Not once have I ever thought State officials could stoop so low to forge a judicial officer’s signature in order to arrest an individual for I have always believed processes and procedures are pretty clear for a warrant of arrest to be secured and effected. In fact, it is almost a daily occurrence that law enforcement agencies approach courts to secure warrants of arrest when circumstances so require. The latest jaw dropping episode wherein the signature of the Palapye Chief Magistrate Mme Rebecca Motsamai was allegedly obtained fraudulently to procure the arrest, Hollywood style if I may add, of the immediate past Director General of the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services Rre Isaac Kgosi, has had my thought cruelly invalidated. Apart from the leader of the Umbrella for Democratic Change Advocate Duma Boko and Rre Kgosi himself so viciously pursued for tax evasion if at all, I am not aware of anyone who owes or has owed the taxman so viciously pursued. In this conversation, I will focus on the Palapye Chief Magistrate’s story in so far as State institutions seemingly became rogue and brazen in violating the law by forging her signature. Affidavits in this regard almost suggest forging occurred.
Given the not-so-distant occurrences and revelations in the high profile criminal cases of the P 100 billion and the P 450 million National Petroleum Fund scandals wherein procedural and substantive processes were short-changed to secure a stage managed guilty verdict against those implicated, the latest revelation in fraudulently securing the said signature of the Palapye Chief Magistrate’s signature should not emerge as a shock or surprise. The audio clip that was leaked in which senior members of the security and prosecution institutions were deliberating on the P 100 billion case cannot be ignored. All the foregoing incidents demonstrate the rogue and brazen conduct of State institutions in violating the law under the guise of effecting a lawful arrest or pursuing a legal position.
Like I have said above, processes and procedures of securing and effecting warrants of arrest are found in law where forging the signature of a judicial officer’s signature is not provided for. The pertinent question should be: why would State institutions congregate somewhere probably clandestinely, to develop a plan of forging a judicial officer’s signature while the law allows them to transparently apply and be granted such warrant of arrest if reasons to do so appear valid to the judicial officer? Further to this, why would the Palapye Chief Magistrate be approached to issue a warrant of arrest for an offence very likely committed in the Gaborone area when there are plenty Magistrates in this area? These questions should better be answered by competent legal persons. That said, it appears State institutions were well aware that Rre Kgosi would be arriving in the country through the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport in Gaborone where he was arrested on a particular flight, time and date. Armed with this piece of crucial information, securing a warrant of his arrest from the Palapye magistracy shouldn’t have arisen. It boggles the mind why securing a warrant of arrest in Palapye looked easier than in the Gaborone area. How was the law violated?
The Palapye Chief Magistrate argues in her affidavit wherein she disputes her involvement in the Kgosi matter that ‘…..I have never been a party to any court proceedings of the nature that is alleged against me or at all. I have not been part of any conspiracy against the Plaintiff (Kgosi) or participated in any way in his arrest and detention as alleged in the declaration or at all. I never issued any warrant for the arrest of the Plaintiff or at all…. I wish to state that all the allegations against me in these proceedings and in the declaration in particular are false, spurious, frivolous, vexatious, and defamatory of me in my person and in my official capacity in the extreme.’ If the Chief Magistrate had actually participated in the warrant of arrest process of Kgosi as initially purported before the emerging evidence seems to point to the contrary, would she have deposed to an affidavit contradicting her participation thereof? I don’t think so if you asked me. The bottom line in my view is that notwithstanding the reason for Kgosi’s arrest said to be tax evasion, State institutions clandestinely conspired to violate the established law as regards the warrant of arrest.
As the emergence of the alleged forgery of the Chief Magistrate’s signature came to the fore and potentially with dire consequences, State institutions are blaming each other for their violating the law. One of the affidavits from the police reads that ‘….On or about 15th January 2019, we received a report from BURS that Kgosi was wanted for the offence of intent to evade liability of tax and that BURS needs assistance to obtain a warrant of arrest for Kgosi who was due to arrive in Botswana, and we were tasked with the duty of applying for a warrant of arrest and effect same on Kgosi.’ But BURS seems to contradict the police version by saying ‘….Prior to the arrest, BURS had no role whatsoever to apply in so far as the acts of applying for and obtaining the warrant of arrest against Kgosi. In any event, it is not the mandate of BURS to do so.’ The contradicting nature of the two is telling. It appears the weakest in the value chain of breaking the law will be thrown under the bus. One vividly remembers how the DCEC investigator in the P 100 billion matter Jako Hubona was almost left alone to dry on the wash line when the matter took a turn for the worse after former President Ian Khama sued the State for defamation amounting to millions of Pula. How could the said warrant of arrest of Kgosi possibly have been secured?
If the affidavit of the Chief Magistrate is to be believed, it stands to reason that one of the officers in the Palapye Chief Magistrate offices was clandestinely approached by State institutions to, if my little understanding is correct: scan the Chief Magistrate’s signature that would be available in numerous official court documents. The signature would then be cut and pasted on the warrant documents together with the official stamp of the Chief Magistrate. If this is indeed correct in how the warrant of arrest was secured, it leaves the weakest in the value chain susceptible to charges of perjury, defeating the ends of justice and forgery which singularly and collectively attract a considerable amount of jail time.
With the above in mind, it is telling that State institutions are wilfully used to stage manage cases against individuals to fix such individuals for whatever is in the minds of the head honchos of such institutions with such impunity and contempt. It could very well be argued that these institutions are used to persecute targeted individuals instead of promoting their Rights as enshrined in the Bill of Rights. It may not be in this particular matter but in others. The unfolding political events in the country have arguably, found space in the State machinery resulting in these institutions to be politicised in order to fight political battles. In the process, they become beholden, through their leadership, to the political leaders than to the Constitution. The sum total of these is to fragrantly violate the law in pursuance of a preferred outcome. While Kgosi’s cases in courts could on one hand be argued to be legal in nature and correctly so, they cannot on the other be regarded as not having a political component of sort owing to the relationship between himself and former President Ian Khama. I don’t find it important to describe the relationship between them further than this.
In conclusion, State institutions across the board have become rogue and brazen in clandestinely and wilfully violating the law to achieve a pre-determined outcome. While the jury is still out in the Palapye signature scandal, legal optics appear to point in the tearful direction. I will not be surprised if the same institutions craft an escape route from the mess they have created. When their conduct is ruthlessly exposed, the weak and the powerless become the scapegoat while the mighty and the powerful remain unscathed. I am prepared to be persuaded otherwise as usual. Judge for Yourself!
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