Africa-Press – Botswana. The Attorney General’s Chambers is under resourced which has the potential to impact its mandate delivery.
Minister of Justice, Mr Machana Shamukuni said this when responding to MPs contribution to the AG’s Chambers budget proposal on Tuesday March 5.
He said the under resourcing had the potential to affect service delivery and pleaded with MPs to support future requests to resource the AG’s Chambers.
Mr Shamukuni noted that the shortages were in areas of staffing and government vehicles.
He also said the civil litigation unit recently carried out an audit of the number of cases that it handled for and against government.
He noted that as of December 2023 there were 5 000 cases against 32 lawyers working for the division in Gaborone, Francistown and Maun.
He added that there was an urgent need to capacitate the unit both in numbers and training.
He also conceded that payment to pro deo counsels was taking more time owing to shortage of funds among others.
He said it was the ministrys’ desire to pay pro deo counsels on time and said the AG’s Chambers would strive to improve.
He also noted that pro deo payments were low when compared to other countries, and said the amount was last increased from P1 000 to P3 400 per court appearance in 2021, adding that although not enough it was a significant increase.
Regarding transparency when outsourcing services to private law firms, Mr Shamukuni said guidelines were being developed to address such.
He, however, said the AG’s Chambers, among other things, considered the law firm’s competency to handle the matter.
He said the AG’s Chambers was also working on improving the conditions of service for the government lawyers.
Member of Parliament for Gaborone Central, Mr Tumisang Mangwegape-Healey had said government lawyers were over burdened with too many cases which impacted their delivery.
He further called for the hiring of more lawyers by government to address the prevailing situation.
Specially Elected MP, Dr Unity Dow said the registration of trust by the Master of the High Court created a burden for the court, saying CIPA could be tasked with registering them to relieve the court.
She further asked the minister to look into issues which resulted with some members of the Law Society of Botswana boycotting the official opening of the legal year.
Dr Dow also said pro deo payments were too low, oftentimes delayed and further said certain lawyers seemed to be benefitting more cases from the government and called for equity.
While Serowe South MP, Mr Leepetswe Lesedi said the takeover of the prosecution duties by the AG’s Chambers was taking long and needed to be expedited.
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