Boko wins BNF court battle

ISAAC PINIELO
Correspondent | Friday July 16, 2010 00:00

 

After going through the lengthy judgement for about three hours, Justice Moses Chinhengo said the case should be dismissed because clause 19.1 of the BNF constitution, on which it was based, is ambiguous.

The clause states that: 'Any member shall qualify as a candidate for the president of the BNF provided the member is a citizen of Botswana, and has been a member of the BNF for at least five years'.

Chinhengo said that a political party is not a public body and is not subject to the rules of administrative justice just like any other non-governmental organisation or voluntary body.

He said that the court shall not fight political battles for the applicants because political battles should be fought in the political arena. He said in cases like these, the court could only issue a declaratory order, which could be consequential to the BNF.

He stated that there was lack of transparency in the BNF, in that the central committee citing the party constitution should have advised the applicants not to pursue the case in court. Chinhengo indicated that both parties in the matter should bear the costs of the application.

The applicants, represented by Dumezweni Mthimkhulu contended that at one time Boko was a member of the National Democratic Front (NDF). They produced documents from the Registrar of Societies, which bear Boko's signature to prove that he was a member of NDF, a now moribund splinter party of the BNF.

Lawyers for Boko, Boingotlo Toteng and Mboki Chilisa said that the NDF and members of the BNF central committee should have been included in the case.

They argued that instead of running to the courts, the applicants should have sought relief from BNF structures like the forthcoming congress to test the validity of Boko's membership.

Meanwhile, BNF information and publicity secretary, Moeti Mohwasa said he was happy with the judgement, noting that he never doubted Boko would succeed.

One of the applicants, Madome told Mmegi after the case that he is happy with the court's decision. He said he would support whoever is elected as party president at the congress. 'All we wanted is for the court to take a decision, so I don't see any need for us to appeal this matter,' he said. Efforts to solicit comments from Boko yesterday were fruitless as his mobile phone rang unanswered.