Melody Nkomo (37), an illegal immigrant in that country,
was nabbed after the police found several cannabis plants growing in her backyard
garden. She did not have a permit.
The police were reportedly patrolling the streets in Area
9, Monarch location when they received a tip-off from a resident on March 9
last year about the plants.
Last week on Friday, Nkomo appeared before Francistown
chief magistrate Mareledi Dipateand. She refused to answer questions asked by
the State.
At the close of the State case, Dipateand said Nkomo had a
case to answer.
Due to her refusal to answer questions or cross examine
witnesses, the State case was closed and the magistrate said he would deliver
judgment on February 11.
During trial, the first State witness, Constable Gomolemo
Kinnear, a member of the Special Support Group in the Botswana Police Service
(BPS), told the court that after they received a tip-off, they went to Nkomo’s
place and she took them to the back of the yard where they found tomatoes and
the cannabis plants.
Nkomo admitted that she was the owner of the garden, adding
that she believed that all the plants in her garden were tomatoes.
“We later uprooted the plants that we suspected were
cannabis and took them to the police station in the company of Nkomo,” Kinnear
told the court.
When asked to cross-examine Kinnear, Nkomo said she had no
questions for the police officer.
Nkomo also refused to question BPS forensic scientist
Moment Ogotseng whose testimony was that he examined the plants and concluded
that they were cannabis.
She also refused to cross examine another witness,
Constable Bright Lithembo after his testimony.
In June last year, Nkomo was fined 1 500 pula for having
entered Botswana illegally.
However, she could not be sentenced to imprisonment because
she had spent more than six months in remand prison. Newsday
0 comments:
Post a Comment