Judiciary tight-lipped on Solo�s �forced� retirement
Oarabile Mosikare | Friday December 16, 2016 16:27
This was after the Francistown-based High Court Judge had, before being retired, had taken a “sabbatical” leave. The President apparently asked Solo to retire a month or so ago. There are no reasons advanced for his retirement, but Solo is in 50s, nowhere near the Judges’ retirement age of 70. Sources in the Judiciary have revealed that Solo was retired on medical grounds.
According to the Constitution, a Judge of the High Court may be removed from office only for inability to perform the functions of his or her office (whether arising from infirmity of body or mind or from any other cause) or for misbehaviour, and shall not be so removed except in accordance with the provisions of this section.
Last month, the Registrar and Master of the High Court, Michael Motlhabi said Solo’s leave is a matter personal to him and they cannot comment on it.
“However, the Judge can comment if he so chooses,” Motlhabi said in an emailed response. For about a month, Motlhabi has not responded to a follow up question - whether Solo is still a High Court Judge or not. Several efforts to reach Solo were unsuccessful as his two mobile phones were unreachable.
Solo was appointed Judge six years ago. Last year, he attracted negative headlines when he withdrew his signature from the petition that called for the impeachment of the Chief Justice Maruping Dibotelo. Dibotelo had reported four Judges to the police to be investigated after it was found out they received allowances not due to them. The housing allowance amounted to about P1 million and Dibotelo said this constituted an act of theft by the concerned Judges.
After Dibotelo reported Justices Key Dingake, Modiri Letsididi, Mercy Garekwe and Ranier Busang to the police for investigation, 12 Judges wrote to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) calling upon the body to initiate impeachment proceedings against him. The petitioners accused Dibotelo of being hell-bent on destroying some of his colleagues’ careers.
It later emerged that three Judges withdrew from the petition and one of them was Solo. In his letter to Dibotelo, he said: “I fully realise the embarrassment caused to the Chief Justice and the appointing authority and apologise unapologetically about it. I express my loyalty to the Chief Justice and appointing authority who stood for my appointment when I was in my moment of despair”. The apology did not please the public service employees’ unions, which called for the resignation of Dibotelo and the three Judges, amongst them Solo. In fact, Botswana Public Employees Union (BOPEU) made an application for Solo’s recusal in a case in which one of its members, Levy Holonga, had taken the Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana (CAAB) to court for unfair dismissal. In November 2015, Solo dismissed the recusal application, insisting that his recusal will have to be laid down in full in accordance with the law. The wounded Solo then threatened to charge BOPEU and Holonga’s lawyer, Otto Itumeleng with contempt of court. In January 2015, Solo recused himself from the case.