InsiderBLM Africa
Former president of Botswana Ian Khama has filed an urgent court application to have a magistrate revoke an arrest warrant that was issued against him last week.
Khama, whose father Seretse Khama served as Botswana’s first president, is embroiled in an argument with Masisi, who is currently the country’s president. As a result, Khama left the BDP in 2019.
Khama, who has resided in South Africa since November 2021, was charged with a crime in April, but failed to appear in court to answer the charge.
They include obtaining a firearm’s registration under false pretense, receiving stolen property, and unlawfully possessing a firearm.
According to court documents made available on Thursday, Khama has asked the high court in Gaborone to quash the arrest warrant against him or to halt its execution because there is insufficient evidence to support his prosecution.
In the filing, he claimed that the arrest warrant threatens my right to liberty in circumstances where I have committed no crime…should this arrest warrant not be stayed or set aside…I would suffer irreparable harm which cannot be compensated for in any form.
According to his attorney, Khama is still awaiting the hearing date. Since being charged in April, Khama has missed court dates because, according to him, he feared for his life in Botswana.’
The Botswana Patriotic Front, a political splinter group, is now supported by Khama.
