African judge to handle cases involving State

By DAPHNE WANI
THE first African to serve as a judge of the National and Supreme courts in Waigani will deal with cases involving the State, says Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia.
Justice Sir Salamo said Justice Oagile Bethuel Key Dingake had wide experience in civil matters and he would help in claims against the State with Justice Hitelai Polume-Kiele.
Dingake comes from Bobonong in Botswana and also has international court experience in human rights.
Dingake holds an honorary in law and is a professor of law at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.
Dingake has over 15 years’ experience and was serving as the judge of the Residual Special Court of Sierra Leone in Hague and in Freetown at the time of his appointment to PNG in November.
“ The court is an international tribunal set up by the government of Sierra Leone to preside over grave violations of international humanitarian law following the civil war that took place in that country in the 1990s,” Dingake said.
He said he was interested in PNG after reading some judgments from the country and found much of the decisions persuasive and aligned to his interest.
He practised law in Botswana and also was a lecturer at the University of Botswana for several years before he was appointed a judge of the High Court in Botswana in 2005.
Justice Dingake’s wife Tshimologo told The National that the appointment was a reward for the hard work and commitment of her husband.
“I have known him to be consistent in one thing and that is human rights and the cases speak of that,” she said.
“I believe he can deliver and he is one person who is very courageous and very consistent at all times.”
Meanwhile, National Judicial Service Commission chairman Davis Steven, who is also the minister for Justice and Attorney-General, said in a statement that Dingake’s appointment was timely since the Government was considering establishing a Human Rights Commission in the country.