09 Jun 2022

With the high divorce rate besetting the country, some people have started mulling over the idea to have contractual marriages.

One such said person is Mr Richard Monyatsi of Matsitama who sold the idea to the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the review of the constitution of Botswana  meeting in Mathangwane yesterday.

Under this type of nuptials, the two parties would have an option to either forgo the relationship or continue with it at the end of the duration of the contract, Mr Monyatsi said.

That being the case, Mr Monyatsi who spoke on behalf of the people of Matsitama conveyed however that fellow residents disdained the notion of same-sex relationships let alone marriages and should as such never find its way into the mother law.

On other issues, some people called for the abolition of the Pensions and Retirement benefits of former Presidents of Botswana Act which stipulates that retired heads of state be given both the official residence and office using taxpayers’ money.

The people of Marapong proposed through their spokesperson Ms Chenisani Motsamai that the practice must stop because it came at a hefty cost to the government.

These sentiments were echoed by the people of Semitwe who suggested that former Presidents should like any other Motswana who had at some point worked for the government use their exit packages to build houses for themselves.

A representative for Semitwe Mr Baathudi Monyatsi hauled over the coals the current system of selecting members of Ntlo ya dikgosi saying the system was discriminating and divisive.

“A molao-motheo o dire gore merafe yotlhe e e mo lefatsheng la Botswana e na le kemedi kwa Ntlong ya dikgosi,”he said.

Still, on the same issue, Mr Gwabuya Puluweni of Nshakashokwe called for the cancellations of Sections 76, 77 and 79 and that the idea to have some tribes reckoned as superior over others must come to an end.

“A kgaolo ya Legare e kgaoganngwe go dirwe kgaolo ya Bokalanga le lekgotla la kabo ditsha le le feletseng la Bokalanga,” Mr Puluweni relayed on behalf of the people of Nshakashokwe meaning it was the desire of fellow residents to have the Central district split to set up Bokalanga district that will also have a fully-fledged land board.

Earlier on, Kgosi Shathani Kgakanyane of Sebina had also cast aspersions on the current composition of Ntlo ya dikgosi saying it was not representative of all the tribes found in Botswana and that it was bereft of equality.

Like many Batswana who feel dikgosi should not be allowed to meddle into politics, Kgosi Kgabanyane proposed for the establishment of a law that will criminalise the practice.

She said the same treatment should be accorded some dikgosi with the tendency to incite others on political matters.

Besides sharing most of the views of other speakers among others; the direct election of the president, reinstatement of corporal punishment, the upholding of the death penalty as well as the prosecution of stock theft cases at the kgotla only, Mr Enoch Jebula of Marobela submitted that the constitution should be reviewed every 25 years.

Gibson Nthubu was not happy with the idea to have Chief Representative for longer in the area and suggested that Bokalanga should also have a substantive Kgosi-kgolo as a figurehead as was the case in other tribes.

Another speaker, Mr Joel Botsoma differed with the tide that dikgosi should be given the sole responsibility to preside over criminal cases saying that would go against the conventional way of doing things especially if such dikgosi did not have the appreciation of the law.

If he had his way, dikgosi would deal with less complex issues “ tsa bo go thubelwa malwapa”.

During interest groups session Mr Ishmael Phillemon called for the Botswana Defence Force Act and regulation to be engrafted in the supreme law of the land and for the duration of the reserve force to be increased from five years to 10.

Ms Ellen Manewe decried high lease charges that churches were made to pay.

“A re seka ra duedisiwa lease ga re di kgwebo,”she said meaning churches by nature were non-profit making entities and should therefore be exempted from paying the annual P500 lease.

Ms Molly Senome wanted the constitution to declare that Botswana was a Christian country.

“Re batla gape go bona dikereke di na le kemedi kwa di khanseleng le kwa palamenteng,” she said adding also that the mother law should be written in Setswana. ENDS