26 Jun 2023

Murder accused persons Edwin Mogala and Mogomotsi Morima have been remanded further in custody pending the finalisation of investigations.

Delivering a ruling on their bail application recently, Senior Magistrate Oarabile Mokoni of Broadhurst Magistrate Court said it was in the interest of justice to remand the accused person in custody to allow the state to carry out its investigations without possible interference by the accused persons.

The senior magistrate also said  the matter was still fresh and that investigating a murder incident was a complex undertaking.

Replying to the accused person’s bail application, the state had said  that the case was still new as the murder incident occurred June 4. 

The state therefore made an appeal to court to allow them time to fully carry out investigations which included interviewing potential witnesses and recording statements.

Investigating Officer (IO), Assistant Superintendent Mosimanegape Kedidimetse of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Broadhurst police station told the court that the deceased Kabelo Molokwe of Nkoyaphiri ward in Mogoditshane was assaulted by the duo at Ledumang location in Gaborone on June 4, between 4am and 5am.

He said the matter was attended to by the police and the deceased was rushed to Extension II clinic for medical attention with multiple injuries alleged to have been caused by the accused persons.

ASP Kedidimetse said Molokwe later died as a result of the injuries hence the duo of Mogala and Morima were charged for murder. 

He said investigations were ongoing and were not yet complete.

So far, ASP Kedidimetse said, the investigating team had interviewed and recorded statements from seven witnesses and processing was ongoing to identify more potential witnesses.

ASP Kedidimetse said the deceased’s body had undergone postmortem on June 10, and the report was yet to be released. 

Therefore he pleaded for further remand of the accused persons as investigations were at an early stage.

The prosecutor, Sergeant Mmoloki Selefera concurred with  ASP Kedidimetse and urged the court to remand the accused persons in custody to allow the prosecution to carry out investigations without fear of potential interference by the accused persons.

Substantiating his bail application, Mogala said there was no evidence of possible retaliation by the deceased’s family members and the public and therefore the reason did not hold substance to deny him bail.

He said the state was speculating and the court must not rely on rumours, adding that he was in a position to protect himself.

Mogala also pleaded to be granted bail as he would not interfere with investigations or even connive with potential witnesses as he did  not know them. Mogala added that his other concern was that the prosecution was not certain when the investigations would be completed.

Also pleading for bail, the second accused person, Morima said he was currently the sole custodian of his three minor children.

Other than the three children under his custody, Morima said  he was paying maintenance for yet another child and had defaulted the monthly payment due to his arrest.

“I am concerned by the welfare of my children,” said Morima. 

Morima also assured the court that he was a Motswana and therefore he would not abscond when granted bail. 

The case will mention on July 6, for a status update. Ends