16 Jul 2019

Chapter II of the country’s Constitution should be amended in order to make provision for inclusion of a clause to incorporate economic, social and cultural rights (ESCRs).

Presenting a motion in Parliament that requests government to expand the Bill of Rights in the Constitution of the Republic of Botswana to include socio-economic and cultural rights so as to ensure justifiability of such rights on Friday, Member of Parliament for Gaborone Central, Dr Phenyo Butale said ESCRs sought to ensure the dignity of human beings.

He said Botswana was one of the most stable democracies in the African continent and also a respected member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), yet its Constitution was many years behind its regional peers.

Having attained independence in the 1960s and considered a middle income economy by various international classifications, Dr Butale noted that the country never experienced turbulence associated with several African countries.

Therefore, he said Botswana must address expectations of its citizens with respect to the economic, social and cultural rights expectations of its citizens.

Dr Butale indicated that the ideals espoused by the covenant on ESCRs were in line with the founding values of the Batswana state.

Although Botswana had been striving through policy, legislative and other measures to progressively realize ESCRs identified by the covenant, Dr Butale said Botswana was failing to take lead as one of the middle income countries by not being signatory to the covenant and excluding ESCRs in the Constitution.

Several bodies, which Botswana is a member and a party state to such as African Union (AU), African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR), and the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of UN, have incorporated ESCRs as part of their charter. Therefore, Dr Butale said consequently it would only make sense for Botswana to incorporate the ESCRs into the Constitution.

Furthermore, he noted that rights which were considered within the scope of ESCRs include the right to health, water, housing and shelter, food, safe and healthy working conditions, fair wages, equal pay for equal work, the right to form trade unions, social security and others. He emphasized that although it was common that various statutes in Botswana already regulate these matters, they however should be made Constitutional Rights.

Dr Butale further stressed that ESCRs must find expression in the Constitution in order to attain the importance that they deserved.

He said this would ensure protection, fulfilment and progressive realization, as the fundamental rights that were expressly provided for by the Constitution were the civil and political rights as outlined. Ends