22 Mar 2022

Having a portrait of every sitting president on the P10 note is unnecessary waste of the taxpayer’s money and a burden to the economy. 

A Pandamatenga resident, Mr Justice Shamukuni said Tuesday when making submissions before the Presidential Commission of Enquiry on Review of the Constitution that there was nothing wrong with the country’s currency carrying only the portrait of its founding president. 

“Mafatshe a mangwe jaaka bo-Amerika, bo-Abraham Lincoln ba ntse ba mo mading a one. Nna ne ke re se se ka diragalang botoka, Tautona ene wa ntlha yo o re neetseng boipuso a sale a le mo mading. Re dirisa madi a mantsi go tsenya ditlhogo tsa botautona mo mading,” he said, meaning countries like the US only had president Lincoln on their five dollar note, even though there had been many other presidents after him. 

To that end, he proposed only the first President, Sir Seretse Khama’s portrait should go on the note.

 On the conduct of elections, Mr Shamukuni requested that the law should provide for the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to carry the sole mandate of administering elections. 

The electoral body, he argued, should be the one determining the date of the general elections, and not the president as was the case. 

Calling for the revocation of dikgosi's membership of Village Development Committees (VDCs), another resident Mr Baithamaki Shangu observed that doing so would spur developments on as dikgosi were at times a hindrance to the work of the committees. 

He said being the highest authority that the VDC in any village was enjoined to consult before it could implement its decisions, the kgosi could veto the VDC, and thereby impede developments. 

Calling for equal recognition of all people, Ms Doreen Luckson said the current situation where some tribes were recognised better than others could drive to extinction the cultures of others. Ms Luckson told the commission that Botswana’s recognition of eight tribes as major, contradicted the country’s founding president's assertion that culture carried the soul of any nation. 

“Jaanong fa re seo mo merafeng e e robangbobedi e, re tlaa nna jang le ngwao ka gore re a go inyatsa!” she wondered. 

On an unrelated issue, she pleaded for the setting up of a ministry for People with Disability (PWD) saying presently the assistance they were receiving was uncoordinated. 

Mr Mpho Stanley similarly called for the recognition of all tribes saying it was what the constitution ought to do to give them respect due to them. 

He said the unspecified tribes were of the view that their status as Batswana was looked upon with contempt. 

Kgosi Rebecca Banika of Pandamatenga prefaced her remarks by requesting that the constitution be translated into Setswana and that its English version be simplified for easier comprehension by ordinary people. 

Likening the constitution to a mirror, she observed that it should be presented in a manner that allowed the nation to clearly see its reflection on it. 

Kgosi Banika contended that the current situation where dikgosi operated under two separate ministries caused confusion and did not serve any purpose. 

She observed that whereas at village level dikgosi operated under the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Ntlo ya Dikgosi was under Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration. 

She added that the re-enactment of the Citizenship Act had further disempowered dikgosi by omitting them from the list of people who could act as sponsors for people seeking citizenship. “Fa go tla mo go kgosi, molao wa re ga a kake a supela motho yo o batlang boagedi, fa e se fela a tlhomilwe ke tona. Molao o o rontsha kgosi boikarabelo jwa gagwe mo motseng wa gagwe,” she complained. 

Appealing for the law to also properly recognise dikgosi and clearly spell out their roles, Kgosi Banika expressed discomfort at the fact that while Section 18 of Bogosi Act gave dikgosi the responsibility to facilitate the integration of those wishing to settle within their communities, it was disconcerting that the law did not attach much significance to bogosi as an institution. BOPA