Botswana: Access to Information Request

In 2017, the Botswana Gazette requested information from the Water Utilities Corporation relating to a report which had been commissioned on the blocking of the flow of water from the Gaborone Dam. On 22 June 2017, the applicant filed an application for an order that the respondent’s refusal to provide the requested report on the water flow into the Gaborone Dam be set aside and a declarator that the refusal to provide the report infringed on the right to access information. In response, the respondent challenged the procedure the applicant had used to bring the case, arguing that it could not seek a judicial review and constitutional declarator at the same time. The High Court on 23 November 2018, gave an interlocutory order for the applicant to amend their notice of motion accordingly. This decision is currently on appeal.