- Administration of Justice says it did not know that it was Dada’s house
- Registrar says AOJ communicated with justice ministry
TEFO PHEAGE, LAWRENCE SERETSE
After news broke that judges were vaccinated against COVID-19 at the home of the Treasurer of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), Satar Dada, the Registrar and Master of the High Court, Juliana Dube, said the Department of Administration of Justice (AOJ) did not know that the house belonged to him.
The vaccination arrangement from which ministers of state and MPs also benefited was not publicized and has triggered heavy criticism for being elitist and discriminatory.
Responding to questions from The Botswana Gazette, Dube said AOJ had formally communicated with the Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security to facilitate vaccination of judicial officers. The ministry arranged for judges aged 55 and older to be vaccinated at Dada’s house.
This publication was not able to establish if all judges who qualified under this stipulation showed up for their jabs. “The instruction as to when and where vaccinations for judicial officers would be taking place was communicated to the Administration of Justice by the Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security,” Dube said.
“We were reliably informed that the Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security engaged the Ministry of Health and Wellness requesting the Administration of Justice to provide a list of judicial officers indicating their locations, and dates of their birth, which was provided to the Ministry of Health. The AOJ was not privy to who owns the facility.”