- Says the judgment has not affected any of his DISS operations
- “I have not stopped working” – Magosi
- Sources rule out Masisi taking action against Magosi
LETLHOGILE MPUANG
Justice Zein Kebonang’s ruling in the “Butterfly” case will not affect operations of the Directorate on Intelligence and Security Services (DISS) in any way, the head of the secret service, Brigadier Peter Magosi, has claimed.
On 23 August, Justice Kebonang dismissed and acquitted charges of being in possession of unexplained property and false declaration of a passport brought forward by the state against suspended DISS, employee Welheminah Maswabi, codenamed “Butterfly.”
The charges were dismissed on the grounds that the state had fabricated evidence against her. In the judgment, Justice Kebonang said that President Mokgweetsi Masisi should take action against those involved in the state’s case, one of them being chief spy Magosi who was appointed as head of DISS by the President in 2019.
Speaking to The Botswana Gazette this week, Magosi said he was not in the least bothered by the judgment. “I have not stopped working,” he said. “The judgment has not affected how we operate. I am at work and we are pulling through with our mandate as the DISS.”
Sources at the Office of the President also say chances of the President taking action against Magosi are very minimal. The state is in the process of an appeal against the judgment.
The Office of the President has previously told this publication that President Masisi would not take any action against those involved in the “Butterfly” case until he has received advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
“The appointing authority acts on assessment and advice from the various jurisdictions therein referred to by the judgment,” said government spokesman Andrew Sesinyi. “The DPP remains answerable within his jurisdiction, and so do other oversight institutions.”
The Director General of DPP, Stephen Tiroyakosi, is among people recommended for removal from office by the President in Justice Kebonang’s judgment that also obligated the Law Society of Botswana to take action against Tiroyakgosi.