Staff Writer
In a stunning blow to the state’s sprawling legal offensive, the High Court Judge Barnabas Nyamadzabo has today handed former Minister Kefentse Mzwinila a temporary reprieve, ruling that he is not a fugitive from justice and interdicting law enforcement from arresting him arbitrarily.
The judgment, delivered by Justice Barnabas Nyamadzabo this morning (January 28, 2026), directly contradicts the central narrative pushed by the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in their parallel battle to freeze the former Minister’s assets.
In this matter, Mzwinila had approached the court seeking an interdict to stop the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) and the Botswana Police Service from arresting him and his wife, Bridget, without a warrant or a completed investigation. He argued that investigators were harassing him, demanding he return from South Africa where he is undergoing spinal surgery simply to be interrogated or detained without charge.
The state fought back, raising a “point in limine” (a preliminary legal objection). DPP argued that the Mzwinilas had “dirty hands” and were “fugitives from justice” who had fled the country to escape the law, and therefore had no right to ask the court for protection.
Justice Nyamadzabo rejected the state’s argument entirely. In a scathing ruling, the court found that Mzwinila’s location in South Africa is known, his lawyers are in contact with the authorities, and he has valid medical reasons for being there.
“The fact that the 1st Applicant is in South Africa does not mean he has fled,” the judgment reads.
The court accepted that he is receiving medical attention and has not escaped from any lawful custody.
The court further agreed that the DCEC’s conduct, which includes repeated phone calls, demands for meetings without charges, and threats of arrest,
amounted to harassment.
Judge Nyamadzabo ruled that the state cannot arrest a suspect simply to “fish” for evidence.
Consequently, the court has issued an order preventing the DCEC and Police from arresting Mzwinila “pending the outcome of investigations” unless they obtain a valid warrant based on actual charges.
This judgment throws a wrench into the gears of the DPP’s separate asset forfeiture application, which was heard recently.
In that case, the DPP asked the court to urgently freeze Mzwinila’s millions on the specific grounds that he had “fled the country” and was a flight risk, dissipating assets. The DPP’s founding affidavit explicitly claimed: “There is no doubt that Kefentse Mzwinila and Bridget Mzwinila have fled the country to avoid the long arm of the law.”
With Justice Nyamadzabo now ruling that Mzwinila is not a fugitive and is lawfully in South Africa for medical reasons, the foundation of the DPP’s urgency in the asset case has crumbled.
In the aftermath, legal experts argue this creates a crisis for the state’s strategy.
Meanwhile, the verdict on the separate case before Gaborone High Court Judge Oteng Motlhala will be delivered on Friday morning.
