*Peloetletse demands P40k legal costs from the former president
The long-running defamation lawsuit filed by former President Dr Ian Khama against former Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) councillor, MacDonald Peloetletse, has hit a snag after three judges recused themselves, while Khama reportedly shows little interest in pursuing the case further.
The matter that was registered in November 2021, has failed to make meaningful progress for more than four years despite being assigned to several judges along the way.
Now, frustrated by the delays, Peloetletse has approached the court seeking dismissal of the matter and is demanding compensation for legal costs estimated at P40,000.00.
Speaking to The Voice Peloetletse confirmed that indeed he wants Khama to foot the legal bill, arguing that the former president initiated the legal action and has since failed to pursue it.
“Yes, the former President instituted defamation action against me, but he seems to be dragging his feet to have the matter concluded within reasonable time, and I believe that it has prescribed. I think he should pay the legal fees because he is the one who started the case,” he confirmed.
The legal action stems from a heated social media exchange sometime in 2021 after Khama was featured in a radio interview in which he alleged that his successor Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi had stolen some funds and therefore the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) was not in a good financial position to take part in Mozambique peace keeping mission.
The utterances were allegedly repeated in a Facebook post to which Peloetletse responded that Khama was: “A liar and a thief who stole money that the UN had paid to the soldiers who went for operations and paid them less than a quarter of what was actually due to them.”
According to court documents, Peloetletse’s purported comment further alleged that Khama, who previously served as commander of the BDF when the military was engaged in foreign missions, should account for the institution’s poor financial standing.
Peloetletse confirmed on Wednesday that he had already secured a good number of ex-soldiers and serving members of the BDF who were prepared to depose affidavits to confirm that they were in support of the utterances he allegedly made.
He said that there are many unanswered questions surrounding the remuneration of BDF soldiers in Somalia peace keeping mission in the early 90s when the former President was Commander of BDF.
To this day, he said, there is no clear explanation as to what happened to the allowances that the BDF members were entitled to.
He added that the case cannot be allowed to remain in the system indefinitely.
In his court papers, Khama had stated that Peloetletse’s comments about him were defamatory, insulting, and attacked his integrity.
The Voice newspaper has established that the matter that was featured in the Gaborone High court roll recently is yet to be allocated a judge.
“I reserve my comment on the matter,” said the former President Khama when reached for his side of the story this week.
