Diba Diba, a manager at Stanbic bank upon hearing that this former boss, Mr Motumise has not been appointed a judge and that the law society intends to bring review proceeding against the President and the Judicial Service Commission, writes in an email copied to members of the Law Society as follows, “this is a farce. How can any sane person reject Motumise (and here I remember Komboni as well) when so much dross has been appointed to the bench?! Good going LSB, we need the position of the law clarified.”
To impute that the President may not be of sound mind because he has rejected the Judicial Service
Commission’s (JSC) recommendation is an insult of the highest order. To refer to judges as “dross”, is to debase the judiciary. I am not sure whether Mr Diba is competent to pronounce judges as “scums or inferior” as this is the meaning attached to the word dross.┬á In my 25 years of legal practice I have never seen such insults being paddled and directed at the judiciary. Mr Diba’s comments should be directed not at the President or our Honourable Judges but to the Judicial Service Commission itself (JSC)
To comment of the intended action by the Law Society, I for one do support that the public institutions should be held accountable but I do not agree with the manner in which the Law Society conducts itself. The conduct of the Law Society, observed over time, has come to undermine the very institution. It is for this reason that members hardly participate in its activities as it has a credibility problem. If the truth be told, the Law Society has become a political structure or organ rather than an impartial regulatory body. In the process, it threatens the integrity of the judiciary and public confidence and support that comes with it.
Long before the JSC met to consider and interview prospective candidates for the positions of Judge, it was an open secret that the JSC had approached certain individuals to make themselves available for appointment. In fact, it was known that Mr Motumise was the preferred candidate and it came as no surprise to us when we heard that he had been recommended for appointment and will be serving here in Francistown. I personally have no doubt about Mr Motumise’s abilities. What I have found shocking was the coming to pass or confirmation of the rumour that started circulating in December 2014 that the Chief Justice or JSC intended to appoint Mr Motumise a judge.┬á I had initially dismissed the rumour and it is for this reason that unlike the Law Society, I have mixed feelings about Mr Motumise’s appointment.┬á This is not because I do not consider him to be worthy of appointment but for me the credibility of the JSC has become suspect. I do not know whether judicial interviews are meant to get the best candidates or are merely a window dressing exercise intended to address regional, ethnic and tribal imbalances in the judiciary. The JSC needs to assure us that this is not so. I am also not sure with the JSC lobbies or Mr Motumise’s case is a special one. If it is a special one, why is it so?
One wonders whether it is also true that the JSC had lobbied the Law Society to ensure that Mr Motumise’s appointment was carried through and that the Law Society gave such an undertaking. Why would the JSC seek to extract an undertaking from the Law Society of such a nature unless there was something fishy going on?
Should we dismiss this as another rumour?  The coincidence is just too great to ignore. A friend of mine told me that the Chief Justice was recently heard as saying it was Mr Motumise or no other candidate for appointment. Could the envisaged proceedings by the Law Society have the overt blessing of the Chief Justice and by extension the JSC? Is it not time that interviews for judicial appointments were openly conducted and clear assessment criteria developed? As things currently stand, the JSC entire process is really a sham and lacks credibility.  It is a process that is hijacked by the Chief Justice and muddled by his prejudices and insecurities.
Other members of the JSC seem to have no say but are happily going along with the fraud. Should the President be expected to endorse this? Certainly not in my books. I say to the Law Society, lets argue for the disbandment of the JSC period!
 
Concerned Senior Attorney
Francistown
