Khama vs DIS: Witchhunt or necessary measure?
Mmegi MOMPATI TLHANKANE
The Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) has doubled up efforts to find answers regarding supposedly hidden weapons of war allegedly in the possession of former president, Ian Khama. This new momentum follows the recent detention of Police Commissioner Keabetswe Makgophe, Khama’s twin brothers Anthony and Tshekedi as well as the latter’s wife Thea Khama. As the DIS prioritises the investigation, one of the most aggressive criminal investigations against a former president Khama appears to be gaining momentum every dawning day, observes Staffer
Although various items like documents and laptops have been confiscated, Khama and his family have not been charged yet. The DIS is said to be keeping the wheels turning in order to build a solid case against the former army general. Khama has been accused of having weapons of war. Along with his ally, former director-general of the DIS, Isaac Kgosi, Khama is alleged to have stolen and stockpiled firearms from the Botswana Defence Force and later the DIS.
The unusual move by the DIS on Monday to detain Makgophe has not only shocked the nation, but it has also sparked public interest. The question of who could be next in this line of detentions is said to be lingering in the minds of some of Botswana’s top officials, especially Khama’s allies.
Khama decries witchhunt
The former president who fled the country in what is now a self-imposed exile has been seeking help during his visit in South Africa. Even before he left, Khama said he was aware that the current regime led by his successor, President Mokgweetsi Masisi is going to try to discredit and embarrass him.
In his latest statements on social media and news outlets Khama decries the DIS detentions and raids as witchhunt concocted by the intelligence agency to target his family and finish them off.
Khama, who said he feared for the safety of his own life before he left the country under dubious circumstances last year, revealed in a Facebook statement this week that the so-called DIS investigation is nothing but a continuation of the harassment and persecution that his family is being subjected to.
“It is also confirmed that Masisi vowed that he wanted to demonstrate that he could arrest and detain the sons of Sir Seretse Khama whilst promising immunity from prosecution of security agencies who are in contravention of the law as they carryout his vindictive agendas.
Their warped minds had targeted me but as I was not available for them to carryout their criminal intentions, they opted for my brothers and Tshekedi’s wife because she occasionally on Facebook is a critic of their failed wildlife policies amongst a long and growing list of other failings,” reads the statement.
He said his brothers’ illegal detention in a DIS facility proved that the intelligence agency has a speciality of fabrication. Khama, who described Masisi and his regime as ‘a sinking ship and its wayward captain’, told the eNCA in an interview that this was aimed at him. He labelled his brothers’ arrest as ‘very dramatic, cowboy Hollywood style’. He said he has been pleading with the international community because Botswana had been on a downward spiral under Masisi. “Our banana republic is a manifestation of a situation brought about by two people who have been accurately described unstable in recent Facebook posts, Masisi and Magosi,” Khama wrote in another Facebook post.
Masisi’s predecessor said he is being systematically persecuted and punished by a ‘masquerader’ in Masisi. Khama said his family is being subjected to indefinite probe and microscopic scrutiny by the current administration. He swore that even though he cannot come back to Botswana yet, he cannot retreat nor surrender. “I will never rest whilst I have a breath of life in me, which they have tried to cut off, from returning our nation to a democracy and making our people once more proud of their country, and to remove us from the clutches of tyranny.”
Why Khama can’t come back home
Khama says there have been three attempts to poison him in the past three years. In a previous interview with Mmegi, he kept reiterating the allegations that Masisi wanted him behind bars before Christmas last year so that he could be easily assassinated.
“Yes one could go back and face the music, but I am not sure I will be doing myself justice putting myself out there to go and be killed by these people,” he further told the eNCA in a televised interview. He said he was not fleeing the justice system, but just taking a precaution since there were threats on his life. Khama also said he cannot come back and prove his innocence because top members of the Judicially have informed him that the whole judicial system had been captured.
A necessary measure by the DIS?
The DIS facility in Sebele has become a place where the flesh is said to be put on the very bone of this investigation. Whether Khama will be charged with high crimes is a matter that has been kept under the radar and classified as confidential.
The DIS itself has not published any statements explaining these selected detentions like in the cases of Makgophe and the Khama brothers. The media gets very little from the enquiries it makes with the security organ.
But at the very core of the investigation are the arms of war allegedly hidden by Khama. Whereas many have wondered about the DIS’ reticence as Khama is busy giving the media and the public his side of the story, the Magosi-led intelligence agency is said to be running around the clock to gather evidence, which will prove that indeed Khama possesses the weapons of war and is a threat to the country’s national security as long as he is allowed to freely roam the streets.
The DIS is convinced that some of the purported firearms were registered in Khama’s names under dubious circumstances and that most are arms of war. Even though the DIS is fighting to get to the bottom of the investigation, its spokesperson Edward Robert recently revealed that their role in the matter is limited to investigation.
“Once the investigations are completed the procedure is such that whatever has been unearthed is shared with the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to determine a suitable charge or charges to press. That call is for the DPP to make.”
The agency’s top priority has been and continues to be this Khama investigation. Although there are major challenges ahead in determining how it pursues these investigations, it is said that they have no higher priority than this one.
Sources familiar with the ongoing investigations have indicated that this is just the beginning. More people are expected be called in for questioning in future in order to demonstrate the level of urgency in confronting the issue.