Dow gives Seboko middle finger
In her widely circulated audio recording, Specially Elected Member of Parliament (SEMP), Unity Dow accuses her colleagues in Parliament of allowing intimidation to prevail within the party. She vowed unless she is ‘killed’ or ‘arrested’ she will be at Tsabong against all odds.
Just two days before the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) elective congress, Dow has been threatened with a legal suit. The former High Court judge is, however, not moved as she responded through social media daring the Director of Policy at the Directorate on Intelligence and Security (DIS), Botho Seboko, to go ahead.
She further hints that she would also institute legal proceedings against Museveni, their co-conspirators, and their principals. Through his attorneys, Seboko has instructed Dow to apologise for ‘falsely’ believing that Seboko is linked to the controversial Facebooker, France Museveni.
“In terms of our instructions, since April 2022 to date, you have taken to sending obnoxious and odiously objectionable messages by way of WhatsApp to our client who you falsely believe to be the controversial Facebook user, France Museveni,” reads papers from Dr
Obonye Jonas of Jonas Attorneys. Seboko also wants Dow to apologise for accusing him of intending to kill her.
“You have also on diverse dates sent messages to the WhatsApp group belonging to Members of Parliament of the BDP and to our client’s mobile phone, falsely accusing him of intending to kill you. This has traduced or impugned the integrity of our client enormously,” Jonas wrote.
Jonas quotes Sections 17 and 18 of the Cybercrime and Computer Related Crimes Act, 2018.
Section 17 provides that a person who willfully, maliciously or repeatedly uses electronic
communication to harass another person, or makes a threat with the intent to make that person in reasonable fear for his or her safety or the safety of his or her immediate family, commits an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding P20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both.
Section 18 thereof enacts: “A person who willfully, maliciously or repeatedly uses electronic communication of an offensive nature to disturb or attempt to disturb the peace, quiet or privacy of any person with no purpose to legitimate communication, whether or not a conversation ensues, commits an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding P20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both”. “We are instructed to demand that you tender an apology to our client and make an undertaking to desist from such acts of cyber harassment and intimidation within seven days of receipt of this letter, failing which we will be left with no option but to approach the High Court for a suitable relief without further reference to you,” concludes Jonas. Contacted for comment, Dow sent the reporter to her Facebook page.
“I can confirm that I have seen the papers on social media. I have also responded to the same on social media,” she said. Meanwhile on her page, Dow posted a letter that she said she would deliver when she finds time.
“Neither myself, nor my attorney and/or agents will be tendering any apology to your client, nor his principals on any beliefs I may or may not hold as to the identity of France Museveni. As an officer of the courts of the Republic of Botswana, I shall eagerly await the service of your court papers to facilitate a judicial process to reveal the identity of France Museveni,” Dow wrote.
The two-time Specially Elected legislator said she was ready to fight back. “Kindly anticipate a countersuit as the actions of France Museveni, his co-conspirators and his principals form the basis of a class action lawsuit falling within the jurisdiction of not only Botswana but the entire world,” she stated.