The Voice Online - Botswana

By Calistus Bosaletswe
The Eloyi church pastor who was jailed for 10 years for having unlawful sex with a 14- year-old girl was back in court again this week demanding bail pending his appeal at the High Court.
Members of the church had assembled in court before the priest arrived dragging leg-iron chains and sporting a clean-shaven head. The defence lawyer, Busang Manewe, a new lawyer representing 23-year-old Samuel Ntsebele told the court that the lawyer who represented Ntsebele lied when he told the court that there was penetration.
Manewe pointed out that Ntsebele had a good prospect of success in his appeal as he
was not afforded a fair trial as encouraged by the constitution. He said it appeared that failure of justice transpired between the former attorney and accused as they disagreed on certain elements of the case.   The defence further pointed out that they would give sworn evidence before the High Court.
“The apparent contradiction between accused and the attorney led to the accused person being convicted. The attorney who represented Ntsebele was ill-experienced,” said Manewe.
The defence said the verdict of the court would not be an acquittal but a retrial. He contended that some findings were not backed by evidence as the magistrate noted in her judgement that when someone is at primary school she is considered to be under age.  However, the magistrate, Abigail Masawi, pointed out that a simple arithmetic was used as the complainant told the court that she told Ntsebele she was 13.
“A simple arithmetic can tell that the following year she was 14,” said Masawi. The Directorate of Public Prosecution opposed the bail application citing that there was no failure of justice in the trial. The prosecution also emphasised to the court that the accused was afforded time to choose a lawyer to represent him. The State also maintained that there was no way the defence could claim that the accused was not afforded a fair trial. 
The magistrate will make a ruling on the case next week Tuesday.