“This is a standing instruction to all government legal teams that do not litigate against a citizen where you have clearly wronged the citizen. Do not litigate but settle. This is the approach going forward,” he said.
Speaking at the High Level Business Engagement Forum on Tuesday, the President explained that even where a lawyer can go to court and argue the case on a technicality like the matter having been prescribed there should be settlement as the substance of the matter still lingered on regardless.
The Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC)-led government helmsman said the prescription of a matter should not be used against citizens without looking at the substantive of the matter and taking justice into account.
Prescription refers to a legal principle where a right or claim becomes unenforceable after a certain period of time has passed.
“Prescription absolves you but the substantive justice or injustice of the matter lingers on. I do not care about subscription, I do not care about technicalities you can marshall. Let us look at the substantive justice and if we are wrong even if the matter has prescribed let us talk to the person and let us offer some recompense,” he said.
Boko stated that it will be their approach going forward, a different one from what has happened before, the one that accommodates and listens.
The President’s instruction comes at the backdrop of government being swamped with legal matters and having to spend millions in legal fees.
The Directorate on Intelligence and Security (DIS) is one of the instotutions swamped with litigations that costs government millions of pula in legal fees due to its failure to consult especially on legal matters.
The DIS so far has so many litigation matters from its spies who allege that they were wronged by the spy unit. In four of the many lawsuits where the spy unit agents, are seeking P2.2 million each in compensation for unlawful arrest and detention, the agents who play key roles in the DIS pointed fingers at the Director General (DG) of the DIS, Peter Magosi, for undermining the DIS legal office.
According to the agents some of whom are in the legal department, said Magosi’s failure to consult on legal matters has cost government a lot of money especially in legal matters. “As such, I was often called simply to clean up where there was a problem. My objections to the Director General's conduct worsened the relationship between us,” said one of the spies suing, Kuda Malikongwa.
Malikongwa alleged that the DG had a habit of undermining the legal office of the Directorate, of which she was a part, by negotiating and drafting contracts with the assistance of non-legal persons or external legal persons unconnected to the business of the Directorate. Malikongwa said she was continually required by Magosi to draft and execute contracts, which were clearly irregular if not downright unlawful.
“I generally either stalled or declined to draft and execute the contracts, many of which had no written instructions, were non-compliant with local and international laws and were on the face of it corrupt,” stated the agent.
It is alleged that more cases are piling up at the Directorate as more disgruntled spies are suing the unit and the government in millions
In 2019, government was criticised for orchestrating unnecessary pressure on the public purse by starting needless litigations that could be easily avoided.
At the time, several Members of Parliament (MPs) warned during the debate on the supplementary appropriation Bill proposed by the then Minister of Finance and Economic Development Kenneth Matambo that public funds were wasted to pay unnecessary litigation costs.
Matambo had proposed a Supplementary Appropriation Bill (2017/18) of 2019 requesting government to authorise the payment of the Consolidated Fund to meet expenditure incurred during the year ending March 31, 2018, which most MP’s attributed to unnecessary litigations of the government against citizens.
Recently, Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Nelson Ramaotwana said there needs to be a reduction in litigations and costs associated with it.
He explained that one of the ways by which the government could provide effective legal services is through the placement of civil lawyers in all ministries, to augment those seconded by the International and Commercial Division.
“That way, our legal officers would be readily available to offer on-the-spot legal services with the hope that legally sound decisions would be made thereby reducing litigation and all costs associated with it,” he said.
