The direct election of the President continues to dominate a raft of themes during meetings that have thus far been held by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Review of the Constitution of the country.
According to a ‘Participant Observation Report’ released by the Universal Periodic Review Non-Governmental Organisations UPR NGO Working Group which covered Gabane and Tlokweng among other villages, some Batswana have called for the overhauling of the Constitution and the Electoral Act to ensure the direct election of the President.
The UPR NGO Working Group was established in 2012. It comprises the Botswana Council of Non-Governmental Organisations (BOCONGO), DITSHWANELO – The Botswana Centre for Human Rights, Rainbow Identity Association (RIA), the Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals of Botswana (LeGaBiBo, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) and Letloa Trust. Its main aim is to monitor Botswana’s compliance with its national, regional and international human rights commitments.
According to the report, speakers informed the Commission that Batswana should be given an opportunity to elect their own President. They also said the constitutional review process should be handled by Parliament rather than the President.
Some residents also requested that an independent cabinet be appointed so that if the Ministers oppose a decision of the President they are not removed. They also called for a Constitutional Amendment Act instead of a Presidential Commission of Inquiry, as it is possible for the President to keep the results for himself (can decide to remove the points he feels does not suit them).
A speaker from the meeting mentioned that, there should be a Constitutional Court that will deal with violations of constitutional rights and human rights sections in the constitution.
Some of the common themes which emerged from the comments from both meetings are: lack of knowledge about the Constitution included land allocation, recognition and protection of the LGBTQI+, enhancing the powers of Dikgosi, inclusion of persons with disabilities, review of death penalty, retirement age concerns, discrimination against persons, independence of the IEC, Office of the Ombudsman and Human Rights Institutions recognition of all local languages and translation of the Constitution into Setswana.
Commenting on the Commission of inquiry, the UPR NGO Working Group, noted that, “Our concerns with the process which has already begun are lack of transparency and accountability.”
The Group also expressed concern at the lack of information about the Constitutional Review process itself; lack of consultations with our elected representatives and Dikgosi and the lack of information about the inclusion of civil society.
“There has been no transparency about the criteria used for selecting the members of the Constitution Review Committee. The list of members was made public on 17 December 2021. We believe there should have been transparent consultations with all of our elected representatives in Parliament, regardless of their political party affiliation, about the process to be followed for the review including the selection criteria for the members of the Committee. It said the Committee members should include those with knowledge about the basic principles of constitutional law such as human rights, the rule of law and separation of powers.
“This is because these are core to the effective functioning of our democracy,” the UPR NGO Working Group said.
The group said the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the review of the Constitution should report to an inclusive, select committee of parliament and not exclusively to the President, to ensure transparency and accountability to the people.
It said there is a lack of information about the planned process of reviewing the Constitution adding that this information about the planned process is necessary to enable public preparedness to participate meaningfully in this process.
