12 Dec 2017

Minister for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration, Mr Eric Molale says the petitioning of the Chief Justice by the 12 High Court judges made no reference to President  Lt Gen. Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama except in the opening paragraph where they mentioned that the President opened the judicial conference in Mahalapye in July 2015.

Responding to a question in Parliament from Selebi-Phikwe West Member of Parliament (MP) Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse, minister  Molale said the apologies by the four High Court judges were directed at President Khama and not the Chief Justice.

“However, as head of the judiciary, the Chief Justice was only informed through a copy and the Chief Justice was not party to the settlement between the President and the four  High Court judges,” he said.

Mr Molale further said the Executive never negotiated any settlement on behalf of the Chief Justice, neither did it accept any apology on his behalf.

He said his ministry was not aware of any apology to the Chief Justice and therefore he would not know of any acceptance or non-acceptance thereof.

Mr Molale noted that the Minister of Defence, Justice and Security and himself had previously had to and continue to field questions by Mr Keorapetse concerning the matter of the petitioning of the Chief Justice by some judges of the High Court and the Tribunal which was set up and subsequently dissolved.

He said he was curious as to what special interest Mr Keorapetse had on the issue.

Mr Keorapetse had asked the minister to explain on the pardoning of the then four suspended judges by President Khama or their apology.

He wanted to know if in the petition filed by the 12 judges of the High Court in 2015 directed at the Chief Justice, there was any reference to President Khama and/or the Executive.

He also wanted to know whether the apology was therefore made to the President or Chief Justice, if the Chief Justice was a party to the settlement reached between the Executive and the four judges, if not, on what authority did the Executive negotiate settlement on behalf of the Chief Justice vis-à-vis the apology and whether the Chief Justice had accepted the apology. BOPA