Gov’t must stop fighting costly legal battles – AG
Spira Tlhankane | Tuesday June 2, 2026 10:26
Speaking at a recent two-day workshop on the Public Service Act No. 5 of 2026 and conditions of service organised by the Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM), Bayford said the traditional approach of addressing legal issues only after problems emerge is no longer sustainable.
“We must move away from managing litigation after governance failure towards preventing governance failure even before litigation arises. The most effective government lawyer is not the one who necessarily wins the most cases in court, but the one who finds solutions to prevent disputes from arising in the first place,” he said.
Bayford warned that the government institutions often seek legal advice after the fact.
“One of the recurring challenges in the government is that legal advice is often sought too late, after decisions have already been taken and implementation has already commenced,” he said. “By that stage, institutional positions may already be entrenched and legal vulnerabilities substantially more difficult to correct.”
The Attorney General revealed that his Chambers handled 5,221 cases across its three stations in 2023, despite having only 37 attorneys. The figure translates to an average caseload of approximately 141 matters per officer.
He cautioned that litigation imposes high costs on the State, including legal expenses, operational disruptions, reputational damage, and the diversion of scarce public resources away from development priorities.
Making a strong case for what he termed 'preventative lawyering', Bayford said early legal intervention could save the government millions of pula by avoiding lengthy court battles, settlements, and project delays. He stressed that legal advice should be integrated into policy formulation, procurement processes, contract drafting, and disciplinary procedures before potential vulnerabilities escalate into disputes.
Bayford also pointed to persistent governance weaknesses across the public service, including outdated policies, inconsistent enforcement, poor documentation, and weak record-keeping practices.
“Proper documentation is not merely an administrative requirement; it is a critical legal safeguard,” he said. The Attorney General further urged ministries, departments, and agencies to break down institutional silos and work more closely with his Chambers to ensure consistency in government decision-making.
“We can no longer afford to operate in silos,” Bayford stated. “Effective collaboration between the Attorney General’s Chambers and ministries, departments, and agencies is essential in ensuring that the government speaks and acts with one coordinated legal position.”
To strengthen legal governance, Bayford said the Attorney General’s Chambers has already begun deploying legal officers to ministries and assigning dedicated desk officers to departments with high volumes of litigation.
“Strengthening legal governance in the public sector is not only a legal imperative, but also a governance imperative, a fiscal imperative, and a developmental necessity,” said the Attorney General. He concluded by calling for a culture of legal compliance throughout the public service, urging officials to ensure that every decision is lawful, reasonable, impartial, and consistent with established policies. He also stressed the need for a comprehensive review of outdated workplace policies, stronger documentation practices, and more effective internal grievance mechanisms to reduce disputes before they reach the courts.
Bayford’s advice for the government to avoid lengthy court battles comes after President Duma Boko’s direct order for government legal teams to desist from litigating against citizens in cases where the government is clearly in the wrong.
“This is a standing instruction to all government legal teams that do not litigate against a citizen where you have clearly wronged the citizen. Do not litigate but settle. This is the approach from now on,” Boko highlighted during a High-Level Business Engagement Forum last year.
The President’s instruction came against the backdrop of the government being swamped with legal matters and having to spend millions on legal fees.