{"id":32649,"date":"2023-08-17T16:11:07","date_gmt":"2023-08-17T16:11:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/?p=32649"},"modified":"2023-08-17T15:10:13","modified_gmt":"2023-08-17T15:10:13","slug":"ministers-molao-morwaeng-face-jsc-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/ministers-molao-morwaeng-face-jsc-probe","title":{"rendered":"Ministers Molao, Morwaeng face JSC probe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. <\/strong><\/span>State President Minister Kabo Morwaeng and Minister of Agriculture Fidelis Molao are facing investigations by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) over their alleged interference in the judiciary. Also facing a probe by the JSC is Lobatse High Court Judge, Justice Michael Motlhabi. According to a letter by the Botswana Parotic Front (BPF) addressed to the JSC and copied to the Chief Justice Terrence Rannowane, \u201cThe complaint is against the following; Honourable Justice Motlhabi of the Lobatse High Court, Minister of State Presidency Hon. Kabo Morwaeng, Minister of Agriculture Hon. Fidelis Molao.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

BPF President, Reggie Reatile states in the letter that \u201cOur complaint emanates from the case in which the BPF was involved in litigation before Motlhabi and the one before Kebonang J.\u201d \u201cWe articulate the basis of our complaint hereunder; in the matter before Motlhabi J, in case No. UAHGB-000104\/23, we learnt of the Rule Nisi that was subsequently issued Motlhabi J. on the same day in a WhatsApp group from a message from Hon. Kabo Morwaeng, from his number…in WhatsApp group called 12th Parliament, a group comprising of Member of Parliament. Hon. Kabo Morwaeng posted the Court order in the 12th Parliament Whatsapp group even before the Order was read out in Court by Motlhabi J,\u201d said Reatile.<\/p>\n

According to the letter; \u201cIt is clear that Motlhabi J\u2019s Order was leaked to Hon. Kabo Morwaeng even before the parties before Court could have sight of it\u201d adding that \u201cIt cannot be correct as litigants, we see Court Oders from Politicians such as Hon. Kabo Morwaeng even before such Orders are pronounced in Court.\u201d \u201cIn our considered view, the Court Order was deliberately leaked from Justice Motlhabi\u2019s office. We are cautious not to draw any inference from this strange occurrence and the involvement of Hon. Motlhabi hence we invite your good office to investigate this matter to the fullest extent possible,\u201d the letter states.<\/p>\n

The letter further stated that: \u201cIt cannot be right for Hon. Morwaeng, a member of Cabinet, to be aware of a Court Order of a judge before us, when we were waiting in Court for the Judge to pronounce his ruling\u201d adding that \u201cWe are of the view that a prima facie case for misconduct against Motlhabi J and Hon Morwaeng exist warranting a formal investigation.\u201d The letter indicates that \u201cOur Members of Parliament are members of the 12th Parliament WhatsApp group and has sight of the message from Hon. Kabo Morwaeng.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reatile further indicates that \u201cOn yet another matter involving the BPF or its members, in Case no. UAHGB -000199\/23, we have learnt with shock that Honourable Minister Fidelis Molao has publicly stated that in the event that Justice Kebonang ruled against Mr. Biggie Ganda Butale, they, as the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) will ensure that the matter is appealed to the Court of Appeal,\u2019 where there are more favourable judges\u2019 who will preside over the appeal and overturn the judgment of Kebonang J.\u201d \u201cThis shocking statement by Hon. Molao was made in the presence of other members of Parliament including a BPF MP,\u201d said Re Reatile said: \u201cHonourable Chief Justice, the judiciary is the last line of defense in our constitutional democracy and it must be protected from political interference\u201d adding that \u201cIt is disturbing that a member of Cabinet can label some judges of the Court of Appeal as \u201cmore favourable\u201d and bodily state that Mr. Butale\u2019s appeal will succeed before the Court of Appeal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the BPF, we plead with your office to investigate these serious allegations of political interference in the judiciary. Nothing short of a formal investigation will suffice,\u201d said Reatile.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Botswana<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. State President Minister Kabo Morwaeng and Minister of Agriculture Fidelis Molao are facing investigations by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) over their alleged interference in the judiciary. Also facing a probe by the JSC is Lobatse High Court Judge, Justice Michael Motlhabi. According to a letter by the Botswana Parotic Front (BPF) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":32647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-32649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-botswana","tag-botswana"],"yoast_head":"\nMinisters Molao, Morwaeng face JSC probe - Botswana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"State President Minister Kabo Morwaeng and Minister of Agriculture Fidelis Molao are facing investigations by the Jud ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/ministers-molao-morwaeng-face-jsc-probe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ministers Molao, Morwaeng face JSC probe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"State President Minister Kabo Morwaeng and Minister of Agriculture Fidelis Molao are facing investigations by the Jud ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/ministers-molao-morwaeng-face-jsc-probe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Botswana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-17T16:11:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2023\/08\/sm_1692269809.789532.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/ministers-molao-morwaeng-face-jsc-probe#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/ministers-molao-morwaeng-face-jsc-probe\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Ministers Molao, Morwaeng face JSC probe\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-17T16:11:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/ministers-molao-morwaeng-face-jsc-probe\"},\"wordCount\":623,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/ministers-molao-morwaeng-face-jsc-probe#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2023\/08\/sm_1692269809.789532.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Botswana\",\"Botswana\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/ministers-molao-morwaeng-face-jsc-probe#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/ministers-molao-morwaeng-face-jsc-probe\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/ministers-molao-morwaeng-face-jsc-probe\",\"name\":\"Ministers Molao, Morwaeng face JSC probe - 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