Our Articles

AOD – An unequivocal admission of liability

An Acknowledgment of Debt according to Blacks Law Dictionary, 8^th Edition is a written document stating the recognition by a debtor of the existence of a debt commonly referred to as an “AOD”.

The said acknowledgment is an “agreement” which embodies an arrangement or understanding between or among two or more parties which purports to establish a legally binding relationship in law.

Proposed amendments to banking financial service laws in Botswana

Banking financial service laws in Botswana are proposed to be amended to comply with the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) mutual evaluation to Botswana. The banking financial service laws proposed to be amended are the Banking Act, the Proceeds and Instruments of Crime Act and the Financial Intelligence Act.

Minchin Kelly 26/07/2018 Banking Law

Cometh the hour, will your Will be done?

One hopes it doesn’t come knocking in the neighbourhood, or worse, on the door of a loved one. Death is taboo in many cultures around the world. It is not a subject to unwind over after a long day at work. This is because very rarely do we feel ready for it, even though it is an eventuality for all of us.

Minchin Kelly 26/07/2018 Family Law

The Fields Precinct

Smart Partnership Enterprises (Proprietary) Limited (“Smart”) is the proprietor of a 9.61 hectare plot located in the new Central Business District of Gaborone. The plot, which Smart acquired from the Government in October 2009, is zoned for mixed use.

Is the “Increasing Cost” clause in your Loan / Facility Agreement in accordance with the Bank of Botswana position?

Recently the Bank of Botswana (“BOB”) affirmed a position in respect of the basis upon which financial institutions licensed to provide advances, loans and credits can increase cost in terms of a concluded and operative agreement. It is usual for financial institutions to have the right to increase their costs, increasing their interest rates during the subsistence of a loan/facility agreement. However the issue is; on what basis are the financial institutions increasing the interest rate? Is it based on a monetary policy decision or is it based on markets and/or credit disruptions?

Minchin Kelly 26/07/2018 Banking Law

Landlord’s tacit hypothec – A right linked to property

Landlord’s tacit hypothec – A right linked to property

The relationship between a landlord and their tenant is not often smooth, more so when the tenant fails to pay rent. In that event, a landlord’s tacit hypothec comes into existence and remains in existence for so long as there is outstanding rental which is due and payable.

Minchin Kelly 26/07/2018 Property Law

A new broom in the form of a court of appeal decision in the Kelaleboga case has swept clean an old legal principle that ‘children born out of wedlock cannot inherit from their father’

In traditional Tswana society there was an over-emphasis on ‘marriage’ as constituting the basis of the family. Thus it was rare for a man and a woman to raise children together outside wedlock. Where a child was born outside wedlock, such a child was not recognised by the man’s family as being one of them until the parents of the child married each other. Indeed, the discrimination and plight of children whose parents were not married to one another was entrenched in our Tswana society. These children were often derogatorily referred to in Setswana as ‘bana ba dikgora’, which literally translates to ‘children of the fence’.[1]

Minchin Kelly 26/07/2018 Family Law