Death row inmate Mothokgo suffers setback
08 Jul 2025
Death row inmate, Mooketsi Mothokgo has faced a significant setback after the Court of Appeal rejected his appeal due to being submitted past the deadline.
Mothokgo (42) had approached the country's apex court to appeal his death sentence, which was handed down by Justice Bengbame Sechele of the Francistown High Court in 2021.
“Having been filed out of time and without leave, the appeal is struck out,” presiding judge, Justice Isaac Lesetedi said on Monday, who was presiding over the matter alongside Justice Singh Walia and Justice Lot Moroka.
Justice Lesetedi explained that the appellant, having filed his appeal outside the six weeks period, did not seek leave to appeal as required by the rules of the court, as such the application was not properly before the court.
Mothokgo who remained on the death row, was sentenced to death for killing four children Boemo Otukile, Kgakololo Ramontsho, Kgotso Ramontsho and Tshepang Dikgang by setting a hut they were sleeping in on fire at Dikgokong cattle post near Selebi Phikwe on December 2015.
When committing the crime, Mothokgo, who used a flammable substance to set the house on fire, was in pursuit of killing his ex-girlfriend Segametsi Philemon.
Justice Sechele in his judgment, which condemned Mothokgo to death row, found that extenuating circumstances did not exist in the matter. He said the inmate had planned to harm and kill the people in the house he burned, as prior to setting the house on fire, he secured the door with a fire to ensure that all people inside could not escape.
Also Justice Sechele said Mothokgo knew that Philemon shared the room with the children, and further said the fact that the offence was committed two years after their break up, was a gravitating factor against Mothokgo, hence he condemned him to death by hanging in all the four counts.
In another murder related appeal, Khumoetsile Mantswe who was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment in 2020 by Justice Sechele for murdering his girlfriend Masedi Tshime in Lesenepole in December 2016 opted to abandon his appeal.
Mantswe, an ex-BCL miner who had lost his job when the mine closed, had pleaded guilty of killing the mother of his two children, following a relationship dispute. ENDS
Source : BOPA
Author : Bonang Masolotate
Location : Gaborone
Event : Court case
Date : 08 Jul 2025
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