12 Dec 2019

 Botswana is overwhelmed with demands for constitutional reform, National Assembly Speaker Phandu Skelemani.

 Speaking in a meeting with French ambassador to Botswana, Ms Laurence Beau at the National Assembly on December 10, said legislators were taking advantage of ongoing debates on President Dr Masisi’s State-of-the-Nation-Address to point out sections they wanted reviewed.

He pointed out that one prominent issue was that of upgrading sub districts into fully fledged districts.

Mr Skelemani said caution must be exercised to avoid changes that were likely to destroy the fabric that binds Botswana’s diverse tribes. 

“The constitution is the sole piece of legislation that defines our nations and binds it together, and therefore whatever changes are made, they must serve the interests of all.

I believe that we must sit down, even though I am of the view that we must not fix what is not broken and do away with any arrangement that does not bring our people together,” said Skelemani.

Mr Skelemani pointed out that citizens of this country identified themselves as Batswana even though Botswana was a melting pot of cultures.

“Our relations as a people are not aligned to our tribal territories, we are a united people and whatever we do is for the benefit of all. The same applies to how we relate with other nations, we are open to everyone who shares a common vision with us,” said Mr Skelemani.

He informed the French ambassador that one of the notable changes in Botswana’s history was the abolishment of tribal territories. 

Mr Skelemani said citizens were not confined by tribal boundaries and could apply for a piece of land anywhere in the country. 

  He expressed the hope that the relationship between France and Botswana would go a long way in addressing social ills among them gender based violence.  

Mr Skelemani said it was unfortunate that every minute, a woman or a girl child was abused.

Saying he wondered where the brutality emanated from, Mr Skelemani said the family structure might have faltered in the upbringing of the boy child noting that men were the main perpetrators of violence in general.

He appealed to the nation to support efforts made by women in condemning gender based violence.

”I believe we must start at home and teach the boy child, that a girl child is not a servant,” he said.

He said Botswana could learn a lot from France in addressing gender based violence.

Mr Skelemani noted that women were also heavily affected by issues of rape with some brutally murdered in the process. 

He said even though some quarters of society, human rights organisations and other nations condemned Botswana’s stance on death penalty, it was disheartening to note the continued brutal criminal acts leading to loss of life. 

Mr Skelemani said toddlers, young girls and elderly women were exposed to inhumane criminal acts and therefore appealed to the French ambassador to extend a helping hand by assisting with programmes to build positive morals in society.

Mr Skelemani observed that France’s relationship with Africa had greatly improved.

“In the past, I used to believe that France was more concentrated on Western Africa but had since noted that it was committed to serving the whole continent,” he said. 

On Botswana-France relations, he said the relationship had yielded some positives and therefore must be nurtured and grown. 

Mr Skelemani noted that French was an international language and that teaching it to children at a tender age gave them an advantage to penetrate the global employment market with ease.

He said Botswana Vaccine Institute, which provided veterinary services to the SADC region, was one of the facilities established under the tutelage of France.

Meanwhile, Ms Beau has said her country had long standing relations with Botswana which had led to collaboration on a number of issues including defence and security and teaching of the French language.

The two nations were engaged on new collaborations relating to women empowerment, gender based violence and archaeological research, she revealed. 

Ms Beau said France intended improving relations with Botswana on security issues and dealing with challenges of cyber-crime as well as improving air police and motorbike services.

He said Parliament was also engaged in some mutual relations with France.

“In 2017, we invited the Botswana Parliament to visit their counterparts in France and therefore was hopeful that the visit would materialise,” he said.

Ms Beau also touched on the upcoming Africa/France summit billed for June 4 – 6 next year in Boudreaux. 

She said the summit, which  would focus on challenges of African countries and France, would be held alongside a trade fair where 1 000 African entrepreneurs would participate.

For the first time, France would engage in programmes focusing on the development of youth in Africa and in the diaspora, she said. 

She concurred with Mr Skelemani that culture was an important component of a nation as it bound its people together. 

About French, she said teaching the language in Botswana would improve the country’s relations with four French speaking nations in southern Africa. Ends