PPADB refuses P1.4m payment toward IEC petitions legal fees
Staff Writer | Tuesday February 11, 2020 12:00
The board decision was taken in the February 6, 2020 sitting following the electoral body’s request for retroactive approval for provision of legal services by Minchin and Kelly (Botswana).
The firm’s legal fees totalled a sum of P1,462,814.53, which was not approved. The IEC and the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) were forced to defend the outcome of the polls in court after the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) accused the parties of electoral fraud in the October 23, 2019 general elections.
Both the High Court and Court of Appeal dismissed the parliamentary candidates’ cases with costs. Minchin and Kelly has briefed Advocate Oaitse Rammidi to defend the IEC during the petitions. During the Court of Appeal appeal, Minchin and Kelly managing partner Terrence Dambe appeared with Rammidi and South African Advocate Andrew Redding SC.
At the moment there are only a few council candidate cases before the High Court, the most notable one being that of Mogalakwe Mogalakwe of the Alliance for Progressives.