Maun Chief Magistrate, Thebeetsile Mulalu is yet to deliver ruling on the bail application by Zimbabwean national Eric Nyoni, charged for the murder of his Motswana girlfriend in October last year.
The 35-year-old who has been remanded in custody since the day of his arrest is alleged to have on the 12th of that night murdered his girlfriend, Kebatshabile Machaba at Sanyedi Ward in Maun.
Nyoni and the deceased who is the mother of his 1-year-old child are alleged to have on that fateful night at around 2300 hours had a misunderstanding leading to the accused person hitting the deceased with fists. The accused is then alleged to have left the deceased’s home and went out for entertainment.
Upon his return at around 5am the accused person found Machaba lying motionless and he then proceeded to Maun Police Station to report the matter. The deceased was then rushed to Letsholathebe II Memorial Hospital where she was certified dead, while Nyoni was subsequently arrested as the prime suspect for her murder. The accused person is also facing another count of illegal entry into the country.
Appearing before Chief Magistrate Mulalu for status update on Monday, Nyoni requested for an update of his bail ruling which was set to be delivered on the 6th December 2022.
“I need to understand whether I have been granted or denied bail instead of coming to court and back to prison without any update,” Nyoni said.
Mulalu has however assured Nyoni that ruling on his bail application will be delivered once completed.
During his bail arguments last year after state objected, Nyoni told court tthat he is not a flight risk, arguing that though he knew he was an illegal immigrant, he handed himself to the police after finding the deceased motionless in their house.
“I had an opportunity to flee and disappear however I did not do that because I knew I did not murder my girlfriend and that should be reason enough that I will still wait and stand trial,” Nyoni said.
The Investigating Officer (IO) Nkape Nkape argued that the accused person cannot be granted bail as he is an illegal immigrant and they do not know how he will be able to stay in Botswana if granted bail since he does not have the necessary documents.
