Thursday, February 6, 2025

Kgosi faces renewed threat of prosecution

Directorate of Intelligence Services (DIS) Director General Isaac Kgosi’s corruption case has become the subject of a ground breaking law suit to be launched by the National Amalgamated Local Central Government & Parastatal Workers Union (NALG&PAU).

The country’s biggest workers union on Friday slapped the Attorney General with a statutory notice that it intends to institute action in the High Court for a Writ of Mandamus directing head of DCEC Rose Seretse “to forward to the DPP a docket referenced DOC/IF/2011/001166 (27) opened by DCEC relating to an investigation against one Isaac Seabelo Kgosi (“kgosi”), the Director General of the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (“DISS”). A (writ of) mandamus (more modernly called a “writ of mandate”) is an order from a court to a government official ordering the government official to properly fulfill their official duties or correct an abuse of discretion.

According to the statutory notice prepared by NALG&PAU lawyers, Collins Chilisa Consultants, in the event the DPP decides against prosecuting Kgosi, the DPP should be ordered to “avail our client the said docket together with its entire contents and exhibits, both documentary and no-documentary, as well as the DPP’s reasons therefor, to enable our client to institute proceedings in the High Court for an order reviewing, correcting and/ or setting aside his decision.” A similar case was recently launched by the South African Democratic Alliance for a review of the Public Prosecutors’ decision to withdraw charges against former South African police crime intelligence head Richard Mdluli. The North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ordered that charges against Mdluli be restored. The High Court decision was two months ago upheld by the South African Supreme Court of Appeal following an unsuccessful appeal by the National Prosecuting Authority.

It emerged in the notice compiled by Collins Chilisa Consultants that that Kgosi was investigated by the DCEC for “obtaining by false pretences contrary to Section 308 of the Penal Code CAP 08:01; Failure to give a satisfactory explanation as to how he is able to maintain a standard of living disproportionate to his p[resent or past known sources of income or assets, contrary to Section 34 of the DCEC Act CAP 08:05; Stealing by a person employed in the Public Service contrary to Section 276 of the penal Code CAP 08:01; money laundering contrary to Section 14 of the Corruption and Economic Crime Act CAP 08:05 and abuse of office contrary to Section 104 of the Penal Code CAP 08:01.”

Collins Chilisa Consultants want the docket passed to the DPP to enable him to “consider same with a view to exercising his discretion and deciding in terms of Section 51 A (3) of the Constitution of Botswana, whether he considers it desirable to institute and undertake criminal proceedings on the said charges against Kgosi.”

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