21 Jun 2022

The word tribe refers to a group of people sharing ancestry and language. It has been embraced by communities globally. 

But to the people of Mabolwe, Semolale and Gobajango (MASEGO), this is not the case, the word is degrading and they want it expunged from the Constitution of Botswana. 

Their representative, Sir Wonder Masebola told the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Review of the Constitution during a consultative kgotla meeting in Bobonong yesterday that the word should rather be replaced with ‘ethnic group or community.’ 

“Lefoko la tribe a le ntshiwe ka gore le na le nyenyafatso ka gore letlhalosega e le setlhopha sa batho ba ba ikopantseng ka leleme kana ka ngwao mme e le ba letso le le nyatsegang ba eteletswe ke kgosana. Jaanong ra re a le tswe le emisediwe ka community kgotsa ethnicity”.

On other issues, Sir Masebola said the Cconstitution should be explicit on the constitutional rights of different groups such as People with Disabilities (PWDs). 

Furthermore, the commission learnt that residents wanted the Citizenship Act, which defined whether one was a citizen by birth, descent or naturalisation to be reinstated; something which Sir Masebola said had to be tied to the right to own land. That being the case, residents of the three villages okayed the First Past the Post (FPTP) electioneering system and vehemently opposed proportional representation. 

On the age that a person should have attained before assuming the position of the President, MASEGO populace’s view was that the age of responsibility should be standardised across sectors and therefore suggested 18 years. 

Speaking on behalf of Bobonong residents, Professor Rolang Majelantle said the Constitution should have a chapter dedicated to the traditional science of Batswana. 

“A puo ya diatla e nne tshwanelo e be e rutiwe mo dikoleng ebile go na le ditlamelo tsotlhe tse di tlhokwang ke ba-na-le-bogole,”he said meaning sign language should be introduced in school and necessary infrastructure put in place to facilitate learning. 

The people of Bobonong, according to Professor Majelantle, were not happy with Sections 77, 78 and 79 of the Constitution, which he stated they deemed biased towards the eight tribes of Bakgatla, Bakwena, Bangwato, Bangwaketse, Batawana, Barolong, Balete and Batlokwa.

For their part, Lepokole residents proposed that foreigners should be granted citizenship after 10 years of stay in Botswana and that the process should be stress-free, those condemned to death should be denied the opportunity to solicit for presidential pardon, people charged for serious offenses should not be given bail, the sitting president should be subjected to prosecution if found to be on the wrong side of the law. In addition, their representative, Mr Onneile Mphefo proposed for presidential elections in the event the substantive head of state passed on and that dikgosi should work side by side with the land boards to allocate land. 

“A go nne le gore morafe o ka tsena jang mo thulaganyong ya makhanselara le mapalamente a a itlhophelwang,” he said, proposing that modalities should be sought to enable the public to participate in the selection process of special nomination to either council or parliament. In his address, Kgosi Ezekiel Masilo urged Batswana not to steer away from their culture as they reviewed the Constitution. 

Culture and bogosi, he said, should be among the building blocks for the Constitution. ends