- Kebonang says spies follow him
- Reports to CJ & LSB
- CJ says he has dealt with the matter
LETLHOGILE MPUANG
High Court judge Zein Kebonang is accusing agents of the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Service (DISS) of spying on him and wants the Chief Justice Terrence Rannowane to intervene.
Although the full contents of Justice Kebonang’s letter are unknown to this publication, Chief Justice Rannowane and the Chairperson of the Law Society of Botswana, (LSB) Osego Garebamono, have confirmed their receipt of the letter.
Sources say in it Justice Kebonang complains that some intelligence officers have been following him around town and even to restaurants.
Armed robbers
“He feels very unsafe,” says a source. “It has been going on for some time. He has had armed robbers breaking into his house and there has not been any action taken.”
Justice Kebonang’s house was broken into in July 2021. Several sources close to him have claimed that some people in government are unhappy with his judgements involving former president Ian Khama and former chief spy Isaac Kgosi.
On 23 August 2021, Justice Kebonang ruled against the state in the “Butterfly case.” He ruled that the state had failed to adduce evidence against DISS agent Welhemina “Butterfly” Maswabi and reviewed and set aside its decision to prosecute the then suspended intelligence agent.
Excoriated
The case implicated both Khama and Kgosi.
In October 2023, Justice Kebonang refused to recuse himself from a case involving Kgosi and DISS over firearms. In the same case, he excoriated the Attorney General (AG) for attempting to undermine court proceedings.
In addition, sources say DISS’s has put Justice Kebonang under surveillance because of his suspected relationships with Khama and Kgosi.
“They believe he is anti-establishment and could be the one giving them informartion on cases involving them,” says another source.
Mistaken identity
On numerous occasions, the twin brother of the jurist, former energy minister, Sadique, has stated that he is the one who has a relationship with Kgosi and not his brother. He has also said how he was on one occasion followed to Kgosi’s house by two DISS agents who mistook him for his brother, Zein the judge.
For his part, Chief Justice Rannowane says he has already responded to Justice Kebonang’s complaint but will not share elaborate. “He can show my response if he wants,” says the Chief Justice.
Meanwhile, LSB Chairperson Garebamono says they are still studying the letter and will have something to say at a later stage.