Tymon Katholo and his ‘land mark’, Nchindo court case

I read with interest a blockbuster crime review interview in one of last week’s publications where founding DCEC director Tymon Katholo, sings praises about himself to the nation, boasting how his 5-7 year investigations led to the prosecution of the late Debswana MD, Louis Nchindo.
Simply, Mr Katholo has to be corrected. The case of Louis Nchindo by the DCEC was no victory to the DCEC. It was a humiliation at the end, to the DCEC and to Mr Katholo, himself.
The facts as known and in the public domain are that in 2013 after the Nchindo marathon case, the DCEC failed to forfeit Plot 55720 owned by Louis Nchindo and son through Tourism Development Consortium. The plot eventually reverted to the Nchindos.  And mind you, majority of the 36 charges laid against Nchindo were in relation to the alleged criminal acquisition of this Plot 55720 which to this day remains the rightful property of the Nchindos. The Nchindos are busy developing the plot at Block 10, with criminal charges having fallen off.
If I were Mr Katholo, I would not dare mention this case as the highlight of my highs as the top dawg at DCEC. It constituted an extremely low moment for Katholo.
I should add and remind Mr Katholo, that though he was utterly humiliated in the case, with nothing to boast about, the humiliation would have been far deafening had Mr Louis Nchindo not died mysteriously.
How I wish Nchindo could have lived to experience his victory. I am sure the other charges, six of them being those that related to Nchindo hosting a USA senator for diamonds PR, also would not have stood. That to me they did not make sense as the DCEC suggested that the visit of the US senate to Botswana at the time had nothing to do with diamonds while media coverage of the visit can attest to this. No wonder individuals, who were alleged to have been in charge of this PR visit, also walked scot free, with all six charges dropped. Other accused individuals in the case would later also win against the DCEC at the court of appeal.
Imagine the state had called 25 witnesses, amongst them a former president, Festus Mogae and the former Minister of Lands, Jacob Nkate.  Jacob Nkate was testifying in support of Nchindo. It is puzzling for me to now read that Tymon Katholo says it took him 5-7 years to finally complete the investigations.
With due respect, leave praise singing to others. I understand the temptation is there to want to be remembered and to be taken seriously. I also note with interest him mentioning the possible prosecution of DIS director General Isaac Kgosi.  As the former DCEC boss, commenting on DCEC matters, this is like putting undue pressure on the current man at the helm. How do you expect him to react to your commentary? Surely your words cannot go unnoticed?
People have learnt from the mistakes of the past, of not rushing cases to courts  for the sake of it.
Mr Katholo, the key word should be conviction. Do we have enough facts to convict the accused? Be warned. There is no glory in parading men and women in courts for show of bravery, only to lose the case. That’s why Sayeed Jamali sued the state for  P30 million after being paraded in court by the DCEC.
Concerned Police Officer,
Kagiso Mphela