LSB boss likely to face off with Dibotelo

Oarabile Mosikare | Friday January 29, 2016 16:18

One of the thorny issues likely to be covered in Lecha’s speech is the failed Case Management System (CMS). This is because attorneys are of the view that the CMS was introduced for the courts to speedily deal with cases but this has not been the case. Lawyers argue that some cases are taking ages to resolve which is costly to the litigants.

Some judges especially at the Gaborone High Court are extremely slow and take longer to dispose off cases before them. A certain judge, it is said in the legal circles, has judgements pending for cases he presided over five years ago. This failure by Dibotelo to address the incompetence of some of his colleagues is likely to make it into Lecha’s speech.

Lawyers insist that CJ has fared terribly in addressing the incompetence of some of the judges and has presided over the judiciary that the public is watching with less confidence. The suspension of four judges by President Ian Khama for an alleged misconduct is also likely to dominate Lecha’s address.

This unprecedented development was triggered after Dibotelo reported Justices Key Dingake, Modiri Letsididi, Mercy Garekwe and Ranier Busang to the police for investigation, after it was discovered that they received allowances not due to them. The housing allowances in question amounted to close to P1 million and Dibotelo said this constituted an act of theft by the concerned judges.

The four judges quickly received support from their colleagues resulting in the 12-man petition, calling for the CJ’s impeachment. Khama subsequently suspended the judges, citing ill-discipline in their petition to Dibotelo. Some of the attorneys are of the view that this is an administrative issue that could have been resolved internally instead of reporting the quartet to the police. They ask why he only reported the four when so many judges are implicated in the housing allowance issue.

The suspension of the four has also resulted in justice denied to some parties as the cases that were allocated to the quartet are still to be reallocated. The suspensions have resulted in some lawyers and litigants losing confidence in the judiciary. The chairperson is also likely to mention the appointment of judges to the bench in his address. Some of the legal minds are of the opinion that some of the appointments to the High Court are demeaning of the bench as some of the candidates do not have a track record as lawyers.

There is also the tendency of some judicial officers in this case, judges and magistrates coming to court late. This tendency is rife across the country and the presiding officers never apologise for late coming.

Time is money and Lecha is definitely going to plead with judicial officers to improve their conduct. Modesty is not one of the presiding officers’ strong points. Some of them tend to be impolite when they address attorneys in front of their clients. It is expected that Lecha will report to the presiding officers how his charges feel about their conduct. And to name and shame the culprits will take a bold leader who is not afraid of the subsequent consequences.