Weakened judiciary spoils Xmas mood
Mpho Mokwape | Friday December 23, 2016 12:46
This year alone it has been no different with tensions rising further between the government and the Law Society of Botswana (LSB) regarding the judicial independence and its ability to administer justice independently without any interference from third forces.
In his Legal Year Opening speech former LSB chairperson, Lawrence Lecha threw the last dice into the already weakening judicial system by taking a jab and questioning the appointment of Court of Appeal (CoA) judges as he took time to give a typical example and named one the judge publicly who was at that time recently appointed.
He triggered the tensions further by angering the government on his speech when among others he made it clear that they will be taking the government to task over that and other matters affecting the judiciary.
Yet again it was during this time that the judiciary found itself in the public eye again when numerous exchanges were made between the LSB, CoA President Ian Kirby and the government.
Before the latter, the judiciary was characterised by so many dramas including the suspension of the four High Court judges.
With the tensions cutting across the judicial system, nonetheless it was business as usual as many cases came before courts and a lot of them are yet to be resolved. While few will be celebrating the spirit of Christmas, many will have little to celebrate, as their fate for justice remains pending.
Each year the judicial system complains about the backlog of cases that take years to solve creating what is often referred to as justice delayed is justice denied.
The year 2017 remains as the year to see if the judicial system will turn around and win public favour again. Lastly as the Attorney General, Athalia Molokomme leaves, many questions will still remain as to whether she fulfilled her mandate fully.
Many have believed that as the advisor to the government, she has not been able to advise properly with the government having lost many litigations and having failed on numerous cases to concede defeat even when the merits of the case were clear.
Just last week a case that involved the Botswana Defence Force (BDF)’s Romeo and Juliet saga caused a stir because the government failed to observe a simple court order.
Meanwhile, all in all 2016 was not entirely a bad year especially for cases that came before the courts and made national and international headlines.
Some of the cases to be remembered are:
l Legality of Surrogacy in Botswana
The legal position of surrogacy and its legality in the country was put to test when a divorced couple fought over a frozen embryo.
lBDF’s Romeo and Juliet saga
The young couple fought a winning battle before the court after being dismissed for allegedly contravening the military’s Policy on Fraternisation and Sexual Harassment.
lNamibian Refugees win interdicts for deportation
The refugees fought and won their bid to interdict the government from deporting them to their native country after denouncing their refugees’ status early this year.
One case that will remain the biggest of them all and has produced the personality of the year in the judicial system has to be of the death row inmate, Patrick Gabaakanye.
Personality of the year in the Judiciary
lPatrick ‘Raselepe’ Gabaakanye
Gabaakanye, who made headlines after he was handed the death penalty for killing a blind old man and injuring his wife, was executed mid this year after he fought tirelessly to escape the hangman’s noose.
Not only did his execution reach national news but the international ones also had something to say about his execution causing the government to respond and state its position on the death penalty.