Woman accuses cops of talking stalker fears lightly
A woman who reported her ex for stalking, in a story that made The Voice’s front page last May, believes the police downplayed the danger she was in and did not take the situation seriously enough.
Gaone Skelemani, 41, a niece of former Speaker of the National Assembly, Phandu Sekelemani, told Village Magistrates’ Court that despite repeated reports of stalking and harassment, her complaints were not treated with the urgency they deserved.
She revealed police failed to refer the matter to the DPP, forcing her to formally seek assistance from the Ministry of Youth and Gender Affairs after fearing that the situation could turn deadly.
Her former partner, Alex Mbiganyi, 47, a Debswana employee based in Jwaneng, was arrested on 23 January and is charged with contravening a protection order dated 12 March 2025.
This is his second alleged breach, with the first resulting in a P2, 000 fine, a penalty Skelemani described as ‘insignificant’ to the accused and thus did little to deter him.
In her representations, the complainant said she fears for her life and the lives of her children.
Furthermore, Skelemani said that fear forced her to sell her car and rely on services such as INDrive to avoid being followed.
The traumatised woman also claimed Mbiganyi had even gone as far as picking the children up from school without notifying her, further escalating her fear.
“At this point I do not know who to turn to because no one seems to take this seriously,” cried Skelemani.
She further detailed a pattern that included unwanted visits, surveillance, persistent communication, insults and unauthorised entry into her yard, including an incident where Mbiganyi allegedly jumped over her boundary wall and spent the night in her house when she was away on a work trip.
“Imagine the person whom you have a restraining order against calling you from your own bed, I am scared that he will escalate things if ever released on bail,” concluded Skelemani.
For their part, the defence fought for their client’s freedom, arguing Mbiganyi had not committed any act of physical violence, maintaining the alleged offence amounted to a technical breach of the protection order and does not fall under Schedule 3 offences.
They also noted their client suffers from health challenges.
Adding to the tension, Mbiganyi broke down in tears in open court, prompting a temporary halt in proceedings to allow him to regain his composure.
The state opposed bail, arguing that the matter is of public interest, warning that repeated breaches of protection orders are often the cases that escalate and end in tragedy.
In her ruling, Magistrate Desmond Rakodi agreed, stating, “This is a very serious matter which you are clearly not taking seriously. Your actions when violating this protection order have escalated each time. Clearly a fine is not enough to keep you away from the victim, we have no idea what you are going to do next and for that reason you shall remain remanded in prison.”
The case resumes on 28 February with Mbiganyi remaining locked up until then.
