The High Court has ordered the ministry of labour and social security to pay the full scholarship benefits of two students accused by government of using forged award letters to secure state funding for studies in Botswana.
Judge John Magagula issued the ruling after finding that the students were never implicated in any wrongdoing and that government could not rely on the ex turpi causa non oritur actio (no action arises from a dishonourable cause) principle to escape its obligations.
The applicants, Khulekani Dlamini and Bathobile Smarty Nkomo, approached the court seeking an order compelling the ministry to pay their tuition and related expenses for the 2024/2025 academic year at the Botswana International University of Science and Technology.
Dlamini is enrolled in the BEng Mining Engineering programme, while Nkomo is pursuing BEng Chemical Engineering. In their affidavits, the students stated that they applied for government scholarships in 2024 and were awarded funding.
RELATED | MPs propose scholarships be moved from labour ministry
They attached copies of their scholarship award letters, which they said were issued directly by officials at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. According to the applicants, they were called to the ministry to collect the signed letters, which also bore the ministry’s official stamp.
The state, however, opposed the application. In an affidavit filed by the Chairperson of the Scholarship Selection Board, government denied awarding the students scholarships and accused them of relying on forged documents.
The chairperson produced a list of unsuccessful scholarship applicants for 2024, on which the two students’ names appear.
However, he did not attach the list of those who were successful, a gap noted by the court as creating uncertainty over whether the applicants’ names might appear in both lists due to administrative error.
Judge Magagula emphasised that in this case neither the applicants nor the ministry had been shown to have engaged in any illegal conduct related to the alleged forgery.
He found that a scholarship agreement is a lawful transaction, and there was no evidence implicating the students in any fraudulent activity.
The court therefore granted all the substantive relief sought by the students. It ordered the ministry to immediately pay their tuition fees and related expenses for the 2024/2025 academic year.
The ministry was further directed to continue paying the scholarship benefits as they fall due until both applicants complete their respective engineering programmes at the Botswana institution.
Costs of the application were also awarded against the government.
