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Botswana: Licence to Kill?
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The Voice (Francistown)
25 March 2008
Posted to the web 25 March 2008
Innocent Tshukudu
Francistown
The family of a man shot dead in Francistown two weeks ago deny that their son was a thief. They say he was an innocent victim, who was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Sorrow turned to anger and frustration as Kabelo Edwin Putswedi, who was shot dead by Councillor Alec Tabengwa, was laid to rest at Semotswane Village cemetery last weekend.
Family and friends have challenged the belief that their relative had any criminal intention and questioned the right of the councillor to shoot dead an apparently harmless and unarmed man. They have demanded that police provide an explanation.
Speakers at the funeral told how Kabelo had come from Gaborone to visit his cousins, and had been staying for a week at the place where he was killed.
The victim's uncle, Seoganetseng Molalapata, 63, said he was in Masunga when he was informed of the incident.
"I received a call from my nephews telling me that Kabelo had been killed in their yard. I naturally went to the police for information, but didn't like the treatment I got when I went there to enquire.
"When I suggested that the councillor should be detained, at least for his own safety, they told me that it was none of my business.
"I was angry and frustrated and when I told them that it might not be wise for him to be walking the same streets with my nephew's relatives, they threatened to put me in jail."
One speaker, Motakatala Motsomi, who lived in the same yard, said: "Where I stay with Kabelo's cousins is adjacent to the councillor's yard and there is no fence that separates the two yards.
"The woman who reported to the councillor that there was a thief trying to break in knew Kabelo. He had been staying in the room he had been trying to open.
Motsomi went on to say: "I never saw what happened but was awakened by a loud bang. I just went back to sleep because I thought it was the police on patrol as it was around 2 in the morning."
Putswedi's cousin, Seipato Jonas, told The Voice that, on the day of the incident, they had been drinking beer together and went to bed late. "He had visited us from Gaborone and had been staying for almost a week. I had organized accommodation for him at a friend's room in the councillor's yard because I was staying with my girlfriend in my room."
"The councillor does not live in the yard though. He has leased it out to tenants. On the night of the incident, my girlfriend was away and Kabelo had slept at my room because his roommate KayGee, had not returned home from entertainment.
"Later that night he left the room to go and urinate. He had left his shoes and shirt in my room and after urinating he went to knock at KayGee's room to see if he had come back. That is where the councillor confronted and killed him."
When contacted, the Councillor for Ikageleng South Ward, Alec Tabengwa, would not be drawn into commenting on the matter. "If you need anything just talk to the police," was all he was prepared to say to this newspaper.
Officer Commanding for No.1 District, Alakanani Makobo, confirmed that investigations were still continuing. "We have referred the matter to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) so that they can make legal assessments and advise on whether we should lay any charges. We are still awaiting their response," he said.
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Legal experts have pointed to Section 16 of the penal code likely to be applicable in this case. The relevant section states: "Subject to the express provisions of this code or any other law for the time being in force, a person shall not be criminally responsible for the use of force in repelling an unlawful attack upon his person or property, or the person or property of anyone whom it is his moral or legal duty to protect, if the means he uses or the degree of force he employs in so doing are no more than is reasonably necessary in the circumstances." What those circumstances might have been is what the dead man's relatives have asked the police to explain. They fear that they may never find out if the matter does not go to court.
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