
The Chief Justice said judge Ketlogetswe had been among the judges that were involved in a petition to have former Chief Justice Maruping Dibotelo removed from office by the way of an impeachment.
That was after the then Chief Justice sought to hold judges accountable following the housing allowance saga where they claimed allowances they were not entitled to, said Rannowane.
“During the course of this housing allowance saga a dead lizard was sent to the former Chief Justice with a threat that it was some witchcraft from some foreign land and threatening him with death if he did not resign with immediate effect. I should prepare myself for loads of dead lizards when this fracas heats up,” says the Chief Justice in his letter to President Masisi.
Addressing the issue of Dr Matsheka’s case especially the allegation made that he attempted to influence judge Ketlogetswe, the Chief Justice said the case was introduced to him, unsolicited by judge Ketlogetswe himself.
“Judge Ketlogetswe sent me the following WhatsApp message: ‘Afternoon my Lord CJ. I called, but it was just a call made to your Lordship out of courtesy. I have bail application, I am told, involving the MP for Lobatse, Dr Matsheka. It is obviously a matter that may attract public attention,’” says the Chief Justice.
Justice Rannowane says that was after he had “apparently” missed a number of calls from Judge Ketlogetswe. The Chief Justice states that on the 5th of August alone he missed three calls from Judge Ketlogetswe.
“Almost all the calls we had were instigated by him and my phone record shows that he always called and, if I missed his calls, I would call back. It is therefore untrue to claim that I was the one bothering him, with calls.”
He said the calls from judge Ketlogetswe were to enquire on his views and also to update him.
“I must hasten to say that these calls were completely unsolicited and unnecessary. In that update he informed me that the application was not for bail but for habeas corpus. We exchanged views on the difference between habeas corpus and bail application proper. It is normal for judges handling cases to seek views from other judges ion legal principles and this was in my view proper.”
The Chief Justice says from there Justice Ketlogetswe kept bombarding him with updates almost every hour.
“I never asked for these updates especially as I was in a weekend rest. As a matter of fact, I resent being made to grapple with work related issues during weekends…”
“After the hearing the Judge himself informed me that the State’s case was weak and that they have conceded that and that state counsel had conceded that the detention of Honourable Dr Thapelo Matsheka without a warrant in excess of 48 hours permitted under section 36 of the CP&E was unlawful. I was very disappointed that law enforcement people will detain such a prominent politician without a warrant. I expressed disappointment, which I thought the judge also shared, that our law enforcement agents are quick to arrest, detain or charge people when their cases are not well investigated with the result that such cases are viewed as being politically motivated and end up embarrassing the President. My fears were vindicated when the private press subsequently portrayed the whole thing as a politically motivated witch hunt. My concern was that Hon Matsheka was unlawfully detained by law enforcement officers, not that the Judge was wrong to release him. I subsequently congratulated for his well-reasoned judgement.”
The Chief Justice continued that “we are all aware of the Welheminah Maswabi case where the accused was brought to Court on fabricated evidence. That particular case caused untold reputational damage to our criminal justice system, not just here at home but abroad. As head of the Judiciary I get concerned when our institutions’ professional image takes a hit. In fact, I am on record in one of my legal year speeches expressing regret about the tendency of charging people first and investigating the case thereafter. Judge Ketlogetswe is not telling the truth when he said I called His Excellency, No.1. I never refer to him as such but instead refer to him “THE PRESIDENT or MOSAU.”
The Chief Justice has said he is looking at all options including instituting legal proceedings against the Judge Ketlogetswe.
“In conclusion I wish to put it on record that I never tried to influence Judge Ketlogetswe to unlawfully detain the Honourable Member of Parliament for Lobatse. I also wish to o state that I felt uncomfortable that he would continually bombard me with unsolicited updates when I was enjoying my weekend. I made sure that I shared with a close friend who is also a friend to Matsheka. On hindsight, I feel that it was through divine inspiration that I did so. It has put me in a strategic space to be able to get a confirmatory affidavit to prove that in all the updates, there was never any suggestion that Matsheka should be unlawfully detained.”
