Mmegi

DIS wants me to flee – Khama

‘I will not run’ Khama accuses DIS of harassment

- INNOCENT SELATLHWA Staff Writer

Former president Ian Khama is an unhappy man as he believes the current regime wants him to skip the country following continuous attempts at accusing him of various serious crimes.

He says there is a plot to get at him by any means possible using the Directorat­e of Security and intelligen­ce (DIS). He has since vowed that he will fight to the bitter end for his rights and has no intention to flee the country.

“Khama is worried that the list of the state’s vindictive attempts to try and get at him is growing rapidly. From alleged coup attempts, assassinat­ion plots, P100 billion theft, and more recently, threatenin­g charity donors, threats to those entities they think he has shares in, intention to plant explosives in his property and accusing him of storage of such, offering his private staff jobs in government if they leave him, and trying to persuade gun dealers that they have supplied him with military equipment.

They are desperate to pin something on him,” a source said. The former president has since confirmed that he is a worried man. “I can confirm as true that DIS has approached donors and threatened them. However, those donors have ignored the threats and continue to provide support. Again, DIS approached some

entities including some I have no link with to inquire if I have any shares with them with the intention of requiring them to sever ties with me,” he said. Further, Khama confirmed that very recently, one of his private staff members was asked to quit working for him in exchange for a government job.

He said the current regime is ready to do anything to take him down. “The DIS has been sent to dealers to ask them if they sell military weapons if they have sold any to me and to engineer answers in the affirmativ­e so they can have a pretext to raid me.

They will go to any extent, which includes engaging in criminalit­y themselves against me and others. I have engaged my lawyers to follow up on these,” he said. Quizzed whether he had any intention to run away from all his troubles, Khama said he will never flee the country no matter what because that is exactly what his accusers would like him to do.

He added that he intends to release other informatio­n concerning his well-being that he has reported to other agencies. Khama told this publicatio­n last month he learnt about the allegation­s that he buried explosives in bunkers on his property.

He said he has now warned his staff to be on the lookout for any signs of unsolicite­d entry on his property with intent to frame him. Meanwhile, DIS spokespers­on Edward Robert could not confirm any of the events Khama narrated.

He, however, denied harassment of the former president. “As the DIS, we have an obligation to protect and ensure the safety of the former president, not to harass him.

We have been doing this since he left office and any suggestion­s that we are falling short of that would spell mischief,” he said. Robert added that it was unfortunat­e that for some time there have been reports that Khama is being harassed. He called on Khama and anyone who has evidence of ill-treatment by the directorat­e to report incidents to the authoritie­s.

 ?? PIC: THALEFANG CHARLES ?? Khama
PIC: THALEFANG CHARLES Khama

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