Court grants Kgosi seized guns again
Sharon Mathala | Tuesday June 4, 2024 13:21
A judgment delivered yesterday (Monday) by Gaborone High Court judge, Zein Kebonang ruled that Kgosi’s guns were acquired legally and that the state has been ordered to return the weapons, ammunition, and licences to the former DIS boss.
“I find, as a fact, that the applicant's firearms and ammunition were properly acquired, registered, and licensed. I also find that the second respondent (Botswana Police Service) properly and lawfully complied with the enabling legislation in registering and licensing the said firearms and ammunitions,' reads the judgment in part.
The judge further noted in his judgment that the third respondent (DIS) took the law into their own hands, 'It knew it did not have a warrant to do so but that did not constrain or restrain it from acting unlawfully and in complete disregard of the law'.
The background of the case is that Kgosi’s guns were seized on February 15, 2019, following a raid at his residence in Phakalane.
Kgosi said on that fateful day he had a rude awakening when officers from the Botswana Police Service (BPS) and the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) served him with a warrant of entry and then searched and seized his property without explaining to him why and what charges he was facing. Kgosi explained that during the raid, the officers took his different model firearms and ammunition that he legally owned.
During the case, yet another judge had declared that Kgosi’s guns were seized illegally by the state. The then-judge president Abednego Tafa had ordered that Kgosi’s guns be returned to him because he had demonstrated through undisputed evidence that the firearms in question were lawfully registered in his name.
“The arms are to be released to the applicant within three days from the date of this order. The evidence presented to the court clearly showed they were lawfully registered in his name. Such registration in my view, showed evidence of ownership,” Justice Tafa said at the time.
He also explained that in the absence of evidence that the state failed to produce, the court could not second-guess the ex-spy chief because the evidence was that the listed firearms were indeed collected from his custody. The former judge president said Kgosi had the requisite licences to possess the firearms and that it was a clear case of lawful possession and/or ownership.
The guns that were supposed to be returned are as follows: * 300 rifle serial numbers 710-9550 * 12 gauge double barrel shotgun serial number 0505544 * 9mm Jericho pistol with two magazines 14.A * 30/06-rifle serial number C700521Bruno * 308-rifle number 3433854 * O/U shotgun 12g serial number 09137 NP153 * 9mm pistol serial number 857992 * Combination 12/76 and 3006 serial number 4/8666 4 4R 04838 * 50mm pistol serial number 41201234 * 12 gauge shotgun serial number 63529 PR 152