Justice is blind Really? - Part 2

Sadly, when called upon to step up, generally, some courts have been found wanting. They have failed to champion the rights of the poor. It is unacceptable to have two standards of justice; a rigid and uncompromising standard for the indigent and a pliant and permissive one for individuals flush with oodles of cash. KEVIN MOKENTO* writes

It is quite intriguing that the concept of Lady Justice has been embraced throughout the world. If you were to visit Brisbane, Budapest, Dhaka, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Rome and Tennessee you would see Lady Justice with at least two of the three symbols mentioned in last week’s submission.

In spite of all the laws and provisions available to guard against the possibility of injustice being perpetrated by the very individuals supposed to vehemently uphold justice without fear or favor, there is a view that justice can be bought. That on a good day, all men including esteemed judges have their price. While this is debatable and certainly not true for all judges, what is indisputable is the fact that lay people have often seen courts imposing stiff sanctions on people of lower means, while for more or less similar infractions of the law, the rich often go scot free or get away with negligible sanctions that hardly match the magnitude of their crimes.

Editor's Comment
Who watches the watchdog?

For a fact, in a democratic society such as Botswana, the media plays a crucial role of being watchdog, holding the powerful to account and exposing all possible wrongdoing for the benefit of the public.There has been a nagging question about who watches the watchdog after all? Perhaps, the investigations into alleged wrongful acts implicating those supposed to be playing the watchdog role will shed more light into what has happened such that the...

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