Keorapetse rubbishes Ombudsman appointment

‘Advertise Ombudsman position and open it up for Batswana to compete’

Leader of Opposition (LoO), Dithapelo Keorapetse has rubbished the appointment of Advocate Stephen Tiroyakgosi as the new Ombudsman by President Mokgweetsi Masisi.

On Wednesday, through a media release, the Permanent Secretary to the President and Secretary to Cabinet, Emmah Peloetletse announced the appointment of the former Director of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) TiroyakgoOmbusman si as the and Dudu Victoria Leinaeng as his deputy.

However, Keorapetse is not pleased with the President’s move. He stated that he is not convinced that Tiroyakgosi fits the position of the Ombudsman because he has disappointed when he was the director of DPP. Keorapetse was speaking at a press conference that was held at Parliament Precincts on Thursday morning.

“I have no doubt that Advocate Tiroyakgosi is a senior counsel who appears to meet more than basic requirements to be appointed to the position. The immediate difficulty I had is that I was not privy to the candidates who were also considered alongside him. I have no way knowing if he is indeed the best amongst other candidates. Advocate Tiroyakgosi has failed as the director of DPP, he was supposed to have been held accountable for the case of the former spy officer, Welheminah ‘Butterfly’ Maswabi, in which evidence was invented but surprisingly that did not happen,” he said.

He stated that there were many other senior lawyers who have been Members of Parliament (MPs), ministers and some who are law professors at the University of Botswana who are senior practising lawyers hence did not understanding how he could be the best candidate weighed against others.

However, Keorapetse said it would appear that political or other considerations might have prevailed over the merit criterion for his consideration, which means the quality of the office will surely be diluted.

He further stated that the Ombudsman who obtains their position as a result of Executive discretion or favour, could be compelled to serve the interests of their appointing authority undermining the institution’ expected autonomy, fairness and impartiality.

“This kind of appointment may also further diminish public confidence in this important grievance office. Advocate Tiroyakgosi has served as director DPP for five years, but I do not know of any landmark or high profile or complex criminal case in which he prosecuted.

For the most part, it was his juniors who prosecuted high profile cases.

In most cases he enlisted local and South African advocates who argued cases for the State at a high costs to the state,” he said.

Consequently, Keorapetse said he does not know Advocate Tiroyakgosi’s contribution to the development of criminal jurisprudence in Botswana.

However, Keorapetse recommended to the President to advertise the position of Ombudsman and open it up to Batswana to compete in a transparent manner where objective criteria would be applied in the selection process.

“Even his appointment at DPP he had not demonstrated any compelling legal background to warrant that position. I recommend we also benchmark from other democracies of other countries to identify and possibly apply best practices of appointing the Ombudsman to revamp the integrity and independence of the office and to inspire public confidence in it,” Keorapetse said.