Who will hear the P21m Daisy Loo case?

 

The accused, Frank Molaletsi, Gilbert Sithole, Frank Stegling, Bitsang Abby, and Dijeng appeared for mention briefly before Village Chief Magistrate, Lot Moroka, yesterday.

Moroka revealed in open court yesterday that the Registrar of the High Court, Godfrey Nthomiwa, was in the process of allocating the case to a suitable judicial officer.

The case, which has been moving at a snail's pace, was left in limbo after the then presiding magistrate, Terrence Rannowane, recused himself from the matter after he was appointed an acting judge of the High Court.

The case has been on the registrar's roll for over two years and is now committed for a fresh hearing. Moroka has ordered that the accused come for mention on September 4.
'Hopefully by then, the registrar would have allocated the matter to another judicial officer,' said Moroka.

During the last mention held last month, Moroka indicated that he was not in a position to hear the matter because he had been exposed to some evidential material during the civil dispute between Daisy Loo and GCC. The Court of Appeal has ruled that Daisy Loo be paid for the grass cutting and bush clearing tender, which the state argues was awarded fraudulently.

However, the cheque paid out by GCC to Daisy Loo following the court order cannot be cashed after the state made an application for the money to be frozen. The Daisy Loo cheque is currently frozen in the trust account of Mack Bahuma and Attorneys and cannot be disbursed until the criminal case has been resolved.

By the time Rannowane recused himself from the case, only two out of the 50 witnesses that the state had lined up had testified. Among the witnesses lined up was President Ian Khama, then vice president.

Last week, the High Court in Lobatse dismissed an application in which the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) was seeking to bar Daisy Loo and its judicial manager from accessing the frozen P21 million and all its accrued interest.

Although Daisy Loo has been awarded the money by the Court of Appeal, the state contends that the money cannot be touched because it is an exhibit in the criminal case against Molaletsi and Sithole, Stegling, and Abby who are accused of colluding with Daisy Loo to defraud the GCC.