The Court of Appeal has ordered the Ngwato Land Board to pay a Palapye farmer the outstanding sum of P655,407.29 for the expropriation of his farm, putting an end to a long-running legal dispute over land taken for the Morupule Coal Mine expansion. The unanimous judgment, delivered by Justice of Appeal Michael Leburu alongside Justices Leatile Dambe and Tshepho Motswagole, marks a significant win for ordinary citizens facing state-backed land acquisitions. The court emphasized that...

For three years, the body of Pitseng Gaoberekwe lay in a mortuary refrigerator, caught between the ancestral claims of his family and the legal objections of the state. When he was finally laid to rest last December on the red scrubland of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, it was not merely a burial – it was, the government now acknowledges, a turning point. In its first formal acknowledgment of the consequences of that decision, Botswana’s...

For more than a decade, the FINITE Magazine Women Appreciation Awards has handed out trophies to women across Lesotho, celebrating their contributions to business, community and profession. But Ntsepeng Tsita Tikiso, the awards’ founding architect, has grown impatient with the optics of celebration alone. “That criticism is valid when an awards programme begins and ends with presenting trophies,” she said flatly. “We have deliberately developed FWAA into a broader women’s economic empowerment platform.” Her point...

The Court of Appeal has ordered the Botswana Police Service to immediately reinstate Superintendent Christopher Molobe to his former rank, ending a decade-long legal battle that nearly destroyed the senior officer’s career. The ruling, issued on July 31, 2026, exposed what the court described as irrational decisions and serious legal errors by the nation’s top police officials. The saga began over ten years ago at the Ghanzi Police Station, where Molobe served as Station Commander,...

The legal battle between prominent Biggie Ganda Butale and the Government of Botswana has reached a crucial procedural milestone. In the latest development in the high-profile challenge against the administrative removal of sodomy laws, the Attorney General has formally approached the High Court to seek directions on how the case should proceed. A Filing Notice dated August 5, 2026, reveals that the Respondent has submitted an “Application for Directions” under Order 28 of the court...

FIA report focuses on offenses reported since 2021 Corruption has surfaced as the chief predicate offense impacting Botswana’s development finance institutions, representing P174.68 million, or roughly 87 percent, of identified criminal proceeds in recent years. These insights come from a report released by the Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA), titled “Seeing the Cracks: Understanding Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing & Proliferation Financing Risks to Secure Development Finance.” The report examines the risks of money laundering, terrorism financing,...

Prominent businessman Bakang Seretse has filed a formal complaint against retired South African Constitutional Court Judge Edwin Cameron, who currently serves on the Botswana Court of Appeal (CoA). The complaint accuses Cameron of a recurring pattern of prejudgment and the use of intemperate, personalized judicial language in cases linked to the multi-million Pula National Petroleum Fund (NPF) scandal.

In a move that threatens to upend Botswana’s agricultural landscape, two of the country’s largest beef feedlot operators have filed an urgent High Court application against the government. J S Beef and Primefast, which together account for nearly 30 percent of Botswana’s coveted European Union beef quota, charge that recent decisions by veterinary authorities have been reckless and shortsighted, pushing the industry toward collapse. The legal challenge, lodged in Gaborone’s High Court, names the Director...

A panel of the Court of Appeal, led by Judge President Tebogo Tau alongside Issac Lesetedi and retired South African Constitutional Court Judge Edwin Cameron, has mandated the immediate repayment of millions of Pula misappropriated from the National Petroleum Fund (NPF), which the court described as a critical national asset. The dispute revolves around a government claim seeking the return of P42 million, accusing Bakang Seretse and his asset management firm, Khulaco (Pty) Ltd, of...

A P70.9 million public infrastructure project, meant to deliver life-sustaining water and sanitation to Morwa West, has instead vanished into a legal black hole; described by the Court of Appeal (CoA) as a mirage that may never be realized.