When High Court justice Omphemetse Motumise dismissed an urgent application for Stay of Execution by former councilor for Mosolotshane, Mogalakwe Mogalakwe, he emphasized one thing – that the Applicant sat on his rights until the last minute.
He said that when Mogalakwe was issued with a Writ of Execution sometime in mid February 2021, for the legal Bill of P393.000.00, he did not immediately take action.
The judge said, instead, Mogalakwe spent time questioning the validity of the legal fees, but not coming up with any alternative figure whatsoever to challenge such in court.
“The conclusion is that the Applicant sat on his rights until the last minute, hence this application which was heard yesterday. He had ample time to challenge this, but he did not,” Motumise said.
He added that two months later in April, Mogalakwe had his property attached by Deputy Sheriffs, but he also did not act with the speed that was required.
Motumise said the former councilor, once more, spent more time trying to come up with reasons why his property should not be sold to the public but it was now becoming late.
He said that Mogalakwe’s argument that the legal fees are not a true reflection of the true fees is also weak because he has not offered his version of the true legal fees.
Secondly, the judge said Mogalakwe’s argument that he is to suffer irreversible damage if his property is sold does not hold water.
‘I had to strike a balance between the prejudice that the Applicant says he would suffer if his property is sold, against the prejudice which the Respondents will suffer, and I found the middle ground,’ he said.
The matter was heard on Monday 23rd August 2021, just two days before the scheduled public auction of his property.
The First Respondent was the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and Botswana Democratic Party (BDB) were Second Respondents.
Only the BDP lawyers showed up in court against the Applicants.
Motumise said Mogalakwe has also failed to demonstrate his prospects for success at the Court of Appeal, adding that they are next to zero.
He therefore ordered that the application be dismissed with costs.
In court on Tuesday morning, none of his supporters showed up nor were there any representatives from the UDC or his party Alliance for Progressives.
It was not clear by late Tuesday evening whether he would approach the Court of Appeal before August 25th.
