Moatswi takes over DPP
Correspondent | Monday May 1, 2023 06:00
Moatswi’s appointment is part of the President’s deliberate empowerment of capable women in both government and parastatal sectors. From politics to the public sector, women have risen to the top as decision makers. There have also been accelerated appointments of women across sectors to positions of influence.
The elevation comes after Justice Tebogo Tau was appointed as president of the Court of Appeal whilst Justice Mercy Garekwe was also appointed as judge of the Court of Appeal. Dinah Marathe was recently appointed Commissioner of Botswana prisons Service.
For the first time, Botswana’s Finance Ministry is headed by a woman, Peggy Serame. Other women politicians in Masisi’s Cabinet include Talitha Monnakgotla, Nnaniki Makwinja, Beauty Manake, Annah Mokgethi and Phildah Kereng.
Masisi described Moatswi, the second woman to ascend to the position of DPP Director after Dr Leatile Dambe, as a seasoned legal practitioner with a career spanning over 25 years.
The President also said Moatswi cut her professional teeth in 1999 as a DPP Prosecutor and rose through the ranks until she became the organisation’s Assistant Director. She joined the Administration of Justice in February 2018 as Deputy Registrar and later Master of the High Court thereby acquiring extensive knowledge and expertise in court and estates administration, liquidation and management of the guardian fund among others, he said. At the time of her appointment, Moatswi was serving as Court of Appeal Registrar, a position she was appointed to in December 2020.
The President said the Constitution of Botswana vested in Moatswi powers to proffer criminal proceedings against anyone in a court of law for any offence that they might be charged with.
Meanwhile, Moatswi has promised to truthfully serve the public and abide by and protect the Constitution of Botswana. She takes over a seat that has over the years proven to be very hot as her predecessors might attest. She acquired her LLB from the University of Botswana in 1998. The DPP’s substantive founding Director was the late Leonard Sechele, followed by the current Court of Appeal judge, Leatile Dambe, Abraham Keetshabe and the past immediate director Stephen Tiroyakgosi in that order.(BOPA/Additional reporting by Mmegi).