Duma Boko, as a learned human rights lawyer and an Advocate, has experienced the dark side of the Judiciary and has spoken publicly about it. Now, as the election results euphoria wears off, on the political scene they have started pondering on what an attorney-led government will do about the state of the Judiciary and courts given particularly past worries over their condition. It is not a secret that the justice system needs a serious overhaul and if it means firing and hiring so be it, for the goodness of the country and the image of the Judiciary. Before the new government, the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC)’s criticism over impartiality, favouritism and influence of judges especially by those in power had become the order of the day in the Judiciary. Despite being taken as the cornerstone of the country’s democratic system and often referred to as the last hope for those in pursuit of justice, things have not been looking good at all of late. With President Boko taking over the reins, the question is, will he reform the Judiciary and restore people’s confidence in the system meant to provide justice for those who seek it.
The Judiciary has been marred in negativity and the former ruling party, the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) accused of interference especially buy the former president. Issues of tribalism, favouritism and forum shopping had controversially surrounded the judiciary forcing it to constantly be on the spotlight. To make matters worse, earlier this year, the Law Society of Botswana (LSB) boycotted the Legal Year opening citing the above issues and many more. At the time, the decision to boycott came in the wake of a statement the LSB council issued containing a list of complaints about a perceived communication breakdown within the Administration of Justice (AoJ). The LSB statement also cited ‘pressing issues’, which it said had not been addressed for too long. “In the first quarter of 2023, the LSB met with the Chief Justice, former Chief Registrar, and a few judges of the High Court with a view to discussing issues of mutual interest and re-establish a relationship,” the Council stated.
However, the LSB said the promised quarterly meetings were consistently cancelled or postponed by the AoJ, leaving the council uninformed about interventions promised to rectify pressing issues within the Judiciary. The council complained that the current state of the Judiciary is a disgrace and lamentable, highlighting various issues including continuous delays in pro deo fee payments, inordinate delays in default judgments, shortages of stationery at the High Courts, and a system-wide failure in Case Management. “The image of the Judiciary and the public confidence in this arm of the State are at an all-time low. There is a state of crisis with applications against the Chief Justice, accusations of bribery, and judges writing judgments for others,” said the Council. The LSB further said it was a truly deplorable situation, and they believed it was time for the Law Society to take strong steps to express their displeasure with the status quo of the AoJ for the good of the institution and the public that it serves. As judicial system’s image continued to tank, members of LSB also expressed worry over bribery allegations against judges. This was expressed at the LSB’s own opening of the Legal Year after their boycott of the national Legal Year. The first burst of the bubble was from one of the senior members of the bar, Doreen Khama, who said that she never in her life thought she would see a narrative or a statement telling her as a member of this society that a certain judge was given a bribe to rule in favour of a litigant. “This is totally disgraceful, and I think it needs to be nipped in the bud and those who can nip it in the bud are all of us seating here today,” she said.
Former LSB council chairperson and also senior member of the bar, Lawrence Lecha, also stated that the issue of judges taking bribes was something they hear about quite a lot. “It is quite regrettable and therefore we should do something about it. We should pressurise the authorities to take action against those judges,” he said. Lecha is also of the view that judges who take bribes should be named and shamed. There has been an ongoing discussion for us to name the judges,” he said. He, however, noted that the problem is that those who name the said judges will be victimised when they appear before court, so instead the names should be forwarded to the Law Society so they speak as one voice. A former judge and now senior member of the bar, Peter Collins, remarked that whether the LSB boycott will have the desired results remains to be seen, “but one thing is certain if this dysfunctionality continues, a crisis will spread beyond the Judiciary and within the function of our democracy. Collins also stated that Chief Justice (CJ), Terrence Rannowane, should step up and “fix the crisis within the Judiciary” since the buck stops at the door of the CJ. The chairperson of the Law Society, Osego Garebamono, said there is no denying that the well-being of the Judiciary is at an all-time low. “I could be addressing you all from within the four walls of Court Room 8 at the High Court in the CBD.
However, following the astounding outcome of the poll that was run by the Secretariat, you all expressed your choice to be here, in a first time ever event of our own. This is truly a historic moment but a moment which we have embraced with sombre reflection rather than cheerful ululation,“ he said. For the LSB, boycotting the opening of the Legal Year is in their interest as members of the bar to protect the integrity of the judiciary, Garebamono stated at the time. The boycott was a drop in the ocean as it started a raging judicial war between judges and the Chief Justice. The CJ being caught in accusations such as forum shopping especially on cases of prominent or public figures, took centre stage. The public was subjected to a public spectacle when the raging judicial war that started as both parties took the tug-of-war out of the judicial space and resorted to personally mudslinging each other in defence. Since then, it has been a downhill battle for the little to less remaining image of the Judiciary. What could be deemed as the image of the judiciary, when CJ was constantly accused of putting his figure where it was not needed? Typical example, Justice Gaolapelwe Ketlogetswe accused him of trying to influence him on how he dealt with former Member of Parliament for Lobatse, Dr Thapelo Matsheka’s case. Many questioned why the CJ seemed to be having constant clashes with some of his juniors and also clashes were not limited to judges only but lawyers are often exhibiting unhappiness when it comes to certain judges and their impartiality when dealing with certain cases. Some judges have been accused by lawyers of leaning towards one side in some cases.
For the common man's complaint about the impartiality of the judiciary has been treated with side eyes especially for one who has lost a case before the court until those regarded as prominent people raised the same alarm. This is what our Judiciary has been going through for the past years and may will be looking at the President especially as a lawyer himself how he tackles the eroding of the judiciary. Coupled with all the happenings, there were comments that since the retirement of some judges amongst them former president of the Court of Appeal, Ian Kirby, who was a well respected and known as a legal hawk, the institution faced criticism over its alleged loss of integrity. Now, eyes are on President Boko.
