Bakgatla paramount chief Kgafela Kgafela on Monday appeared briefly before the Extension II magistrate court to answer a single charge of escaping from lawful custody.
Kgafela and eleven others were arraigned by Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Leonard Sechele and Thato Dibeela before magistrate Joy Brown where the charge sheet was read but no plea taken.
The men are accused of vanishing from police custody around October last year after the then Village Chief magistrate Barnabas Nyamazabo ordered that they be locked up following a complaint of a continuing spate of floggings within the Kgatleng district.
Also facing the same charge of from police custody is Kgafela’s younger brother, Mmusi Kgafela. On Monday however, Mmusi was excused from court as he had been granted sick leave.
Kgafela, a lawyer by training, is representing himself while the other accused persons are represented by Banyatsi Mmekwa.
Kgafela, who has labeled Botswana’s Constitution a fraud, has requested from the state documentation that led to the adoption of the country’s constitution.
Last year the High Court ruled that Kgafela had no authority to order or flog anyone. It also ruled that Kgafela is not a Kgosi Kgolo but a Kgosi. Kgafela has however indicated that he is appealing the judgment.
