Mmegi

Cagey gov't spends P27 million on private law firms

Machana Shamukuni. PIC MORERI SEJAKGOMO
Machana Shamukuni. PIC MORERI SEJAKGOMO

Despite failing to disclose private law firms which benefit more from government jobs, the Minister of Justice (MoJ), Machana Shamukuni, has revealed that in the past five years, government spent over P27 million in outsourcing private lawyers and firms for cases.

Shamukuni said he could not openly share the names of the law firms due to issues of client privilege but disclosed that the outsourcing of cases to private law firms started in earnest in April 2020. He said a total of 91 cases were outsourced to law firms in the last five years. Breaking the amount spent according to each year since 2020, Shamukuni said that P2.9 million was spent in 2020 while in 2021 P9.9 million was spent. In 2022, he said government had an expenditure of P4.2 million whereas in 2023 the price rose to P10.6 million. Shamukuni also explained that government continues to turn to private firms for state cases because State prosecutors do not have the capacity to deal with intricate cases.

“The procedure is that when it is determined that a case is complex and requires the services of an experienced lawyer, a formal request with justification is made to the Attorney General through the head of division,” he said. He added that other factors that compel government to go through the private route include the urgency of the case coupled with the availability of the lawyers to handle the case, years of experience and the area of law involved as well as the expertise required. Since the commencement of using private lawyers, Shamukuni said government has crossed the border on two occasions only for the services of the lawyers. “Only two foreign law firms were engaged in the past five years. Information on how much each law firm was paid is readily available but cannot be openly shared to this House,” he said.

Shamukuni further highlighted outsourcing of private law firms is fairly a new development within the litigation area as such there is no regulatory framework for the services provided by private firms. Shamukuni was responding to a question from the Palapye Member of Parliament (MP), Onneetse Ramogapi, who had asked why Botswana continues to rope in private lawyers for their cases.
Editor's Comment
A step in the right direction

It has only been a month since the newly elected government, the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), took power, and there are already a lot of changes. Across different ministries, ministers are hard at work. Following heavy rainfall and storms that hit Francistown recently, the Minister of State Presidency, Moeti Mohwasa, made a commitment that government will assist those affected by the heavy rains. Mohwasa, when addressing the media in...

Have a Story? Send Us a tip
arrow up