12 Apr 2022

A Sehithwa resident Mr Gaolathiwe Keatholetswe has suggested that the death penalty should be replaced with alternative punishments.

Mr Keatholetswe told the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Review of the Constitution on Monday that capital punishment was outdated and ineffective as a crime deterrent.

He also proposed that second generation rights should be entrenched in the constitution and not be provided through policies, as the same policies were often used to violate people’s rights.

Another speaker Mr Darkie Kamunduuoo appealed for the law to recognise traditional doctors and the clergy. Arguing their work should be viewed in good light, Mr Kamunduuoo decried the fact employers disregarded sick notes provided by traditional doctors.

Mr Keidigetse Mhapha observed that Botswana being a democratic country allowed citizens to exercise and enjoy their right to associate.

To that end, he said, calls for dikgosi to either be barred from politics or disallowing their return to bogosi after political activism were a violation of their rights as citizens. Mr Mhapha also called for the protection of the rights of all marginalised sections of society.

He noted that their continued discrimination was unfortunate, and that the law should take deliberate steps to protect their rights. Mr Lwamong Pulamore on a similar note asked for Ntlo ya Dikgosi to be given the authority to oversee the work of dikgosi and that of the national assembly.

He said the institution should also be tasked with the duty to resolve bogosi conflicts instead of Minister of Local Government and Rural Development. On land rights, residents requested that children should be placed on land boards’ waiting lists at birth.

Ms Maletelo Molathiwa and a Bodibeng resident Mr Eyabi Ndjarakana said the constitution should enjoin government to avail land to each Motswana upon their attainment of the age of majority.

Earlier, Kgosi Boitiro Dithapo had spoken against the idea of dikgosi taking over the administration of land.

He said land administration was complex and should therefore be left to people with the requisite knowledge and skills. ENDS