An aspiring Specialist Orthodontist, Bonolo Mannathoko Molefhe, was forced to wait a bit longer before she could be granted a practicing license after the Gaborone High Court dismissed her application to compel the authorities to do so.
Mannathoko Molefhe dragged the Botswana Health Professions Council before the Court challenging its refusal to register her as a specialist Orthodontist saying their decision should be declared unlawful and invalid.
She stated that upon completion of her Degree of Doctor of Surgery studies in 2009 from West Indies University (Trinidad and Tobago) in 2009, she worked as a Dentist at Princess Marina Hospital for three years until 2012.
From 2012 she enrolled for a postgraduate qualification in Clinical Stomatology in Orthodontics at the Wenzhou Medical University in China, graduating in 2015. She returned home immediately and made application to be certified Specialist Orthodontist.
BHPC rejected her application in November 2015, as she did not satisfy their requirements and proposed that she undergoes two years of supervised work after which she would be reassessed. She underwent the practical work for four years under Dr Baipusi Gulubane from 2015 to 2019.
BHPC once again rejected her application in November 2018 upon completion of supervised training of three years.
The High Court also learnt that the BHPC undertook a fact finding mission to China in 2014 and found that China did not permit non-citizens to practice there. She explained that it was due to a policy to protect the market for Chinese citizens. On the other hand BHPC argues that graduates should be able to practice in the country of their training.
During her four year supervised training she has done over 240 Orthodontist consultations and 120 braces, however medical aid companies do not cover her patients because BHPC would not register her.
In September 2019, Mannathoko Molefhe once again made a follow up on her registration status but was responded to in December 2020 with a negative response.
Justice Dr Godfrey Radijeng dismissed the application saying she has not satisfied the BHPC requirements to be granted a practicing license as a Specialist Orthodontist.
“The Applicant has not met the requirements of the law as stated by the Respondent, she has not satisfied the Respondent that she is entitled to practice in the profession she seeks registration in Botswana. I am satisfied that the Applicant on this point cannot secure the declaratory orders she seeks,” said Radijeng as she dismissed the application with costs.
He added that the Applicant’s alternative relief to sit for licensure examinations was only premised on a recommendation to a report of its benchmarking exercise, which is not a regulatory regime to sustain registration.
“It is compliance with the provisions of Section 9 of the regulatory statute that the Applicant must meet to satisfy the Council that she is qualified for registration, not training as the Applicant contends,” he said.
Mannathoko Molefhe continues to practice as a qualified dentist.
Not fair