12 Apr 2022

While the government has made efforts to build schools for People with disability (PWD) it can still do more, says Ms Uaseuati Mbajara of Tsau.

She was making submissions to the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Review of the Constitution on Saturday.

She said the constitution should henceforth compel the government to build specialised schools and hospitals for PWD.

“Kene ke ka eletsa gore go nne ka fa molaong go bo go papamale gore go nne le dikole le dipatela tse di lebaganeng ba-na-le-bogole, di na le matlo a bonno. Gona le dikolo dingwe tse go tweng ke tsa ba-na-le-bogole mme ga go a lekana,”she said.

Ms Mbajara, herself living with a disability, went further to call for a Ministry for PWD that would focus on their plight.

The ministry, she said, should be headed by a person with disability as he or she would understand their concerns. She said it was disappointing that government buildings remained inaccessible to PWD, adding the constitution should compel the government to provide access for them.

Ms Mbajara also suggested that the constitution should provide for payment of an allowance to caregivers of PWD. Ms Tsholofelo Senyama’s primary concern was that Bank of Botswana changed the portrait on the P10 note every time there was a new head of state. She suggested that a national symbol should instead be used to save costs that came with introducing a new note.

On women’s representation, Ms Senyama said the constitution should spell out in clear terms a special quota for women in all positions of authority including in council and parliament.

“Mo gongwe gape re eletsa gore setlankana sa matsalo a ngwana se tle se na le karolo ya gore ngwana yoo o abetswe lefatshe le e tlaa reng ha a hatlhoga a le dirise,”she said, meaning children should be allocated land from the time they were born.

Former area MP, Mr Thato Kwerepe suggested the constitution should bar sale of plots. He said reckless sale of plots benefitted the rich, leaving the poor worse off. He called on government to facilitate people to build houses as a way of stopping the problem.

On other issues, Mr Kwerepe argued that land boards should not deny children the right to inherit their parent’s spots in waiting lists, as they or the surviving spouse were naturally the rightful heirs to the estates of the departed. Mr Kwerepe also said the law should allow for dual citizenship.

Mr Carlson Kenosi said he wanted the law to protect suspects from abuse by the police. A suspect, he said, should be treated with respect and dignity which included being placed in a clean cell.

He complained that suspects were often placed in very dirty cells. Tender evaluation at government departments was one area that did not sit well with Mr Kenosi, who suggested that the constitution should remove public officers from tender committees.

Mr Kenosi also called for whipping on the bare back of offender to arrest spiralling crime.

Earlier Kgosi Gaetilwe Keatlhotswe had requested that dikgosi should be given more powers to deal with increasing lawlessness. He argued that dikgosi decisively dealt with lawlessness displayed by Maun’s notorious “MaWestern’’ and later “Satanists” gangs. Given the power, dikgosi would employ the same strategy to deal with growing numbers of criminals. ENDS