Justice Walia refuses to recuse himself
Mpho Mokwape | Wednesday July 8, 2015 16:14
On Monday, Walia ruled that he would not be stepping down from the matter as requested by defence attorney Friday Leburu.
“I am afraid there are no reasons as to why I should recuse myself and I won’t be doing that. The application for recusal had no merits,” he said.
Last week attorney, Leburu asked Walia to recuse himself in a case in which Patrick Chirunga is appearing for the alleged murder of a University of Botswana Professor earlier this year. Leburu, who also filed a complaint with the Judicial Service Commission, argued that Walia had brushed aside Chirunga’s urgent bail application without studying it or hearing from both sides.
The Judge insisted that it was not his intention to appear as though he was pre-judging the matter or being unfair to the accused. Walia said his actions were “normal and procedural”.
“For the benefit of the two parties, I will listen to the matter for bail and make a ruling in the presence of both counsels,” he said.
Justice Walia said he had ruled on the matter without hearing the two parties because he felt it was not urgent, but rather one that could be brought under normal procedures.
Last month, Leburu made an urgent application for Chirungu’s bail, which was set before Walia. The lawyer argued that Walia never heard the matter but ruled that it was not urgent. “He wrote a letter to the Registrar stating that the matter was not urgent without any reasons,” Leburu argued.
The lawyer then wrote a letter to Chief Justice Dibotelo saying that Walia had not heard any representations from counsel on both sides and had made the decision on his own.
The matter was due to have been heard last Friday, but Leburu moved an application for Walia’s recusal, which the State did not oppose. The judicial misconduct allegations are yet to be decided on.
Chirungu’s bail application will be heard on Friday.