Death row inmate khoto heads to Court of Appeal

Nearly nine years after the death of nine-year-old Metlha Sibanda, former Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana aircraft marshal Motlatsi Khoto is set to challenge his murder conviction and death sentence before the Court of Appeal on October 2, 2026.

Khoto was convicted and sentenced to death by the Francistown High Court in connection with Metlha’s death. The case began in January 2018, when the child, who was the daughter of Khoto’s former girlfriend, Unami Sibanda, was reported missing in Marobela.

Khoto was later arrested and charged in connection with the child’s death. Police eventually recovered Metlha’s body from a riverbed after Khoto allegedly directed them to the place where she had been buried.

The prosecution argued that Khoto killed Metlha after his relationship with her mother broke down. The murder trial was heard before Justice Bengbame Sechele at the Francistown High Court, where the court heard evidence about Khoto’s relationship with Unami and the conflicts that had allegedly developed between them.

In April 2022, Justice Sechele convicted Khoto of murder but acquitted him of rape. The judge found that the evidence did not conclusively prove the rape allegation. A forensic examination had revealed a mixed DNA profile from which Khoto could not be excluded as a possible contributor, but the court ruled that the result was too ambiguous to establish the charge beyond the required standard.

The murder conviction was upheld.

A central issue during the trial was Khoto’s mental state at the time of the killing. His then-lawyer, Kgosietsile Ngakaagae, argued that Khoto had not been in full control of his mental faculties.

The defence told the court that Khoto had experienced depression and hallucinations and had allegedly killed Metlha while in the grip of a nightmare. According to the account presented in court, Khoto believed he was fighting another person before waking up and discovering that he had strangled the child.

The defence argued that these circumstances pointed to diminished mental capacity and that Khoto should not have been convicted of murder. Justice Sechele rejected that argument and found Khoto guilty.

In February 2023, the judge sentenced Khoto to death.

The sentence placed Khoto among Botswana’s death-row prisoners. Parliamentary information released that year listed him among inmates facing execution, while noting that some prisoners were pursuing appeals against their convictions or sentences.

The upcoming appeal will place the High Court’s findings under scrutiny. The Court of Appeal could uphold the conviction and death sentence, alter them, or issue another order in the case.

For Metlha’s family, the proceedings reopen a case that began with the disappearance and death of a nine-year-old girl. For Khoto, the October hearing offers an opportunity to challenge the legal outcome that has kept him on death row since his conviction and sentencing.

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