President Mokgweetsi Masisi has said he will appoint the constitution review commission by mid-December this year (2021).
Delivering his fourth State of the Nation Address on Monday he said the envisaged constitutional review is a delicate and intricate process that requires careful reflection and consideration before it is embarked upon.
“I wish to emphasise that, as Batswana take part in this important national exercise, they must be free and constructive. However, the process of constitutional review has been delayed largely by the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. I will appoint Commissioners to lead the process by mid-December this year,” Masisi told the nation.
Constitutional review was one of the main objectives included in the President’s campaign manifesto in 2019. Since then, Masisi’s administration has faced criticism from the opposition for trying to adopt a piece meal approach to the review, selecting to amend strategic sections aimed at strengthening the President’s grip on power such as the floor crossing bill that restricts members of parliament from ditching their political parties.
“There are some sections of the constitution that were already on the table before we decided to carry out a holistic review which included the floor crossing bill,” Minister of Presidential Affairs Kabo Morwaeng told parliament early this year.
“We decided there are some sections within the constitution that needed urgent attention before we embark on a national consultation process for a comprehensive review of the constitution.” Morwaeng said the floor crossing bill and that of declaration of assets were crucial in insuring stability for the exercise of constitutional consultations.
Morwaeng said the process to review the Constitution will be determined by the outcome of the consultations with Batswana. “The Government envisages that such consultation will be undertaken through a Presidential Commission of Inquiry which is been considered as we speak. The Government is committed to a review of the Constitution of Botswana. That commitment appears in such documents as the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) 2019 Election Manifesto, His Excellency the President’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) of 18th November 2018, Botswana’s Vision 2036 Document, and so on and so on.”
He said it was also important to note that immediately after the current government was elected into power in November 2019, the High Court had a lot of election petitions challenging election results in 22 constituencies. Morwaeng said immediately after the completion of the petitions in February 2020, the world was hit by an outbreak of COVID-19 which the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global pandemic on 11th March 2020.
“The COVID-19 outbreak has led to a state of public emergency being declared in Botswana for a period of six months, effective 2nd April, 2020 with about three lockdowns and restrictions on movement and public gatherings. As a result, the consultation process on the review of the Constitution will be affected,” Morwaeng said at the time. “Despite these unfortunate circumstances however, Government will certainly ensure it fulfils the promises that it has made to Batswana during the elections. We can assure the whole nation that the Constitution Commission will definitely be set-up immediately when we are out of this pandemic.” He said at the time that the issuance of a commission of enquiry with clearly defined terms of reference was being considered by the government. A decision, he said, would then be made within the confines of the law. “The process to review the Constitution is a delicate one and must be handled with care. We can assure the whole nation that this is one of our promises which will definitely be done.”
