Honourable Mokgware, Customary Courts are courts of injustice

As recent as last week, Honourable Pius Mokgware took to radio to discuss issues relating to stock theft, the punishments necessary to deter stock theft and more, telling a regulated jurisdiction to adjudicate stock theft cases.

Honourable Pius Mokgware suggests that Parliament must pass a law that would oust the Magistrate’s Courts as courts of first instance from entertaining stock theft cases.

I really got worried at that suggestion. To suggest on any given day that Customary Courts are better placed than any court to entertain stock theft cases is in my view a distortion of reality. To suggest that men and women not trained in the school of law and some not having had a date with formal education are better placed to interpret the penal code and criminal procedure and evidence Act than those that possess the required legal qualification to sit on the bench as Magistrates and judges is nothing more than a joke.  The sad truth is that Customary Courts are not courts of justice if we take the literal meaning of justice with its crudeness. Conversely put, those tasked with delivering justice at Customary Courts do not meet the requisite standard and test of proper adjudicators.

Editor's Comment
Inspect the voters' roll!

The recent disclosure by the IEC that 2,513 registrations have been turned down due to various irregularities should prompt all Batswana to meticulously review the voters' rolls and address concerns about rejected registrations.The disparities flagged by the IEC are troubling and emphasise the significance of rigorous voter registration processes.Out of the rejected registrations, 29 individuals were disqualified due to non-existent Omang...

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