Boko To Challenge Magistrate's Ruling
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Monday July 22, 2019 13:04
Paya dismissed the application with costs, but in turn ruled that the matter be allocated a different magistrate because her court is not in a position to urgently dispose of the matter.
Boko, through his lawyers, had made an application for Paya to recuse herself because she is related to President Mokgweetsi Masisi, who is Boko’s competitor for presidency, as such conflicted to preside over the matter.
His reason for the magistrate to recuse herself was because there is a likelihood of bias since Masisi would be the ultimate beneficiary of the final ruling of the court.
When dismissing the application, magistrate Paya said although it is true that she is related to Masisi, the argument is irrelevant.
“The court has failed to establish any relevance in the issue. The court has no vested interest in the matter. As such, the court cannot recuse itself from the matter and dismisses the application with costs. However, due to the reasonable short time required to deal with this matter, it will be allocated a different magistrate,” Paya said.
Meanwhile, Boko said after the ruling that they will not pay the costs and will challenge Paya’s ruling.
“What is so difficult for any judicial officer even with the most rudimentary understanding of the law to appreciate about this? It shouldn’t be difficult, and when a person chooses to ignore the law and misdirect herself you can see we were correct in seeking for her recusal.
She has brought us to that point. She has removed herself from the case, which is what we wanted. Are we going to pay any costs? No, we are not. In fact, we are going to challenge this bogus ruling,” he said. Boko stated that they are confident about the outcome of their case.