EDITORIAL: Hold officials responsible for costly legal battles to account

Last week, it was announced that the Government had registered a significant reduction in the amount of money it was paying as a result of lost court petitions. According to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, the state was now losing just about 30 per cent of all legal battles compared to 70 per cent four years ago. He largely attributes this to improved skills on the part of those who advise government institutions in contractual issues as well as represent government in courts of law. And, the minister reckons, there is room for further improvement, challenging state attorneys to up their game with view to ensuring that government loses less than 20 per cent of all court cases in which it is the defendant. The minister said improved performance by those who represent government during court cases would discourage more people from dragging the government to court on flimsy grounds. This is commendable. Nonetheless, that as many as 500 cases are filed against government in courts of law every year, points to something going amiss. While just about half of these cases are disqualified with only about 250 of them taken on by the courts, it’s important that government looks into this issue more critically to avoid unnecessary litigations. Most of these cases are related to public tenders, laid-off employees and land. If these cases were handled more professionally, few people or contractors would go on to petition courts in case of any disagreements, and even if they did, they would not easily win these cases as long as public institutions observed the law while handling these issues. The Ministry of Justice should ensure that government entities that need technical support in contractual issues receive it in time to avoid costly mistakes. In addition, officials, whether at the central or local government level, that behave in a manner that lead to unnecessary legal battles involving government, let alone financial losses in court petitions, should be held accountable. As such, whoever will be acting on behalf of government in such matters will do so with a greater sense of responsibility.

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EDITORIAL: Hold officials responsible for costly legal battles to account