The Gaborone High Court has issued a warrant of arrest for a lawyer it deems to have been contemptuous of it.
At least at press time, the Botswana Police Service had launched a nation-wide manhunt for the lawyer, Philimon Leitshamo of Leitshamo Attorneys in Gaborone. Upon arrest, Leitshamo will be detained for seven days on contempt-of-court charges at the First Offenders’ Prison in Gaborone or at “any other prison that might accommodate him.” The warrant of arrest, which is addressed to “all police officers [and] deputy sheriffs” was issued by Justice Dr. Zein Kebonang in whose court Leitshamo appeared on November 30. What should have been a routine hearing on that date turned spectacularly unusual with Leitshamo telling the judge at one point: “My Lord, I don’t like how you deal with my matters and I want to express that view.” At the precise moment the lawyer said this, Kebonang was flanked by two recently-appointed colleagues, Justice Jennifer Dube and Boipuso Tshweneyagae, who were in his court to learn the ropes for their new assignment.
Leitshamo was representing a client in a land dispute involving the Mochudi Sub Land Board as the second defendant. The matter ended up in Kebonang’s court after the Registrar and Master of the High Court refused to grant a default judgement that Leitshamo sought through a filing notice. When the matter came before him, Kebonang said that he could not rule on the matter as there was no substantive application to consider. The notice-of-hearing from the Registrar’s office says little more than that the matter is listed for hearing before Kebonang on November 30 and that the judge shall make such orders or give directions “as he shall deem necessary to facilitate the just and expeditious disposal of the matter.”
At a point where the judge indicated that he was going to postpone the matter to enable Leitshamo time to consider an appropriate course of action, the lawyer countered by saying that that the matter was unopposed and requesting that judgement be issued. Still the judge balked, stating that it was not clear what Leitshamo expected the court to do. It was when Kebonang asked the lawyer to help unravel this riddle that the latter expressed his displeasure about “how you deal with my matters.”
Advised the he could officialise his grievance with the Chief Justice, Leitshamo responded by saying that he had no such intentions. To the next question of what sort of order he wanted the court to make, the lawyer replied, “Whatever the court wants.” As Kebonang buried his head in the case file to write that order, Leitshamo packed up his bags and left the courtroom. Upon realising what had happened when he finished writing the order, the judge said that the contempt that the lawyer had shown would not be tolerated. A court police officer (all courts are attended by two) was immediately despatched to find Leitshamo. The officer managed to locate and bring the lawyer back to the courtroom. Asked to explain his disappearance, the lawyer said that he had gone to attend another matter before Justice Michael Mothobi who is more senior to Kebonang. In the flurry of activity that characterises roll-call hearings on weekday mornings, lawyers rush hither and thither from court to court. Mothobi was appointed judge three years ago and Kebonang this year on an acting basis. The court directed Leitshamo to tender a written apology before close of business that day but he never did that.
The matter Leitshamo had come to argue on November 30 was dismissed and the focus shifted to him. Justice Kebonang put him on judicial notice to explain why he shouldn’t be held in contempt of court for his conduct and why he shouldn’t be reported to the Law Society of Botswana and the Chief Justice for “immediate sanction.” The latter matter was to be heard last Monday (exactly a week from the incident in question) but couldn’t proceed because Leitshamo didn’t show up. That resulted in Kebonang issuing the warrant of arrest that the police are still trying to execute. Issuing the warrant of arrest, Kebonang stated that lawyers “owe the court a duty of loyalty and cannot bring the court into disrepute.”
Having earlier come to court to represent a client, Leitshamo has undergone a dramatic role reversal. He is now the one in desperate need of a lawyer and Sunday Standard learns that he has indeed engaged one to make an urgent application to reverse Kebonang’s order. This would suggest that the lawyer is well aware that the police are looking for him.
More trouble may be lie farther down the road for Leitshamo. The Law Society of Botswana’s code of conduct attaches liability to unethical conduct by its members. The code says that members should “maintain the highest standards of professionalism required in the performance of their duties.” If the matter is reported the Society, it will be handled by the Disciplinary Committee which “may fine, recommend that a legal practitioner be suspended or removed from the roll of practising attorneys or advocates (i.e. prohibited from practising law).”
As far as we could establish, the last time a lawyer was cited for contempt of court and locked up was 10 years ago during a case in which Bushmen who had been forcibly relocated from the Central Kgalagadi Game Reserve were contesting the government’s decision to do so. The government was represented by Advocate Sidney Pilane who, at the time, was also Special Advisor to President Festus Mogae. Pilane found himself having to go to prison after refusing to stand up when ordered to do so by the court. Shortly thereafter, he requested adjournment and didn’t apologise for coming late when the court reconvened. Two days later, a special sitting of the High Court on a Saturday night (presided by the late Justice Moatlhodi Marumo wearing a pair of shorts and a T-shirt) rejected Pilane’s bail application. Thus it was that the man who had the president’s ear at the time served out his five-day sentence at the Gaborone First Offenders Prison.
