07 Oct 2026

 Murder accused, Edwin Ramokweni has abandoned his third bid for bail after Justice Oteng Motlhala advised him to take his grievance to the Court of Appeal.

Ramokweni (22) had approached the High Court in an attempt to be admitted to bail pending trial.

However, Justice Motlhala on October 6 told him that having previously tried before Justice Barnabas Nyamadzabo and Justice Itumeleng Segopolo, his court was hamstrung to deal with the application.

“The difficulty is that once there is an order from the High Court, I cannot entertain the matter here,” he explained, noting that the right procedure was for him to approach the Court of Appeal.

“Justice Nyamadzabo indicated that you have a number of cases, you need to go to the Court of Appeal and argue that you do not have a number of cases,” he explained to the accused.

However, he added that the Court of Appeal would not be compelled to admit him to bail, but would rather look at the strength of the evidence.

Ramokweni had earlier argued that although the High Court denied him bail on the basis that he had numerous cases, which was not true.

He said the High Court relied on the word of the prosecution without any evidence.

That prompted Justice Motlhala to advise him of his alternative to address his grievance, hence he decided to withdraw the application.

Ramokweni, who also argued that he had spent over three years in prison awaiting trial, is charged with the murder of Ntukunu Makubate in Block 9, Gaborone in May 2023.

He had previously also tried bail before the Village Magistrate Court in 2023 following his arrest on the murder charge, which was denied.

The Magistrate noted that Ramokweni had a propensity to commit crime, having previously been convicted of housebreaking, theft and escape from custody, as well as three pending rape cases in Thamaga, Kanye and Ditshegwane.

Among his complainants in those cases are a 10-year-old and an 11-year-old girl.

Meanwhile, the trial is scheduled to begin from April 7 to 9 and he will mention to confirm trial dates on April 15 next year. ENDS