"Pursuant to section 13/96 of the Legal Practitioners' Act, you are hereby given thirty days notice from 30th May 2007,to renew your Practising Certificate(s), failing which your name will be removed from the roll," states one of the letters from the Registrar.
In a list of private law firms released by the High Court, Mokongwa Attorneys, Rahim Khan and Company, Mosate &Associates, Mosweu&Company, YS Moncho Attorneys, Sikhakhane &Company, Chris Du Plessis Attorneys, Mankge-Masuge Attorneys have been listed among those that have not yet complied with the Legal Practitioners Act.
Included in the list of law firms that have not regularised is Gaborone West-North legislator and reigning Botswana National Front (BNF) president Otsweletse Moupo's law firm, Moupo, Motswagole and Dingake. The law firms have been given up until June 30 to regularise or face the axe.
This is not the first time that the Gaborone West North MP had failed to regularise. Last year he made headlines when he failed to regularise until the Law Society of Botswana moved an urgent application before the High Court to place Moupo's law firm under curatorship but the action was stayed at the doorstep of court when Moupo eventually evened out.
In an Interview with Mmegi, Nthomiwa said that it was important for the law society to ensure that its members comply with the law. "We have been very lenient, in terms of the law, the lawyers' practising licences expired on the 31st of December", he said. He added that by now all lawyers should be in possession of new practising certificate .
Under the Legal Practitioners Act, lawyers are expected to submit audited accounts to the Law Society and when the audit is passed, they are issued with fidelity and practising certificates by the High Court.
