16 Apr 2018

Attorney General, Advocate Abraham Keetshabe has decried lack of security for prosecutors in courts.

Speaking at the Attorney General’s Chambers Pitso in Gaborone on April 16 , Advocate Keetshabe said the security of prosecutors in courts was one of the serious challenges currently facing his Chambers.

He explained that more and more prosecutors were in tight spot because of the security and sensitivity of their work against people whom they took to court for prosecution.

He hinted that persistently, prosecutors continued to be assaulted by accused persons and little was being done to protect them against these perpetrators.

However, Advocate Keetshabe said he had engaged with other stakeholders to see how the problem could be addressed.

He said the other problem was the slow rate of the disposal of cases that affected the backlog eradication, adding that such was exacerbated by the insufficient instructions from government ministries and departments.

He also said lack of Government Legislative Programme (GLP) had also affected the drafting of Bills, adding that GLP would guide the AGC with the direction for drafting of Bills.

He said the other problem was the frequent transfer of magistrates at short intervals from one station to another, which caused delay in completion of cases. Advocate Keetshabe said that staff turn-over was also another problem bedevilling the institution and had now became a calamity.

He said he was working round the clock with government to retain experienced lawyers, adding that this would address the problem of shortage of skilled manpower coupled with inadequate number of litigators due to manpower ceiling and ever increasing litigations.

Advocate Keetshabe however, said the AGC had made a significant number of achievements such as developing and implementing the backlog eradication strategic plan for criminal cases.

He said the Chambers had been able to set up a fully-fledged backlog eradication unit in order to address the backlog of cases.

“The Attorney General’s Chambers has established a number of units under its ambit and formulated appropriate legislation with a view to addressing various challenges,” he added.

However, he implored employees of the Attorney General’s Chambers to work hard on their core mandates, which currently stands at 61 perc ent while public finance management is at 67 per cent.

He also said the Attorney General’s Chambers should be the leader in the area of anti-corruption, which stood at 66 per cent.

He also briefed participants on the strategic plan, which is aligned to the National Development Plan 11 and Vision 2036.

Meanwhile, the director of Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mr Stephen Tiroyakgosi said DPP had managed to conclude 1 545 cases in the financial year 2017/18 with a total number of 1 743 dockets concluded in the same period.

He said the Directorate also dealt with a total of 3 288 files in the same financial year while a total of 3 059 were still pending.

Mr Tiroyakgosi explained that the Directorate also had a backlog eradication strategy and backlog action plan, adding that the institution had set up a backlog eradication unit in Gaborone, where backlog was grave.

He said efforts to reduce backlog would generate more results once the Administration of Justice set up Special Backlog Courts (SBC), adding that DPP had compiled data on all backlog cases registered at court in and around Gaborone and submitted data to the Administration of Justice for verification and advice on fast-tracking of such cases.

He said the directorate had also established a Code of Conduct for staff, which include dress code and courtroom etiquette ‘So that at the end of the day we have a wholesome prosecutor to present the case’.

The Pitso was attended by staff from the Attorney General’s Chambers, Ombudsman, District Commissioners and DPP. ENDS