There has been a common belief, over the years, especially among the lawyers, that it is more lucrative to sue the government than the common man. This situation was given more credence this week when the Minister of Justice decried the fact that the government had lost over Frw3 billion in the last two years in damages through endless, and in most cases, simple litigations. The state attorneys blame senior officials who make arbitrary decisions without first seeking their legal opinion, thereby dragging the government into a legal minefield. In the past, state attorneys were very few and over-stretched that some court decisions were handed out in favour of litigants because government representatives were absent, or when present, poorly prepared. Many have outwitted the government not because they had rock solid cases, but because the state’s defences were weak and disorganized, a weakness many litigants preyed on. It calls for more coordination between the attorneys and heads of the different public institutions, especially now that government has announced plans to have in-house state attorneys in all public institutions, unlike in the past when all government litigations were pleaded by individuals from the ministry of justice.
