26 Jan 2016

Residents  of Mosetse are against granting of bail to murder accused persons.

Speaking during a kgotla meeting addressed by Nata/Gweta MP, Mr Polson Majaga, on Monday, they stated that it was easy for a murder accused to receive bail than a livestock theft suspect.

One of the residents, Ms Hildah Ndololo said losing a loved one at the hands of someone was always painful, particularly if the accused was released back into the society by granting them bail.

Ms Ndololo said that brought pain to the extent that at times some had thoughts of taking the law into their own hands.

She suggested that government should consider revising the law despite the fact that one was not guilty until proven so, adding that holding such a person during the investigation would give the grieving family some relief that their loved one was also of value to the government not to them alone.

Ms Ndololo further added that in their area, there had been so many murder incidents but at this point most of the accused persons were all out on bail.

In response, Mr Majaga said he had received numerous concerns in the constituency regarding bail being granted to murder accused persons.

He nonetheless said it was the law, noting that the accused still had rights to legal representation and even to wait for trial outside prison.

The MP nonetheless said he would share their concerns with his counterparts at parliament and see how they could present it for amendments if possible.

On other issues, MP Majaga informed residents that their health post, which catered for other surrounding villages would be upgraded to a clinic with a maternity wing through Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP).

He noted that funding was going to be available after the budget allocation in the coming parliament session. 

Mr Majaga nonetheless highlighted to the residents that ESP is going to focus on projects, which were long deferred and as such the residents should not expect any other new projects except many of those, which were shelved, adding that the road connecting them to Matsitama is going to be done as well. Ends