Court of Appeal privatised- BCP
The Botswana Congress Party ( BCP) is gravely concerned by the privatisation of the Court of Appeal, the apex court of the land, and the politicisation of the appointment process.
Over the years, BCP has advocated and demanded that the Court of Appeal must be reformed in the way judges are appointed to it by introducing transparency and merit in the appointment process. These demands have fallen on deaf ears.
BCP has explained in its newlyreleased Democracy Alert Report that the immediate past President of the Court of Appeal was adamant that the Court of Appeal Judges would be appointed in secrecy without regard to merit. The result, according to the BCP is that the President of the Court of Appeal packed the Court of Appeal with his friends and judges of his liking.
“The Court of Appeal although an important public institution was like a private fiefdom of the President of the Court of Appeal. The Chief Justice and the JSC were complicit in allowing this situation to continue.
“After the recent retirement of the former President of the Court of Appeal stakeholders and commentators naively thought the situation would change. Instead, the situation deteriorated even further.
“The Executive control of the appointments of judicial officers of the Court of Appeal continued unabated. In addition, regionalism continued to rear its ugly head. Our view is that the Court of Appeal is a national institution. It is the last line of defense of our democracy,” the BCP said, adding that the Court of Appeal does not belong to any party or individual, neither does it belong to any ethnic grouping.
The Report indicates that it cannot be the sole control of one ethnic group or members of a particular party. It stated that about a year ago, President Mokgweetsi Masisi appointed a junior judge without any credible track record to head the Court of Appeal.
“Ethnicity and other irrelevant considerations seemed to have swayed the President’s decision. The new President of the Court of Appeal maintained the highly discredited method of appointing judges to the Court. The existence of vacancies at the Court of Appeal continues to be a guarded secret.
“Friendship, tribalism, proximity to the ruling party seems to be the main considerations. This situation has eroded the confidence of the people in the independence of the judiciary. There are fears that packing the highest court with tribes’ men and women, those close to the ruling party, with no known history of being good lawyers or judges is a strategic move by the BDP to win all major cases against the state, including those on election rigging. Batswana should be alive to President Masisi’s game plan,” the BCP argues.
The party explained in the Report that the judiciary is too important to be singularly controlled by any individual. This, the BCP contends is so because the judiciary exercises powers that affect the lives and liberties of individual citizens.
A well- functioning judiciary, where judicial officers are appointed on merit and transparency, is essential to safeguard the rule of law and protect fundamental human rights and good governance, emphasised the BCP adding that to perform their functions independently and impartially, judges must be professionally competent, politically impartial, and independent from political influences that leads them to serve political agendas.
“We, at the BCP believe that the judiciary should reflect the values that our nation should hold dear: merit, fairness, integrity, and transparency. Recent trend in the appointment of judges where meritocracy is overlooked and junior judges who are close to the ruling party are preferred over deserving ones is a dangerous cancer and blight to our judiciary and must be stopped forthwith. For every judiciary to be effective, it requires judicial legitimacy - that is, broad acceptance by the people.”
The BCP contends that the judiciary should be constituted by people of impeccable integrity who are authoritative in the discipline of law. “The trend we are witnessing under the Masisi regime must be rejected with the contempt it deserves,” reads the Report.
The current regime has totally destroyed the credibility of the judiciary, especially the Court of Appeal, such that many now consider the Court of Appeal as an extension of the Executive, the BCP said.