In his service journey, he has demonstrated humility and the ability to listen to even the most unpopular, as described by President Duma Boko. All the praises bestowed upon Justice Ketlogetswe will come to test as he takes his position to lead the once glorious Judiciary. He ascends to the position of the Chief Justice at a time when the judiciary has experienced turmoil in recent years and as the new Chief Justice, he has a huge task ahead of him in polishing the image of the Judiciary. Justice Ketlogetswe takes the position of Chief Justice having joined the Administration of Justice as a Magistrate in 2001, and rising through the ranks to become Principal Magistrate. Before serving as a judge of the High Court, the CJ had decades of practicing law as an attorney in private practice and also served in the High Court as Assistant Registrar and Master and was later appointed judge of the High Court.
His legal expertise and administrative prowess have earned him a reputation for integrity and dedication to the rule of law, something that allowed the President to have confidence in Ketlogetswe’s ability to enhance the independence and effectiveness of Botswana’s Judiciary. Justice Ketlogetswe has shown his commitment to fairness, justice, and the rule of law especially at the time that the Judiciary was going through turmoil with accusations of interference from those in power. One case that showed Ketlogetswe’s prowess, independent mind, fairness and dedication to the rule of law was for the former Lobatse legislator, Dr Thapelo Matsheka, against the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) after being accused of having knowledge of the disappearance of a school boy, (((.....))), in Lobatse. The case came before Justice Ketlogetswe where he ended up blowing the lid about the interference of the then CJ, Terrence Rannowane. He had reported the CJ to former president, Mokgweetsi Masis,i which started a raging judicial tug-of-war, which later resorted to personal mudslinging in their defence. At the time, in an exchange of strong words, Justice Ketlogetswe accused the CJ of assassinating his character instead of dealing with judicial issues at hand while Justice Rannowane claimed Justice Ketlogetswe was "deceitful and irresponsible."
According to Justice Ketlogetswe’s letter to former president Masisi at that time, he reported the former CJ’s conduct, alleging that it was never his intention to be personal with Justice Rannowane until he realised how he wanted to play out the whole issue. “I feel constrained to respond to each and every allegation he makes against me. It has never been my intention to be personal with him. But I am appalled that CJ could find it proper to stoop so low and attack a colleague’s character without any due self-restraint,” he said. Justice Ketlogetswe explained that he was at a great loss for words that a Chief Justice could really want to attack the character of a judge by referencing matters out of their reasonable context and which are personal, not judicial. At the time of the war of words between the pair, the public felt that Justice Ketlogetswe deserved praises for standing up and demonstrating that there needs to be fairness and justice for litigants regardless of who they are. He had at the time revealed that there was indeed interference in the judiciary, something that compromised the integrity of both the system and the judges. Away from his war with the then CJ, Justice Ketlogetswe has never shown any favour to litigants who have come before him especially in cases where the State was part of the litigants like many judges having been accused of always leaning towards appeasing the State rather than dealing with the law. For instance, in the case of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) against the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), Justice Ketlogetswe was consistently hailed for his fairness in dispensing justice.
In one case in 2023 at the Francistown High Court, he dismissed an application by the IEC with costs, which sought to have their case heard by a panel of three judges. At the time, the IEC argued that the case in which the UDC was seeking to have registration clerks during registration process attracted significant public interest and required the expertise of multiple judges. In his ruling, Ketlogetswe gave reasons for dismissing the IEC's empanelment application. He had explained that Court Rule (1b) Order 42, which stipulates that the Chief Justice can only decide to empanel judges before a case, is allocated to a judge pointing out that in particular instance, the case had already been assigned to a judge, and no challenge had been made against that allocation prior to the application. “The UDC had demonstrated a reasonable chance of success in challenging the Chief Justice's decision. That the IEC's request for a panel of judges was not made in good faith and appeared to be motivated by a desire to delay the proceedings,” he said. After losing twice against the UDC, the IEC got really irked and applied for Justice Ketlogetswe to recuse himself from the case arguing that "the judge has an interest in the matter." At the time, Justice Ketlogetswe had handed the UDC two temporary victories against the IEC for the observation and monitoring of the voter registration. There are many cases that can be referred to in demonstrating Ketlogetswe's abilities as a judge.
He has been advised to be on high alert reminding him that he would be subjected to the most intense and probing examinations by society to test his capability and resilience. During the swearing-in of the CJ, President Boko explained that members of the public were entitled to scrutinise the Judiciary and that the new CJ must be up to the task and should know that he is the high priest in the temple. “You have become a high priest in the temple of justice and you ought to rise above the ordinary and commonplace, as you owe loyalty to the legal profession and the nation,” Boko said. The new CJ's vast experience in the legal fraternity will come in handy as he has been exposed to all facets of the functions of the country's Judiciary from his career which spans over 30 years, thus no doubt making him suitable for the job.
