Motshwarakgole trumps Khama again
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The National Amalgamated Local Central Government and Parastatal Workers Union (NALCGPWU) otherwise known as Manual Workers Union has again triumphed over President Lt Gen Dr Ian Khama.
Khama and a coterie of other applicants in the matter including Gladys Kokorwe, Athalia Molokomme, Justices of Appeal Elijah Legwaila, Isaac Lesetedi, Stephen Gaongalelwe, John Foxcroft, John Cameron, Arthur Hamilton and Craig Howie had sought a stay of execution relating to the operation of a court order which declared unconstitutional, the appointment of CoA Justices to multiple three year contract extensions.
Justice Abednigo Tafa last week Friday handed down a judgement which struck down as unconstitutional, section 4 of the CoA act which allowed the president to determine the number of Justices of Appeal. It further stated that the appointment of Justices of Appeal on more than a three year contract as has been practice for many years, is unconstitutional. He further struck down the appointment of Justices of Appeal other than the Judge President as unconstitutional. Khama and company had sought a stay of execution as a matter of urgency which Tafa dismissed this Thursday.
In “general observations” he made before issuing his ruling, Tafa stated that the original case whose success resulted in the current incapacitation of the CoA, contrary to media portrayal, it was not a contest between Johnson Motshwarakgole and President Khama.
Instead, he said that in his understanding, the original case was between a collective known as the National Amalgamated Local Central Government and Parastatal Workers Union represented by Motshwarakgole acting as its organising secretary and also its applicant and the Office of the President of Botswana and other defendants including the National Assembly and the Attorney General.
Tafa continued to state that the section of the CoA act that his court struck down as unconstitutional was “enacted way back in the year 1980.It was repealing an earlier provision that had been enacted in 1972.” He said. He also noted: “it does not require knowledge of rocket science to understand that the act was more than twenty years before President Khama became the president of this republic.”
He further stated that he can say without fear of being contradicted that the piece of legislation was enacted long before Motshwarakgole was appointed to his position and before Manual Workers Union was reconstituted in its present form. Khama had wanted the order of the High Court halted so that “the CoA could continue in the public interest pending the intended appeal.”
He had also argued that there are currently two constitutional matters that were argued before the full CoA in January whose judgements are reserved. He also said that if the orders are not stayed, the Justices who presided over those cases will not be able to sign and deliver their judgements, to the prejudice of the litigants and the public at large. To convince Tafa, Khama further noted that “already the application session of the CoA which was to begin on the 17th of Friday 2017 has had to be postponed.”
He further argued that relying solely on High Court judges for the appeals of CoA who are ex-officio judges will be extremely disruptive of the normal work of the High Court and will be prejudicial to litigants. Khama noted: “the granting of a stay will ensure the continued smooth operation of the Administration of Justice, which is a national imperative and will cause no prejudice to Manual Workers Union.”
Motshwarakgole however countered that, given the findings made by the court, it would be unlawful, inappropriate and improper for Justices Lesetedi, Gongalelwe, Foxcroft, Cameron and Howie to sit in any future appeals unless and until the judgement has been set aside.
Motshwarakgole also said that Khama and company had exaggerated the prejudice they stood to suffer if a stay was not granted choosing to ignore the prejudice which will result if the justices of the CoA were to continue to act if the court’s judgement had not been delivered. The union boss also described their prospects of success on appeal as so poor that the application for stay should be dismissed.
Motshwarakgole further responded that the incapacitation of several judicial officers at the same time is not new in Botswana referring to an example of suspended four High Court Judges, Mercy Garekwe, Modiri Letsididi, Ranier Busang and Key Dingake. He said that the quartet was at the time of their suspension dealing with over 400 cases each and had part-heard trials as well as having several outstanding judgements. He argued that, this did not stop the wheels of justice from grinding on.
Tafa also noted that according to Manual Workers Union, there is accordingly no reason why the disqualification of a few justices of Appeal, most of which sit only twice a year, should bring the wheels of justice to a screeching halt. He further states: “this is particularly so when one has to regard the fact that all judges of the High Court are also ex-officio judges of the Court of Appeal.”
He further stated that in his judgement the prejudice to be suffered by the litigants in the two cases where judgement is pending before the CoA, is far outweighed by prejudice to be suffered by Manual Workers Union and many more litigants, should the court grant a stay only for the applicants to lose their appeal after more cases have been presided over by the concerned justices of appeal.
Tafa also stated that: “At any rate, one should ask oneself what would happen if one or two justices of the Court of Appeal were to pass on before they delivered judgement. This would certainly cause prejudice to the parties but it would not mean that they would be left without a remedy. A differently constituted court would not find it difficult to hear the cases de-novo (afresh).” He then noted that there is no reason why the CoA cannot enlist the services of some judges of the High Court to assist in carrying out the functions of the court who are ex-officio CoA judges.
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Local tennis team upbeat ahead of Billie Jean King cup
With almost two weeks until the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup, which will be staged in Kenya from June 12-17, 2023, the Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) ladies’ team coach, Ernest Seleke, is optimistic about reaching greater heights.
Billie Jean King Cup, or the BJK Cup, is a premier international team competition in women’s tennis, launched as the Federation Cup to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The BJK Cup is the world’s largest annual women’s international team sports competition in terms of the number of nations that compete.
The finals will feature 12 teams (Botswana, Burundi, Ghana, Kenya, Seychelles, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Tunisia, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of Congo) competing in the four round-robin groups of three. The four group winners will qualify for the semifinals, and the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup will be crowned after the completion of the knockout phase.
Closer to home, the BW Tennis team is comprised of Thato Madikwe, Leungo Monnayoo, Chelsea Chakanyuka, and Kelebogile Monnayoo. However, according to Seleke, they have not assembled the team yet as some of the players are still engaged.
“At the moment, we are depending on the players and their respective coaches in terms of training. However, I will meet up with Botswana-based players in the coming week, while the United States of America (USA) based player Madikwe will probably meet us in Kenya. Furthermore, Ekua Youri and Naledi Raguin, who are based in Spain and France respectively, will not be joining us as they will be writing their examinations,” said Seleke.
Seleke further highlighted the significance of this competition and how competitive it is. “It is a massive platform for our players to showcase their talent in tennis, and it is very competitive as countries target to get promoted to the world categories where they get to face big nations such as Spain, France, USA, and Italy. Though we are going to this tournament as underdogs because it is our second time participating, I’m confident that the girls will put in a good showing and emerge with results despite the odds,” highlighted Seleke.
Quizzed about their debut performance at the BJK Cup, he said, “I think our performance was fair considering the fact that we were newbies. We came third in our group after losing to North Macedonia and South Africa. We went on to beat Uganda, then Kenya in the playoffs. Unfortunately, we couldn’t play Burundi due to heavy rainfall and settled for the position 9/10,” he said.
For her part, team representative Leungo Monnayoo said they are working hard as they aim to do well at the tourney. “The preparations for the tourney have long begun because we practice each and every day. We want to do well, hence we need to be motivated. Furthermore, I believe in my team as we have set ourselves a big target of coming home with the trophy,” she said.
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Pep Stores donates sanitary towels to Popagano JSS
The Guidance and Counseling unit at Popagano Junior Secondary School received a donation of 790 sanitary towels from Pep stores on Thursday.
When presenting the donation, Mareledi Thebeng, the Dinokaneng Area Manager, highlighted their belief in giving back to the community, as their existence depends on the communities they serve. Thebeng pointed out that research indicates one in four girls miss school every day due to the lack of basic necessities like sanitary towels. Therefore, as a company, they strive to assist in alleviating this situation. She expressed hope that this donation would help ensure uninterrupted learning for girls.
Upon receiving the donation on behalf of the students, Charity Sambire, the President of the Student Representative Council, expressed her gratitude. Sambire specifically thanked Pep Store for their generous gift, speaking on behalf of the students, especially the girl child.
She conveyed their sincere appreciation for Pep Store’s compassion and quoted the adage, “Blessed is the hand that gives.” Sambire expressed the students’ hope for Pep Stores’ prosperity, enabling them to continue supporting the students. As a gesture of gratitude, the students pledged to excel academically.
During her speech, Motlalepula Madome, the Senior Teacher in Guidance and Counseling, highlighted that many students at the school come from disadvantaged backgrounds where parents struggle to provide basic necessities. Consequently, some students miss school when they experience menstruation due to this lack.
Madome emphasized the significance of the donation in preventing the girl child from missing lessons and its potential to improve the school’s overall results. She expressed the school’s gratitude and expressed a desire for continued support from Pep Stores.
Popagano Junior Secondary School, situated in the Okavango District, holds the second position academically in the North West region. Despite its location, the school has been dedicated to achieving excellence since 2017
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Botswana misses out critical PAP committee meeting
The Pan African Parliament (PAP) committee on gender, family, youth and people with disability in its sitting considered, adopted and recommended to the plenary session the preliminary report on the framework for the model law on gender equality.
According to the last week’s media release from PAP which is sitting with its various committees until June 2nd, the committee is following up the PAP initiative to draw up a model law on gender equality to enable national governments to harmonize, modernize and standardize their legislations to address local needs is set to be discussed in Plenary.
However, what is concerning is the fact that Botswana which is a member state missed the deliberations. Kgosi Mosadi Seboko who sat in the committee representing Botswana has since been ejected by parliament and this is a huge blow for a nation that is still battling equity and gender balance.
“Although PAP has no legislative powers it makes model laws for member states to adopt. PAP also develops protocols to be ratified by countries. The input of countries at Committee state is extremely critical. It now means the voice of Botswana is missing the discussions leading up to development of protocols or model laws,” said one of Botswana’s representative at PAP Dr. Kesitegile Gobotswang who is attending the current session.
While Botswana is missing, the committee meeting took place on the sidelines of the Sixth PAP second ordinary Session being held under the African Union Theme of the Year for 2023, “The Year of AfCFTA: Accelerating the Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area” in Midrand, South Africa and will run up to 2 June 2023. Chairperson of the Committee, Hon Mariam Dao-Gabala expressed satisfaction with preliminary processes undertaken so far towards the formulation of the Model Law,” a release from the PAP website reads.
“The law should be suitable to all countries whatever the predominant culture or religion is. The aim is to give an opportunity to women to participate in the economic, political and social development of the continent. Women are not well positioned and face a lot of obstacles. We are introducing the idea of equity in the Law because we cannot talk about equality without equity,” said Hon Mariam Dao-Gabala in the press statement.
The release has stated that among issues to be covered by the Model Law is the migratory movements of women. The Committee proffered that this has to be addressed at the continental level to ensure that migrant women enjoy all their rights and live with dignity in their destination country. The members of the Gender Committee undertook consultations to consolidate the contributions of the various stakeholders that will be the logical framework format for the Model Law.