Some Judges taking bribes – LSB
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Law Society of Botswana has this week highlighted that some Judicial Officers may be taking bribes to sway judgements. Diba Diba, Chairman of law Society of Botswana said this at the ceremony marking the opening of the Legal year 2019 where the President Mokgweetsi Masisi was present.
Others in attendance were also the Chief Justice Terrence Rannowane, Speaker of Parliament Gladys Kokorwe, Judges of the High Court and Court of Appeal and legal practitioners. Diba who was speaking for the first time since being elected as Chairman in December cautioned the judicial officers from unlawful influence such as bribery.
He stated that: “it is well known and often said that perceptions are stronger than reality. In this regard the Society is concerned at the whispers that are doing rounds and are known to many, even members of the public, that some judicial officers may be taking bribes,” he told the gathering. He further on justified that “whilst this may not be true and the Society has no evidence to believe that it is true, it is important that Administration of Justice and law enforcement agencies take keen interest in these rumours in order to assure the public that they can trust the judiciary.”
Diba borrowed from the Bishop who had spoke earlier that he called you (the judges) “the vessels of justice” and that therefore should guard against any professional misconduct such as bribery.
Lawyers, Magistrates, Judges’ misconduct also concerns the LSB
According to the new LSB Chairman, the Society has in recent times been receiving formal reports on the conduct of some legal practitioners through judgements and therefore that the Law Society commends such action as it assists the profession to correct and build itself.
He added that the Society will continue to take such reports seriously and act on them in accordance with the provisions of the Legal Practitioners Act.
In a similar case, the Society also requested the Administration of Justice to pay close attention to a phenomenon that they have talked about in the past but continues to exist, especially at the Magistrate Court.
He continued: “Judicial officers are at times very discourteous and sometimes downright disrespectful to legal practitioners, their clients and even members of the public in the gallery.”
Members of the public, he said are threatened with arrest and/or removal from the court, sometimes for such benign conduct as reading a newspaper in court adding that Police officers and other court staff are also routinely threatened with arrests.
Diba, as a result, explained that the office of a Judge or Magistrate requires a mature, sober and measured character and not one given to emotive temperament and/or inclined to play to the gallery.
“Legal Practitioners and members of the public deserve and if none is forthcoming they will lose their respect for the courts in general and ultimately the rule of law. I am however happy to learn that the concern has been receiving attention from the Chief Justice, “he said.
The Society, he highlighted that encourages all those who have suffered or will suffer disrespect or any other unprofessional conduct at the hands of judicial officers or legal practitioners to contact the Chief Justice or the Law Society of Botswana.
Law Society warns lawyers on abusing trust accounts
In terms of the Legal Practitioners Act, the Society Chair raised as a concern while explaining that trust accounts of legal practitioners are only intended to be used for receiving or holding money which is to be held in trust for a particular purpose connected with the practice of the attorney. In terms of the LPA, he emphasised that it is an offence punishable by a fine and/or imprisonment if an attorney contravenes the provision. It is also prima facie professional misconduct for which if found guilty the sanction may be disbarment, he said.
LSB applauds Masisi on impending of declaration of assets law
The Society Chair also told Masisi, who was in the audience that he commends him on the public announcement of his government’s intention to promulgate a law on declaration of assets. “Such a law is long overdue,” he stressed to the president on his face. He later on pointed out that however that such a law will not be of significant assistance unless accompanied by legislation on the right to information (Freedom of Information Act) and an appropriate media practitioners’ law.
Also the lawyers’ body stressed that Legal Practitioners Act is outdated
The legal profession and the practice of law in Botswana are governed by the Legal Practitioners Act, enacted in 1996. According to the Chair “this Act has been overtaken by times.” He said: “we are most grateful that after more than 10 years of trying without success to have the Act amended we have the government’s assurance that the amendment will be placed before parliament during this year.” Therefore he highlighted further that the Society requests legal practitioners, the Judiciary, stakeholders and the public at large to look out for the publication of the Bill soon and assist with the amendments.
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DPP drops Kably threat to kill case
The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) Chief Whip and Member of Parliament for Letlhakeng/Lephephe Liakat Kably has welcomed the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP)’s decision not to prosecute BDP councillor, Meshack Tshenyego who allegedly threatened to kill him. However, the legislator has warned that should anything happen to his life, the state and the courts will have to account.
In an interview with this publication, Kablay said he has heard that the DPP has declined to prosecute Tshenyego in a case in which he threatened to kill him adding that the reasons he received are that there was not enough evidence to prosecute. “I am fine and at peace with the decision not to prosecute over evidential deficits but I must warn that should anything happen to my life both the DPP and the Magistrate will have to account,” Kablay said.
Connectedly, Kably said he has made peace with Tshenyego, “we have made peace and he even called me where upon we agreed to work for the party and bury the hatchet”.
The DPP reportedly entered into a Nolle Prosequi in the matter, meaning that no action would be taken against the former Letlhakeng Sub-district council chairperson and currently councillor for Matshwabisi.
According to the charge sheet before the Court, councilor Tshenyego on July 8th, 2022 allegedly threatened MP Kably by indirectly uttering the following words to nominatedcouncilor Anderson Molebogi Mathibe, “Mosadi wa ga Liakat le ban aba gagwe ba tsile go lela, Mosadi wame le banake le bone ba tsile go lela. E tla re re mo meeting, ka re tsena meeting mmogo, ke tla mo tlolela a bo ke mmolaya.”
Loosely translated this means, Liakat’s wife and children are going to shed tears and my wife and kids will shed tears too. I will jump on him and kill him during a meeting.
Mathibe is said to have recorded the meeting and forwarded it to Kably who reported the matter to the police.
In a notice to the Magistrate Court to have the case against Tshenyego, acting director of Public Prosecutions, Wesson Manchwe cited the nolle prosequi by the director of public prosecution in terms of section 51 A (30) of the Constitution and section 10 of the criminal procedure and evidence act (CAP 08:02) laws of Botswana as reasons for dropping the charges.
A nolle prosequi is a formal notice of abandonment by a plaintiff or prosecutor of all or part of a suit or action.
“In pursuance of my powers under section 51 A (300 of the Constitution and section 10 of the criminal procedure and evidence act (CAP 08:02) laws of Botswana, I do hereby stop and discontinue criminal proceedings against the accused Meshack Tshenyego in the Kweneng Administrative District, CR.No.1077/07/2022 being the case of the State vs Tshenyego,” said Manchwe. The acting director had drafted the notice dropping the charges on 13th day of March 2023.
The case then resumed before the Molepolole Magistrate Solomon Setshedi on the 14th of March 2023. The Magistrate issued an order directing “that matters be withdrawn with prejudice to the State, accused is acquitted and discharged.”
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DPP seizes prosecution duties from Police
Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) has finally taken over prosecution from the Botswana Police Service (BPS). The police have been prosecuting for years, but the takeover means that they will now only focus on investigations and then hand over to the DPP for prosecution.
Talks of complete takeover began as far back as 2008, but for years it seemed implementation was sluggish. However, the Minister of Justice, Machana Shamukuni, revealed that the complete takeover is expected to be completed soon.
During a presentation to the Committee of Supply by Shamukuni this week, it was revealed that the project has been implemented in 22 police stations nationwide, including Maun, Selebi-Phikwe, Palapye, Francistown, and Kasane. He further stated that the project has been allocated P3,000,000 for the 2023/2024 financial year to facilitate the opening of more satellite offices for the DPP.
Shamukuni said the Lobatse station is scheduled for a complete takeover by the end of May 2023, while the Kasane DPP satellite office has been established and became operational as of February 1, 2023.
“As reported previously, preparations are at an advanced stage to open a satellite office in Tsabong to curtail expenses, as well as frequent long-distance trips to these areas, as it is currently serviced by the Lobatse DPP office,” Shamukuni said.
Shamukuni said that the takeover strategy is to enable a seamless and gradual takeover of prosecution from the BPS without overwhelming and overstretching the thin resources at its disposal.
According to Shamukuni, the implementation of the prosecution takeover project has increased the workload of the 211 prosecutors in the DPP establishment.
Furthermore, the Justice Minister said DPP statistics show that the DPP has a total of 11,903 cases and dockets as of January 2023. He indicated that this is a significant increase in the number of cases being handled by the DPP, considering that in November 2021, the DPP had just over 8,471 files.
“Out of the total case load, 8 382 are cases pending before various courts while 3521 are dockets received from law enforcement agencies of which 1 325 are awaiting service of summons while the rest are being assessed for suitability of prosecution or otherwise” said Shamukuni.
He further stated that The DPP has consistently maintained an 80% success rate in matters completed at court.
“As at the end of January 2023, the success rate stood at 82.3% against a target of 90% whilst the average performance in respect of turnaround time for conclusion of cases at court stood at 17.5 months against a target of 18 months,” he said.
BACKLOG OF CASES – LAND TRIBUNAL
Meanwhile, Minister Shamukuni has revealed that Gaborone land Tribunal is experiencing a backlog of cases. Before parliament this week, Shamukuni revealed that a total 230 appeals were completed for the period of April 2022- December 2022 and only 76.5% of them were completed within set time frame.
The minister said that the Gaborone division has experiencing a backlog of cases due to manpower constraints and he further indicated that presiding officers from other divisions have been brought in to expedite case disposal.
He further indicated that the land tribunal is a specialized court that has been empowered to resolve appeals arising from land boards. “It has been mandated to determine appeals from the decisions of Physical planning committees of Districts Councils” said Shamukuni.
Land Tribunal relocated to the Ministry of Justice from Ministry of Land and Water Affairs in November 2022.
“An amount of P37, 842,670 is requested to cover salaries, allowance and other operational expenses for the Department of the land Tribunal,” alluded Shamukuni
News
BCP, AP stalemate in 7 constituencies
When the Botswana Congress Party (BCP), Alliance for Progressives, Botswana Labour Party (BLP), and conveners reconvene next week, the controversial issue of allocation of the seven constituencies will be the main topic of discussion, WeekendPost can reveal.
Not only that, but the additional four constituencies will also dominate the talks. The idea is to finally close the “constituency allocation phase,” which has proven to be the most difficult part of the ongoing negotiations.
Earlier this year, the two parties announced that the marathon talks would be concluded by February. Even at a media briefing last month, BCP Secretary General Goretetse Kekgonegile and Publicity Secretary Dr. Mpho Pheko were optimistic that the negotiations would be concluded before the end of February.
However, it is now mid-March and the talks have yet to be concluded. What could be the reasons for the delay? This is a question that both Kekgonegile and Pheko have not responded to, as they have ignored the reporters’ inquiries. However, a senior figure within the party has confided to this publication as to what is delaying the highly anticipated negotiations.
“We are reconvening next week to finalize constituency allocations, taking into account the additional four new ones plus the outstanding seven,” he explained. It later surfaced that Gaborone Central, Gaborone North, Mogoditshane, Tswapong North, Francistown West, Tati West, and Nata Gweta are all contested by both BCP and AP. This is because the other 50 constituencies were allocated by December of last year.
The three parties have failed to find common ground for the Bosele Ward by-elections. Are these constituencies not a deal breaker for the talks? “None of the constituencies is a deal breaker,” responded a very calm BCP official.
In Bosele Ward, AP has yielded to BCP, despite most of its members disapproving the decision. On the other hand, BLP has refused, and it will face off with BCP together with Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) and Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC).
The decision by BLP to face off with BCP has been labelled as a false start for the talks by political observers.