Botswana’s ex-president asks court to quash arrest warrant

BLANTYRE, Malawi

Former Botswana President Ian Khama has asked the court in the capital Gaborone to set aside his arrest warrant a magistrate issued against him last week.

Khama, whose father is Seretse Khama, Botswana’s founding president, is facing firearm and stolen property charges.

The former president, currently based in neighboring South Africa, has been in dispute with his successor and incumbent President Mokgweetsi Masisi, resulting in him quitting the ruling Botswana Democratic Party in 2019.

Local media reported on Thursday that a magistrate issued the warrant after Khama did not appear in court to answer charges laid against him in April.

The charges include unlawful possession of a firearm, receiving stolen property, and procuring the registration of a firearm by false pretense.

However, according to local daily Mmegi Online, Khama asked the high court in Gaborone for the warrant against him to be set aside or for its execution to be stayed.

Khama cited lack of evidence for his prosecution, according to court papers released on Thursday quoted by local media.

“The warrant of arrest threatens my right to liberty in circumstances where I have committed no crime should this warrant of arrest not be stayed or set aside … I would suffer irreparable harm which cannot be compensated for in any form,” he said in the filing.

Khama is the patron of a splinter political party, the Botswana Patriotic Front.