The state alleges that the duo and another person not
before the court robbed Elias Fani of his BMW worth P48,000 on June 17, 2020,
at Borolong village using violence.
The state also alleges that in total the accused robbed
Fani of his car and other goods (money and cellphones) worth a little over
P62,000.
When the accused appeared before Magistrate Thabang Chokwe
for arraignment, Moyo pleaded guilty to the offence of entering Botswana
illegally but just like Kesiile, pleaded not guilty to robbery. Moyo pleaded
with the court to give him the earliest trial dates possible since he has been
languishing in jail for 17 months ever since he was arrested in connection with
the offences.
Moyo also bemoaned the prosecution had in the past promised
to furnish him with statements from Mascom and Orange telecommunications
companies, but have not honoured that promise.
“I also make an application for the investigating officer
(IO) to be availed in court to explain how I am linked with these offences
because I was simply arrested for being found in the company of other accused
persons. I have told the IO that I know nothing about these offences but he
just charged me [anyway],” Moyo decried.
Chokwe advised Moyo to reserve that plea since the IO will
come before the court to give his version of the story after which Moyo will be
allowed to cross-examine him. In response to the evidence from Mascom and
Orange, prosecutor Neo Machola said that she was not given any evidence from
Mascom and Orange.
Moyo was further remanded in custody while Kesiile is
currently on bail. The accused are due in court on January 25, 2022.
Previously, Justice Tshegofatso Mogomotsi stated that Moyo
was denied bail at Francistown Magistrate's Courts in September 2021, since it
was feared that he may interfere with investigations if he was granted bail
since the investigations were by then still fresh.
The judge also said that the fact that Moyo was illegally
in Botswana worsened his plight because he was a flight risk. “According to the
affidavit of the IO, the applicants were arrested a month after the alleged
commissioning of the offence. The IO further said that the police fired warning
shots in the air in a bid to arrest the applicants but the applicants ignored
those shots and escaped. The IO also stated that none of the applicants gave
concrete reasons why they escaped when the police tried to arrest them. I find
the averments by the applicants that they handed themselves to the police as an
afterthought meant to mislead this court. The applicants find themselves in the
current situation because of their actions. In the premises, their application
for bail is hereby dismissed,” Mogomotsi had said.
At the end of the ruling, Mogomotsi also advised the
applicants that the law allows them to make another bail application if there
are any changes of circumstances in their matter. Mmegi
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