Back in May 2nd, 2018 Carter Morupisi- on behalf of President Mokgweetsi Masisi, fired the then Director General (DG) of the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DIS), Isaac Kgosi.
This week allegiance shifted as Morupisi filed an affidavit in support of Kgosi in his legal tussle.
Morupisi- who himself will soon know his fate in a corruption case – filed an affidavit demonstrating to the court that there was never a proper handover from the time Kgosi was ‘relieved of his duties’
“I can also confirm that subsequently Mr Kgosi advised me that there had not been proper handover and he still had in his possession, certain property belonging to his former employer and needed to hand over to his successor Mr. Magosi. He informed me that he had asked Mr Magosi to collect them but he had not done so. He asked me to ask Mr Magosi to arrange to collect them. I spoke to Mr Magosi who assured me that he would arrange for the hand over ” Morupisi said.
Kgosi appeared before the village Magistrate’s court on Monday and was slapped with six charges against the national security act.
If found guilty he faces a possible 25-year prison term.
In count one, the ex-spy boss is accused of being in possession of three armored vests closely resembling those of the Botswana Police Service without lawful authority while in count two he is accused of being in possession of a military uniform closely resembling that of the BDF.
In count three and four, he is accused of being in possession of battle vests and tactical backpack closely resembling those of the DIS and being in possession of forged or irregular official documents purporting to be specimens of and a passport of Botswana without lawful authority.
Further, in count five and six, Kgosi is accused of being in possession of a forged or irregular official document purporting to be a national identity card of Botswana and being in possession of ammunition without a license.
Whilst the state failed to convince the court to extend Kgosi’s remand, the former DIS boss- through his lawyers, told the court that the main reason for having some of the Government’s property was because there was never a proper and formal handover form when he was fired.
Kgosi tells the court that back in 2018, he was hastily called to the Office of the President (OP) where he was slapped with a termination of employment letter.
Kgosi further claims he was then escorted to the DIS head office to collect more of his stuff and was told that a proper handover would follow.
Three years later, Kgosi maintains, the handover has not been done.
He told the court he was surprised that the state accuses him of possession of some of the property that were in his possession as a result of the office he held at the time.
This was however contended by the state lawyer Sifelani Thapelo who argued that the onus lies with both the employee and the employer to facilitate a proper handover. “One would be very gullible to believe that someone whose employment was terminated in the manner which the accused was would be allowed to retain some properties of his employer.”
“He had a duty to surrender all property which came into his possession by virtue of his employment. A suggestion that three years down the line he is still waiting for the DG to collect properties of Government defies logic,” Thapelo argued.
In the end, Magistrate Lindiwe Makgoro ruled in favour of Kgosi and granted him a P 5, 000 bail.
He returns to court on December 7th for status hearing.
@sharonmathala
sharonm@thevoicebw.com
