27 Jun 2018

Legal aid Botswana Chief legal aid counsel, Mr Langwane Langwane has told Ghanzi district council that his employer wants to establish an office in Ghanzi township .

Addressing Ghanzi district council full session, Mr Langwane stated that Legal aid Botswana wished to had set up an office in Ghanzi before end of 2019.

“2019 is just a coincidence; it is not because we are going for general elections,” he explained.

He informed the council that a survey to establish if their services were relevant to Ghanzi community was underway.

Mr Langwane explained that the survey was important, citing that in the past they just established offices in Kasane and Tsabong, but at the end they found out that their services were underutilised.

He enlightened his addressees that they did not handle criminal cases, mediation cases before department of labour and adultery cases.

However, he said they make legal representation in divorce cases and added that since their establishment as a parastatal in 2015, 45 per cent of their cases were divorce cases.

He said they deal with land issue and they had successfully resolved the Ranyane land issue in the past.

Mr Langwane said in some cases besides divorce cases, they may opt for alternative dispute resolutions options.

Also, he said they do not make representation at customary court.

Mr Langwane said they represented individuals who could not afford legal costs but said they do their own mini test to determine if one was eligible.

He said as his organization was still at infant stage, they were struggling to attract and retain staff, adding that they work with the law society and they can appoint private lawyer if their attorneys were fully engaged.

Commenting on the presentation the councilors said establishment of Legal aid Botswana office in Ghanzi was a welcome development, saying that most inhabitants of Ghanzi were poor and could not afford legal bills. ENDS