This came after the Court of Appeal (CoA) upheld an appeal by government ruling the compensation as determined then by the Minister of Agriculture was adequate and reasonable. The heavy blow to the farmers comes after being taken to the CoA to appeal the 2023 judgment by Gaborone High Court, Justice Zein Kebonang, who had ordered that compensation to the farmers be reviewed. At the time in December 2023, the case which Justice Kebonang referred to as perhaps the longest undecided matter in the history of the country had directed the Registrar of the High Court to decide within 21 days of the order on what would amount to fair compensation or market value of the victims’ livestock. The decision came after 46 victims of the FMD outbreak filed a review application in 2011 challenging the government for many issues and mainly the payment of P1,700 per beast compensation.
They had contended that the amount wasn't fair because both affected and unaffected livestock killed were prized the same. In the judgment, Kebonang had set aside the decision of the director of the Department of Animal Health to slaughter the applicants’ livestock and the compensation amount of P1,700. However, in determining the government's appeal to the High Court's decision, CoA president Justice Tau upheld the appeal and set aside the decision of Kebonang. "The farmers have failed to prove that the decisions of both the director and minister were unlawful or irrational and liable to be set aside.
