Our History

The office of Attorney General has its origin in the pre-independence era when Botswana was known as the Bechuanaland Protectorate under British rule. Prior to the establishment of the office of Attorney General for the High Commission Territories, the rights, powers, functions and duties relating to the prosecution of crimes and offences committed within the Bechuanaland Protectorate were vested in the Attorney General of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope. In 1891 the office of Crown Prosecutor for Bechuanaland Protectorate was established and those rights, powers, functions and duties were transferred to that officer, who was appointed by the High Commissioner.

The Office of Attorney General for the High Commission Territories was created by Proclamation No. 29 of 1935 and thereafter the prosecution of crimes and offences committed within the Protectorate was transferred from the Crown Prosecutor for the Bechuanaland Protectorate to the Attorney General.

The appointment and removal of the Attorney General then rested with the High Commissioner, who appointed Mr. Cyril Tennant Blakeway as the first Attorney General for the High Commission Territories with effect from 1st May 1935. Mr. Blakeway was appointed on a part-time basis and he acted whenever there were criminal cases to be handled.

During the colonial era the office of the Attorney-General was based in Mafikeng, South Africa, then the home of the colonial administration but by 1965 the office had moved to the present day capital of the Republic of Botswana, then known as Gaberones.

When Bechuanaland gained its independence from Great Britain on the 30th September 1966, the office of the Attorney-General was established by section 51 of the Constitution of Botswana in terms of which the role of the Attorney–General is that of principal legal adviser to Government. At the time the issue of separating the prosecution function from the Attorney General was considered but in the end it was decided to keep it under the Attorney General because there were few lawyers in the country to fill both offices. Until the 2005 constitutional amendments following the restructuring of the Attorney General’s Chambers, the powers of the Attorney General included the prosecution of criminal cases at the public instance.

Prior to the restructuring of the Department in 2004/05, the Attorney General’s mandate of principal legal adviser to Government was performed through the following seven (7) divisions:
 

1. Civil Litigation Division: responsible for all civil actions by and against the Government of Botswana, including provision of legal services upon request on a case by case basis to government ministries, departments, Town Councils, District Councils and Land Boards in cases of public interest.
2. Prosecutions Division: To prosecute all criminal cases before all courts of the land, to handle criminal applications and appeals arising from criminal litigation. In addition, the Division offered legal advice on criminal matters, International Cooperation in the form of Extradition of Criminals and mutual legal assistance.
3. Legislative Drafting Division: responsible for the drafting of legislation such as bills and subsidiary legislation, the preparation of annual bound volumes of Botswana Statute Laws, revision and consolidation of the Laws of Botswana, as well as the editing and publishing of the Botswana Law Reports.
4. General Division: responsible for providing Government with legal services relating to international and commercial matters, which included the negotiation and drafting of international and commercial agreements as well as legal services relating to the implementation of those agreements.
5. Lands Division: responsible for the preparation and drawing up of conveyancing instruments for the acquisition and disposition of real rights in land on behalf of Government. This is a function delegated by the President under the State Land Act.
6. Deeds Registry: responsible for the examination, registration and safe custody of all land related Deeds, Leases, Bonds, instruments under the Married Persons’ Property Act and for notarially executed documents. The functions and powers of the Register of Deeds are derived from the Deeds Registry Act [3] in terms of which the Registrar makes independent decisions. The location of the Registry under the Attorney General was only historical and without statutory basis.
7. Management Administration Support Division: responsible for the coordination and management of a wide range of departmental resources and support services.

In 2004-5 the Attorney-General’s Chambers embarked on a restructuring exercise which re-examined the role and functions of the Attorney General with a view to improving service delivery by, among other things, shedding some of the functions that were not regarded as core business. The major outcomes of the re-structuring were:-
 

1. The transfer of the Lands and Deeds Registry divisions to the Ministry of Lands and Housing;
2. The transfer of the Law Reporting function to Administration of Justice;
3. The creation of the office of Director Public Prosecutions. This was a major constitutional reform that transferred the powers to prosecute from the Attorney General and conferred them in the Director of Public Prosecutions. Consequential amendments to not less than 33 (thirty-three) related statutes were made to give effect to the above mentioned changes.
4. The Attorney General was relieved of serving as an ex officio MP and a position of Parliamentary Counsel, was created who is not a Member of Parliament, but acts as Legal Adviser to Parliament.

The Civil Litigation, Legislative Drafting and General Divisions were not significantly affected by the restructuring, except for the renaming of the General Division as International and Commercial Division and the changing of the nomenclature of the positions of the divisional heads.

The post–independence Attorneys General for Botswana include the following -

1. Mr. Alan George Tillbury (1961 - 1969)
2. Mr. Moleleki Didwell Mokama, the first Motswana Attorney General (1969 - 1991)
3. Mr. Phandu Tombola Chaha Skelemani (1992 - 2003)
4. Mr. Ian Stuart Kirby (2003 - 2005)
5. Dr. Athaliah Lesiba Molokomme, the first woman Attorney General for Botswana (2005 – 2016)
6. Adv. Abraham Merryweather Keetshabe (2017 to date)