Who should pay costs?
Justice Gaolapelwe Ketlogetswe of the Lobatse High Court has withdrawn his much anticipated lawsuit against the President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi, the Judicial Service Commission and the Chief Justice Terrence Rannowane, but the parties cannot agree on who should pay the costs for the matter.
The Voice newspaper is in possession of a Court Order that states that; “The Applicant has withdrawn the complaint he filed against The President against Rannowane. That, CJ Rannowane has withdrawn the complaint he filed with the JSC against Justice Ketlogetswe”.
Furthermore, Justice Dr Godfrey Radijeng ordered that; “The parties have agreed that the application before this Court be withdrawn and that each party pay its own costs”.
However, it is the issue of costs that the litigants are still unable to agree on, and the arguments on who should pay for the costs are scheduled for a later date to be set by the court.
Ketlogetswe had approached the Gaborone High Court to challenge what he had termed, ‘interference by the Chief Justice on the independence of the judiciary’ citing the last year’s matter in which MP for Lobatse Dr Thapelo Matsheka was put in police custody on suspicions of involvement in the ritual murder of Tlotso Karema in Lobatse.
After several days of Matsheka’s detention, Justice Ketlogetswe freed the MP, but said Chief Justice Rannowane tried to influence him to act otherwise, adding that even the minister for State President Kabo Morwaeng had tried to interfere in his work by exerting unnecessary due pressure to detain Matsheka for longer than necessary Both Justice Rannowane and Morwaeng have vehemently denied the allegations, and the CJ explained that the telephone and Whatsapp conversations he had with Ketlogetswe were that of a colleague to colleague triggered by Ketlogetswe.
Rannowane lodged a complaint to the President against Ketlogetswe’s public statement saying he has put his name and the judiciary into disrepute. He called for the JSC to institute disciplinary hearings against Justice Ketlogetswe, something which was likely to result in his impeachment/removal if found guilty.
In his response the judge approached the High Court to interdict the disciplinary hearings, also challenging the composition and constitutionality of the Judicial Services Commission. One of Ketlogetswe’s arguments was that the Chief Justice cannot complain to the structure in which he is chairperson and that he was likely to be conflicted.
He had cited the President, the JSC, the Chief Justice and the Attorney General as First, second, third and fourth respondent respectively.
The parties will now lock horns on who should pay the costs of the matter and other related cases.
“Issue to be resolved by the Court is whether the agreement that each party pay its own costs absolves the Applicant from paying costs previously ordered in interlocutory applications in this matter,” states the order.
