The CJ should interact more
Mmegi Editor | Thursday October 17, 2013 15:31
It is intriguing that in the savingram, the Chief Justice says nothing about the manner of his inauguration three years ago at the Lobatse High Court, following retirement of his predecessor, Julian Nganunu, due to ill health.
There was something disturbing about that whole affair of February 2010, and it is primarily that it was not done in public and only government photographers were allowed into the room in which President Ian Khama allegedly conducted the ceremony.
This tended to imbue his rise to the peak of the judiciary with secrecy and a mystery bordering on the occult, especially that in Botswana people who hold such lofty positions hardly interact with the public even in the 21st Century where the media is an open forum for everyone.
The only time we have heard the Chief Justice speak is when he is opening the Legal Year, a message that invariably challenges his colleagues to expedite cases warns the media to desist from rushed reporting on court matters.
When the Executive fails to perform to the expectations of the electorate, the Legislature and the public can freely express their dissatisfaction.
When there is a matter of national interest about the operations of the Legislature, the Speaker of the National Assembly simply uses readily available media to set the record straight.
When there is an issue of national interest about the Executive, either the Ministry of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration or the chief government spokesperson similarly steps forward to set the record straight.
However, that cannot be said about our judiciary, which seems to operate in deafening silence, mystery and secrecy. Since the large majority of Batswana understand little about the law and its complicated ways, they are wary of criticising any judgment, the behaviour of any judge or the harshness or leniency of his or her findings.
It is this mystery that probably forced the Chief Justice to pen a savingram to caution his 'learned colleagues' to desist from 'corrupt' behaviour.
Who knows, the seriousness of the problem could be far much worse than what the CJ has communicated in the savingram.
As you read this, the Administration of Justice is the only critical government department with no Public Relations Officer, forcing everybody to forward their enquiries to the Registrar and Master of the High Court who is often too busy to entertain your ordinary Mothusi or Motlalepula.
Needless to say, this is a bad setup for such an important department. It needs to put its house in order and see that it is accessible to the public, if it should hope to reclaim the confidence of Batswana.
Today's thought
'Sometimes one creates a dynamic impression by saying something, and sometimes one creates as significant an impression by remaining silent.'
- Dalai Lama