2015 at the Courts of Law
Mpho Mokwape | Friday December 18, 2015 13:26
Khama suspends four High Court Judges
In an unprecedented move that saw Botswana’s judiciary rocked to the core, President Ian Khama removed four High Court judges from the bench. The judges: Key Dingake, Modiri Letsididi, Mercy Garekwe and Ranier Busang were suspended for undermining the Chief Justice Maruping Dibotelo and bringing the judiciary into disrepute. They were also suspended for challenging Chief Justice Dibotelo’s move to report them to the police for receiving housing allowances while staying in official residences. The four judges have since declared that the chief justice’s actions were questionable and amounted to harassment and witch-hunting.
Motshwarakgole sues Khama
The national organising secretary of the National Amalgamated Local and Central Government and Parastatal Workers Union (NALCGPWU), Johnson Motshwarakgole, took President Ian Khama to court challenging the appointment of the seven Court of Appeal (CoA) judges. Motshwarakgole argued that the appointment of the CoA justices by the President was invalid. The veteran unionist is challenging the constitutional validity of Section 4 of the Court of Appeal Act in so far as it delegates, to the President, Parliamentís constitutional powers to determine the number of appeals court justices..
BNYC committee challenges Khama, Olopeng
Following the dissolution of Botswana National Youth Council by President Ian Khama, the former national executive committee took the president and his cabinet minister Thapelo Olopeng to court. The case first came before court in August as an urgent application against Khama, Olopeng, BNYC, and its executive director Benjamin Raletsatsi. The committee had wanted the court to set aside the decision by the minister and the President to dissolve NEC. The case will be heard again in February 2017 following the suspension of the judge who handled the case.
CoA rejects death row inmate’s plea to be spared the hangman’s noose
A Lobatse man, Patrick Gabaakanye, who was condemned to death in 2014 by the Gaborone High Court, lost his appeal to escape hangman. The 55-year-old Gabaakanye was sentenced to death for the murder of a visually impaired septuagenarian at Ga-Mosusu Lands in 2010. He was also jailed for five years for unlawfully wounding the wife of then 74-year-old deceased man.
BOPEU, BURS tussle in court as workers strikes
The Botswana Public Employees Union (BOPEU) and Botswana Unified Revenue Services (BURS) engage in a court war during the ongoing strike that the BURS workers engaged in demanding salary increment. BURS workers went on strike demanding salary adjustments. Processes at the revenue agency since then slowed with negotiations yet to yield a solution.
Police catch and later deny arresting CEO killer
The shooting and killing of Fairgrounds Holdings CEO Michael Montshiwa will go down as one of the mysterious murder cases of 2015. Montshiwa was killed at his home in Block 6 by what witnesses said was a man of medium height. A suspect was later arrested at Game City. The man, (name known to this publication) driving a red GTI was released from police question two days later.
Neo Moroka charges dropped, deceased mother slaps him with a civil lawsuit
A case which left the country with more questions than answers, Neo Moroka’s accidental shooting of a young man at his farm. The police initially charged him with negligence but the Directorate of Pubic Prosecution (DPP) cleared him of all charges. The mother of the deceased has now dragged Moroka, who has recently been appointed head of Vision 2036 task team to court, for hefty P2 million compensation. The case is currently before the Lobatse High Court and will continue in January.
Eritrean football players take government to court
Football is the universal language. Countries host one another in different cup matches. And as tradition, Botswana football team hosted the Eritrean national soccer team for the qualifying match. The match was played at the newly opened Francistown stadium, but after the match, 10 Eritrean players refused to board the plane back home. They sought to seek asylum in country, prompting the Minister of defence and Justice, Shaw Kgathi to make statements that he would later regret. The players took government to court and later won their case. They are still in Botswana today, perhaps playing football.
Khama defies court, secretly deports Ugandian refugees
After Justice Lot Moroka ruled that the two Ugandan refugees, Musa Isabirye and Timothy Yami should not be deported, the government decided to do otherwise. The two had been in the country for more than 18 years. This move by Khama caused a stir with the UN and other human rights activists condemning Botswana government for overruling the courts.