Botswana is concerned about the continued arrival of asylum seekers mainly from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Minister of Justice, Ronald Shamukuni told Parliament that his Ministry is committed to ensuring that Botswana admits and recognises asylum seekers who meet the requirements of the Refugees ( Recognition and Control) Act and the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.

He said close collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs and International Organisations will continue in order to “serve lasting solutions for individuals whose applications for asylum have been unsuccessful”.

Shamukuni made this statement when proposing before the Committee of Supply that his Ministry be allocated the sum of P175, 711, 521 under the recurrent budget for Organisation 2900 be approved and stand part of the Schedule of Appropriation ( 2023/ 2024) Bill, 2023 - Bill No. 4 of 2023; and the sum of P46, 805,000 for Organisation 2900 under the development budget be approved and stand part of the estimates for the financial year 2023/ 2024which was approved. But the approval was marred by controversy as most MPs from both sides of the aisle missed an opportunity to respond as their late arrival for the Thursday morning session led to a failure to form a quorum to enable the restart of the day’s procedure. The MPs would later waste a lot of time debating on whether to continue with the session citing Section 17.2 of the Standing orders that states that the Speaker should adjourn Parliament once the quorum has collapsed. During his proposal, Shamukuni said there are currently 725 refugees in Botswana compared to 933 refugee population reported in the same reporting period last year. The decline in the refugee population is attributed to the successful voluntary repatriation of refugees to their countries of origin, as well as resettlement to third host countries. “It is our plan to continually encourage refugees to return to their countries of origin whenever the situation is conducive for their return,” the Minister said. Further, that during 2023/ 2024, his Ministry will embark on several projects that will significantly ensure the safety, protection and wellbeing of refugees in Botswana. These projects and their budget requests form part of the Development Budget Estimates requested under the Ministry. According to the Minister, activities to ensure completion of these projects within time and cost have already commenced. On the Judiciary and legal services, he said the Ministry is charged with ensuring compliance with and respect for the rule of law. The ultimate objective is to ensure that Botswana is a just and law- abiding nation. Consequently, the Ministry has also established as a core function - Judicial and Legal Services, which is dedicated to facilitating Independent Departments charged with the delivery of justice. Through this function, the Ministry provides resources, policy, and strategic policy direction to Independent Departments and agencies.

In delivering quality justice delivery, it is fundamental that policy development should be evidence based. Consequently, Judicial and Legal Services in partnership with development partners such as the European Union ( EU), and United Nations Development Programme ( UNDP) has prioritised an evidence- based policy development agenda.

This is in line with national priorities and the quest for the achievement of a world class justice sector.

He said it is against this background that a review and reform of the justice system is being undertaken. This review is necessary and in line with national priorities to transform the nation. Funding has been provided through the UNDP, to engage a local consultant who is expected to provide an analysis of the current state of the justice sector and make recommendations for reform and transformation. This is necessary to enable an evidence- based transformation of the justice system.

Furthermore, there is a project on gender mainstreaming through funding provided by the European Union. This project is nearing completion and seeks to further bring improvements to the justice sector by creating a system that recognises and enforces human rights across gender considerations with a deliberate bias towards uplifting the vulnerable members of society. He said “Guidelines will be developed to capacitate officers across the justice sector, law enforcement, and investigators, social services, prosecutors, judicial officers and prisons and rehabilitation services.”

He said the Office of the Receiver in the execution of its mandate, continues to receive Court Orders for seizure of movable and immovable property determined by the courts as proceeds and instruments of crime. To date, the Office has received 42 Court Orders for seizure and return of diverse property types including money, real estate, livestock, plant and equipment, vehicles and household furniture of various descriptions. Further, as at January 2023, the total value of property under the management of the Receiver is P136, 816, 960.30. This is a decrease from P237, 077,787.74 held last year. The decrease is as a result of compliance with court orders directing the return of some of the properties under restraint.

He said the Receiver is holding confiscated funds in the amount of P2, 799,808.64 which monies are held in the Confiscated Assets Trust Fund ( CATF). The Confiscated Assets Trust Fund is a statutory fund and administered through the Confiscated Assets Trust Fund Implementation Committee.

The primary mandate of the Committee is to advise the Receiver in respect of the administration of the Fund which includes the allocation, distribution and disbursement of confiscated property.

Making proposals for both the Recurrent and Development Budget Estimates for financial year 2023/ 2024 for organisation, Shamukuni said P113, 682,940 be allocated to Headquarters. The budget allocation is mainly for the payment of salaries, outstanding salary arrears as per ruling of Court of Appeal subvention to Legal Aid Botswana; as well as payment of office rentals for the Ministry’s office accommodation and Land Tribunal office stations outside Gaborone. Further that P12, 953,720 is requested to cover maintenance of seized movable and immovable property at the Receiver’s office. He requested that an amount of P6 449 150 be approved as estimate to cover Refugee Management and welfare of victims of human trafficking and P37, 842,670 to cover salaries, allowance and other operational expenses for the Department of the Land Tribunal.

He said the development budget proposal for his Ministry is P46, 805,000. The budget is requested to execute projects under the following sum of P34, 579,000 is requested for infrastructure requirements of the Ministry, the sub projects include among others, the improvements of the Dukwi Refugee camp by carrying out the upgrading of the clinic, water supply rehabilitation; maintenance of staff houses; the construction of an access road; paving of internal roads; and the construction of conference facility at the Camp. Furthermore, the Ministry will undertake the construction of a warehouse in Gaborone for the Office of the Receiver and the establishment of Legal Aid offices in Ghanzi as well as the relocation of the Legal Aid offices in Francistown, Letlhakane, and Kasane. An additional P7, 560,000 is requested for computerisation projects, these are the development of the asset management system for the office of the Receiver to automate asset registers as well as the Legal Aid Botswana ICT infrastructure Upgrade and digitalisation.

Furthermore, the Ministry requires P4, 666, 000 to revamp its fleet for the efficient operations and discharging the Ministry mandate.