President Duma Boko has appointed six new judges to the High Court bench.
Boko appointed justices Bafi Nanda, Felicity Sithenisigweni, Linah Makibe, Nomsa Moatswi, Oteng Motlhala, and Tshekiso Tshekiso.
The swearing in took place this week at the opening ceremony of the 2025 Judicial Conference hosted in Palapye. This year’s conference went under the theme 'Upholding Human Rights through Judicial Reforms and Accountability'.
Botswana's Chief Justice (CJ), Gaolapelwe Ketlogetse, expressed that it is the first time that the swearing in ceremony will be conducted in public and in the presence of a large gathering of other judicial officers.
For his part, the President stated that, “Section 96(2) of the Constitution provides that I, acting in accordance with the advice of the Judicial Service Commission, may appoint a person qualified to be a judge of the High Court. I have appointed these six as they qualify as such.”
Following the appointment of the Chief Justice, Boko reminded patrons that the last judicial conference was held in 2017. He stressed the importance of such a gathering, noting that it provides an opportunity for the judiciary to introspect.
“We also want to speak to those reforms that we want to embark upon henceforth. We want to speak to the need to inculcate a new culture that will enable us to improve the performance of our organisation. It is at a time like this that we need to remind ourselves of the burden of the public expectation that we carry. The public expects a vibrant judiciary that executes its mandate with speed and integrity. There is no option for failure when it comes to that duty. It is also a time for us to confirm that our integrity remains unsullied," he said.
The conference ends tomorrow (Friday) with resolutions for the year going forward.
