Blurring the dividing lines between the judiciary and the executive was always going to be problematic.
On a number of occasions we have had a sitting High Court Judge being moved freely from the bench to become Attorney General, which is cabinet portfolio.
And vice versa.
When people raised questions on this culture they were rudely reminded that there was nothing illegal about it; a lame, irresponsible and unaccountable way least expected in a democracy.
What is currently playing out at our judiciary is simply mind-boggling.
But it was long in coming.
We have nobody to blame but the appointing authority.
The process of appointing judges in Botswana is itself decadent ÔÇô from beginning to the end.
It makes little sense for the Chief Justice to address forum shopping without addressing the root causes responsible for judge shopping.
As any physician would attest, tackling any problem demands going right to the bottom of the root cause.
Otherwise the whole exercise becomes a smoke screen.
With regards to our judicial problems, there is no easy way out.
Any attempt at quick solutions will see us plunging deeper and deeper into the abyss..
The answer lies at appointing the right people.
Recent judicial appointments have left even some of us who have never for a day sat in a law class wondering just what the criteria were. When we asked, we were reminded that these cwere hefty constitutional matters beyond the comprehension of us the ordinary mortals.
Now it has caught up with all of us, and we see before our very eyes, chickens literally coming home to roost.
Personally I do not give a damn who the appointing authority is, as long as processes are in place to ensure that only the best find their way into the judiciary.
But as it is, time was when only the best and finest found their way into this erstwhile revered institution.
Every jack and Jill is today ever too ready to take their chances.
I could not help laughing my lungs out the other day when a well-known ruling party lawyer applied to become a charge at the same time that he was also putting in place structures and systems to contest for a parliamentary ticket. Whichever came first he would take, he seems to have been saying to himself.
Nobody in the party seemed to care. If he made it to the bench, he would become a reliable representative of the party. It is a sign of the times. As long as everybody eats, there is no big deal about it. Afterall it is now their turn to eat. The debauchery points to a culture of broken values
Thankfully the ultra ambitious lackey was rejected.
The incumbent president views the judiciary as an extension of his cabinet.
To him judges, like cabinet ministers are appointed to push a political agenda.
Those he views with suspicion like Gabriel Komboni, Lizo Ngcongco and Gabriel Rwelengera are rejected out of hand. That became clear the moment he made it clear that he would henceforth overrule the Judicial Service Commission recommendations if they did not fit into his agenda. Experience, case law and jurisprudence simply do not matter.
Knowledge of the law, we need to constantly keep reminding ourselves is not all there is to judicial responsibilities.
It also is about integrity, honesty, fairness and trustworthiness.
In his letter, the Chief Justice, Maruping Dibotelo is without doubt imputing some shades of ethical impropriety. That is the rub.
If true, we shall forever be indebted to the man.
A favorite judge of mine, Johan Krieggler once said the judiciary is made up of lawyers who are judges not sages.
He could not have been more honest.
But how do we begin to deliver ourselves to the mercy of people on whom we do not even have trust?
While stacking the bench with the president’s lackeys was on its own always going to be problematic enough, the situation went off the rails when inexperience, incompetence and outright ignorance of the law were for the first time in our history rewarded. It all of a sudden became a mix concocted in hell.
For the first time we find ourselves in a situation where every lawyer can now all of a sudden become a High Court Judge.
A more uncharitable lawyer has said our bench is fast pacing towards becoming a mickey-mouse.
He may have been exaggerating. But it nonetheless succinctly captured the heightened levels of mediocrity.
A dysfunctional judiciary is a greater threat to our rights than a dysfunctional political authority.
This is because the judiciary occupies a distinct position of being the last bulwark against erosion of our civil liberties.
And for that all of us, not just those schooled in constitutional law, should be concerned by concerned by what storm is playing out inside the hallowed halls of our judicial system.
If not immediately stemmed, the trajectory we are on will take us back decades.
The biggest and foremost casualty will inevitably be public faith.
And once lost, restoring public trust is impossible.
