15 Dec 2016

Some members of the civil societies in Ngamialnd have called for the establishment of an independent body of National Human Right Commission which can deal with issues of human rights effectively.
They appreciated that efforts made by government to establish the body within the office of the Ombudsman, but noted that the said office is overwhelmed.

They expressed their views after a presentation on advocacy through the universal periodic review by the Human Right Project coordinator during a seminar organised by Ngamiland Council of Non-Governmental Organisations (NCONGO).

 They complained that normally during the review, they make recommendations, but most of the time they were not implemented while some were edited.

Members emphasised the need to have an independent body, noting that the current arrangement where the mandate had been conferred to a government institution was not ideal. They said office of the Ombudsman had no powers to monitor nor take pernitive actions if there was any wrong doing or violation of rights.

They said the Ombusman was appointed by President, hence its powers were limited.

Some members called on the country to benchmark from other countries, which were a step ahead in addressing issues of human rights.  They also called for NCONGO to take the lead in making a proposal to conduct a universal periodic review on human rights issues at a district level before they could be engaged nationally.

NCONGO is the umbrella coalition that represents the voice of all the civil societies and non-governmental organisations in Ngamiland and its mandate included, among others, assisting member organisations with capacity building and training; representing them with one voice at district and national level, particularly at policy level; networking and resource mobilisation.

Women Against Rape (WAR) chief executive officer, Ms Peggy Ramaphane said the exercise would ensure everybody was reached and their voices be heard.
“We should be proactive and not wait for a team from Gaborone to do our own universal periodic review.

Let us stand up and organise ourselves,” she added.

Earlier on, Ngami Human Rights project coordinator, Ms Lame Olebile explained that as a member of Human Rights Council, Botswana was under review, noting that currently government had embarked on an exercise to consult civil societies on human rights situations in their districts.

She revealed that recently the review team from Gaborone came to Maun to engage the civil societies on issues of human rights.

She added that after  consultation, they were expected to make some recommendations, which would be consolidated with others from different districts and produce a report, which gave a clear picture of the situation in the country.

Meanwhile, Ngami Rights Project was launched last year and its main objective is to sensitise the community about human rights related issues. The project is sponsored by European Union (EU) embassy to the tune of P1.4 million and is expected to run for three consecutive years.

The project is implemented by NCONGO and its four member organisations namely Bana ba Letsatsi, Trust for Okavango Cultural and Development Initiatives TOCaDI, BOFWA and Thuso Rehabilitation Centre. ENDS