Oarabile Mosikare
4 April 2008
Gaborone — The usually humble Justice Moses Chinhengo was angry yesterday because attorney Lyndon Mothusi representing one of the accused persons involved in a grisly Mupane Gold mine murder case that rocked Francistown in 2006 did not appear.
The judge threatened to issue a warrant of arrest for Mothusi. Mothusi of Mothusi and Company law firm is acting as a pro deo counsel for Raymond Leshomo who is jointly charged with Arnold Mashango with the murder of Mario Lottering on May 27, 2006 near Mupane Gold mine in the North East District. The 22 year old Leshomo, a supervisor at Mupane Gold Mine, and 30 year old Mashango, a mine engineer, pleaded not guilty to the charge. Bengbame Sechele of BB Sechele Attorneys represents Mashango in the matter.
Attorney, David Moloise also of Mothusi and Company applied to be recused citing personal friendship with the deceased Lottering and his family. Moloise submitted that this was at the instance of himself and Leshomo.
The judge wanted to know where Mothusi was and what he was doing. "I cannot say with exact certainty. Yesterday and this morning he was not in the office," submitted Moloise. "You are working together and I want to know where Mothusi is," demanded Justice Chinhengo. Moloise replied that he would find out and appraise the court. The judge then asked the principal prosecutions counsel, Antoinette Kula, about the lawyer representing Leshomo. "The notice indicates Mothusi and Company," replied Kula, who was appearing with prosecutions counsel, Reneetswe Rabosotho. He also wanted to know if in practice the Registrar hands the case to a specific lawyer or a company. Moloise replied that in fact the cases were supposed to be allocated to a specific lawyer not a company. He added that in the northern administrative district the practice is to allocate the cases to the company.
"How would one know that Mothusi was allocated the case?" Justice Chinhengo asked. Attorney Sechele told the court that the Registrar would know. "Are you telling me that the Registrar does not know who handles the matter until the trial day. This is a matter of importance because it deals with the organisation of trial," said the angry judge. Justice Chinhengo then turned his blasing guns to Moloise. He asked him if he knew about his relationship with Lottering when he appeared before him on March 6, 2008. Moloise submitted that he was acting on behalf of Mothusi. The judge then dealt with the issue of costs incurred by the state. Earlier Kula had intimated that one of their 28 witnesses was coming from South Africa and some were from Gaborone.
Justice Chinhengo told Moloise that he was unhappy that from Monday when the case was handed over to him he did not inform the Registrar that he was unable to represent the accused. Although he said the matter was a criminal case, there were sanctions that should be imposed. "If I find it appropriate I will rule that you pay the costs personally," the judge warned. In defence of Mothusi, Moloise submitted that the state could have taken measures to mitigate its costs. "If the court is inclined to impose sanctions it should take into account lack of action from the state," Moloise submitted. Kula submitted that the costs that the state would incur would not only be in monetary terms.
Some witnesses, Kula submitted, have left their jobs and would be leaving their jobs yet again. "In this case although it is a criminal case, we would be entitled to costs if one party is found to have acted negligently," she said. Justice Chinhengo did not rule on whether Moloise was recused. He also did not deliver his ruling on whether Mothusi and Company would pay the state costs. "It is not the function of the court to force an accused person to be represented by a person he does not want," Justice Chinhengo said. The case was postponed to April 21. Meanwhile, security was tight and the mood tense at the High Court when the two suspects appeared for trial. Members of Botswana Prisons Service were armed with AK47 rifles outside the court building. The courtroom was packed to capacity by the deceased's relatives and friends.
This was reminiscent of Gerald Dube's murder case who was condemned to death for the murder of attorney Patricia Majoko, her two children and their maid in 2002 in Francistown.
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