11 Mar 2020

Minister of Defence, Justice and Security Mr Kagiso Mmusi has requested over P272m and over P27m for Attorney General’s Chambers (AG’s) recurrent and development budgets respectively for 2020/2021 financial year.

Presenting his budget estimates to Parliament, Mr Mmusi indicated that the over P272m budget proposal represented an increase of over P33m. This, he said, showed a 14 per cent increase above the 2019/2020 budget of P238.8m. He however added that an amount of P182.1m had been allocated to salaries and allowances.

The budget, Mr Mmusi said, reflected a significant increase of over P20m, which he attributed to the fact that the AG’s had challenges in taking over the prosecutorial functions from the Botswana Police Service, additional mandate of the Law Reforms Unit and ever increasing demand for legislation development and review, among other functions.

He further noted that over P12m had been allocated for pensions, gratuities and compensations. An increase of P11.8m was due to a considerable number of officers whose contract term of employment would be ending in the year under review.

Under special expenditure, Mr Mmusi said over P1m had been allocated, ‘which is 50 per cent below the 2019/2020 financial provisions’.

The House heard that the decrease occurred because a new fleet had been procured in previous years and there was no need to procure additional fleet for the year under review.

Under the development budget proposal of over P27m, Mr Mmusi said P14m would go towards the construction of the Maun and Palapye Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) offices and staff houses. The refurbishment of AG’s facilities had been allocated P12m, while e-services development and implementation would receive P506 500 and P1.1m would go towards the establishment of Law Reform Unit.

Mr Mmusi indicated that a Law Reform Unit under the Legislative Drafting Division and a final draft of the Law Reform Strategy had been completed by the AG’s in collaboration with UNDP.

The establishment of a Law Reform Unit, he noted, was essential for the realisation of government’s large and complex reform projects; which underpin NDP 11 and achievement of Sustainable Development Goals.

Further, Mr Mmusi reported that AG’s continued to prioritise the drafting of legislation to effect reforms relating to Doing Business. During the 2019/2020 financial year, he stated that seven pieces of legislation were passed while nine were still being drafted.

In addition, Mr Mmusi noted that the AGC secondment initiative continued to bear fruit as ministries and departments receive in-house legal advice. He said such an initiative continued to increase the staff complement in the legal units at various ministries and departments, therefore providing in-housing legal advice within the shortest possible time and saving legal costs.

The minister stated that government would continue to intensify efforts to capacitate ministries and departments with a view to enhance both the speed and quality of on-the-spot legal services to ensure that litigation against government was minimised or avoided.

Again, he said the AG’s was in urgent need of additional human resources and improved capacity to match the increase in the high number of cases against government as well as the complexity of such cases.

Furthermore, Mr Mmusi noted that the DPP had established relations with international institutions such as Africa Prosecutions Association, International Prosecutors Association, Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network for Southern Africa and other international agencies. He pointed out that DPP had successfully held two Dipitso of Bail and the other on Stock Theft and resolutions would be consolidated in the 2020/2021 year Annual Performance Plan. ENDS