The Law Society of Botswana (LSB) has called for urgent accountability over the controversial P100 billion case, warning that continued defence of questionable conduct, without corrective intervention, undermines legality and public confidence
GAZETTE REPORTER
The Law Society of Botswana has demanded immediate accountability in the P100 billion case, warning that failure to address alleged misconduct threatens the rule of law and public confidence.
The appeal comes after South African media reported that Bridget Motsepe, one of the accused, filed a P68 million claim for legal costs following Botswana’s costly apology, despite many citizens believing the matter had been settled.
PUBLIC TRUST IN THE JUSTICE SYSTEM
Speaking at the opening of the 2026 legal year, Law Society Chairperson Lesedi Moahi delivered a stark assessment of recent events involving key state institutions and prominent litigations, saying the legal fraternity and wider citizenry could no longer accept silence or half‑measures.
“Public trust in the justice system depends not only on courts, but also on law‑enforcement and security agencies,” Moahi said in his address. “Recent events involving the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime and the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services have raised serious public concern.”
STOLEN P100BN
Moahi’s remarks alluded to a series of legal and political controversies that have shadowed Botswana’s justice sector in recent years. Among these is the so‑called P100 billion case, in which allegations of massive financial wrongdoing and money laundering were levelled against high‑profile figures before being dismissed as baseless by courts. The fallout from that saga, which forced a formal apology and raised questions about investigative conduct and institutional accountability, has continued to reverberate across political and legal circles.
Moahi singled out the matter involving Ambassador Bridget Motsepe as a striking example of the wider problem, noting that it “required presidential intervention and a public apology” yet “beyond that apology, however, the public has not been taken into confidence. There has been no transparent accounting of institutional failure or clarity on corrective action.”
PROLONGED SILENCE
The Law Society chair warned that “public trust cannot survive prolonged silence”, signalling that ongoing delays in explaining what went wrong or how similar episodes will be prevented in the future were untenable.
“We call for a public account of what went wrong, what remedial steps have been taken, and how recurrence will be prevented,” Moahi said, urging citizens and civil society to join in pressing for accountability.
CONTINUED DEFENCE OF QUESTIONABLE CONDUCT
Moahi did not spare the Office of the Attorney General, which he described as central to ensuring legality within government. “These obligations cannot be divorced from the Office of the Attorney General, the principal legal adviser to Government. Continued defence of questionable conduct, without corrective intervention, undermines legality and public confidence alike,” he said, underscoring the Society’s concern that legal counsel within government was sometimes perceived as shielding controversial conduct rather than correcting it.
The Law Society’s renewed push for transparency comes at a time of renewed scrutiny of the intelligence agency and its leader, following a series of questions at Ntlo ya Dikgosi by the former President Ian Khama. Khama accused the state of shielding wrongdoers.