13 Mar 2022

Week six of the ongoing consultations by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the review of the constitution meetings has been described as a mixed bag of ideas. 

Last week’s meetings took the Presidential Commission to five villages namely; Mabule, Tlhareseleele, Mochudi, Bokaa as well as Mmathubudukwane where Batswana from different walks of life voiced out their views on the direction they want the supreme law of the land to take Head of the commission’s secretariat, Ms Pearl Ramokoka said in an interview last Friday that a number of cross-cutting issues emerged among them; the calls for absolute autonomy of merafe; dual citizenship; and amendment of Section 33 subsection 1 (a) so that only an indigenous Motswana) can be elected as President; systematic protection of property for Batswana living in border villages; the right to own land at age 16 as well as the right to education.

“Batswana were also of the view that the government should be held liable for the well being of the unemployed and provide unemployment allowance to cushion them from poverty,” she said. 

She said further, that various speakers were of the view that the law was silent in relation to the inheritance of children adopted through marriage in the event of the death of one of the parents. Those who sponsored the proposal wanted the law to be well-defined on the matter to protect such children to make sure they also got inheritance due to them. 

She said also that the issue of freedom of religion, belief as well as worship was another that Batswana wanted to be clearly defined in the constitution of the land. 

They felt Section 10 subsection one, which speaks to the protection of freedom of assembly and association fell short as it was premised only on freedom of assembly and association. 

According to Ms Ramokoka Batswana also wanted customary marriage to be accorded the same recogntion “Ba re ba batla e nna lenyalo la motia hela jaaka motho a nyetse ka ga molaodi. 

Go seka ga nna ekete ga ha o ntsheditswe bogadi lenyalo la gago le ko tlase gona le ha o nyetse kgotsa o nyetswe ko ga molaodi,” she said. 

Some, she said, wanted the constitution to allow polygamous marriages while others called for same-sex marriages; something she said was resisted especially by those who held a conservative point of view. 

Those who were opposed to the idea posited same-sex marriage was not only a wrong before God, but was also a complete deviation from Setswana culture. 

Focusing on Kgatleng, Ms Ramokoka said there were suggestions from some who felt their land should not form part of Botswana saying it was never part of Botswana, a point she stated was dismissed by others. 

She said the reception accorded to the commission by the Bakgatla tribal authorities and tribesmen and women was cordial and well within the confines of the Setswana decorum.

On others, Ms Ramokoka was happy with the level of response in respect to submissions through emails and letters written to the commission. 

She took solace in the fact that Batswana from places that the commission was not going to be able to reach due to time constraints had taken the initiative to use all available avenues to make sure that their voices were heard on the matter; something that she stated would help amplify and solidify the views of Batswana in the review exercise. 

Ms Ramokoka expressed her delight at the fact that fresh and very good ideas continued to come up at every meeting and that Batswana had been on point in as far as constitutional matters were concerned. Ends