22 Mar 2015

After being presented to Parliament for second reading by the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs Mr Edwin Batshu, the Societies amendment Bill has ignited mixed reactions amongst legislators.

Being one of the key issues that emerged when amendments to the bill were proposed, the prescribed threshold of raising the number of persons required for registering a religious society from 10 to 250 is the subject of much debate.

Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Slumber Tsogwane said the proposed amendment was a welcome development that was long overdue.

He said given the period the Act was promulgated this necessitated amendments.

Member of Parliament for Gabane-Mmankgodi, Major General Pius Mokgware said the numbers proposed would always remain a challenge. He said the reasons advanced to the amendments should reasonably be justifiable in any democratic society.

Maj. Gen Mokgware asked the House whether the proposed threshold would deter what the minister said were foreign economic missionaries.

He said the idea was only going to breed a huge number of unregistered churches and that the proposed amendments were curtailing the freedom of religion. Commenting, Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, Mr Shaw Kgathi said he consulted with his electorates who were all in agreements with the amendments.

He said some were even extreme proposing the number to be at least 350.  

Mr Kgathi, who is also MP for Bobirwa urged parliamentarians to speak views of their constituents and not their own personal opinions.

MP for Gaborone Bonnington South, Mr Ndaba Gaolathe said the provision of 250 compromised the freedom of religion.

He said it worked against, and also attacked the freedom.

He said the House would make a mistake if it presumed that a small number led to less integrity and financial dishonesty.

Mr Gaolathe said the current finest institutions started off as small institutions, adding that the demography of Botswana indicated that most people were living in settlements some with less than 20 people.

“Now, what we are saying here is that by virtue of belonging to that grouping they do not enjoy the right to freedom of forming their churches,” he asked. He pleaded with the MPs to find a solution to a problem that has seemingly divided some communities.

Nata-Gweta MP, Mr Polson Majaga said it was important to notice the role of the church in the socio-economic development of the country.

He said after a period of 43 years the minister’s request for an amendment was relevant and long overdue.

He said churches were nonprofit making organisations which were charged with bringing peace and stability to the country.

Molepolole South legislator, Dr Tlamelo Mmatli said the threshold was problematic. He said the number was too prohibitive if Botswana was yearning to have low abiding organisations such as the church. ENDS