24 Jul 2022

The law should enjoin the president to draw cabinet ministers from both within and outside the national assembly. 

In its submissions to the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Review of the Constitution on Friday, the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) said of the 28 cabinet positions, 11 (or 40 per cent) should be drawn from outside parliament while the remaining 17 (or 60 per cent) should be appointed from among members of the national assembly. 

Mr David Magang of the BDP told the commission that the development would not only afford the president a wider and more diverse pool of candidates to choose his cabinet from, but would also enhance the independence of parliament and give it more freedom to perform its legislative functions. 

“Limiting the appointment of ministers to just within parliament can be a constraint to the president. The president should therefore have the power to also pick ministers from outside parliament, which will give him a wider pool to select the most suitable people from,” he said. 

Further, Mr Magang said while the party saw no need for direct election of the president, it however wanted him/her to be endowed with the freedom to pick the vice president from either within or outside the national assembly. 

The party, Mr Magang said, further advocated the upgrading of sub-districts to full district status, which he said would spur on the pace of developments and enhance service delivery. 

In addition, he suggested districts and government entities such as land boards should be renamed, saying they should be assigned tribally-neutral names in acknowledgement of them existing to serve Batswana regardless of their tribal identity. 

Another party representative Mr Basimane Bogopa said it was worth noting that while there was a general feeling that a president’s powers were excessive, there was sufficient oversight in place to regulate them.  Mr Bogopa told the commission that Section 47 (3) of the constitution gave parliament authority to control the president’s powers.

 “The president’s powers can be controlled by parliament as shown by Section 47 (3), which gives it (parliament) the power to confer some of the president’s executive functions to another person or authority,” he explained. Citing another example of parliament’s oversight of the president’s powers, Mr Bogopa said Section 48 (4) gave the national assembly authority to regulate the president’s powers in respect of his function as commander-in-chief of the armed forces. 

He said as the constitution made provision for parliament’s oversight over the president with regard to his executive powers, the BDP maintained the view that it was not necessary to curtail his/her powers. Regarding the appointment of 40 per cent of cabinet ministers from outside parliament, Mr Bogopa said the party’s position was for that to be starting point that would see the country gradually move towards having the entire cabinet drawn from outside the national assembly. 

Once that was attained, the national assembly and the executive would be fully separate and each arm would enjoy full autonomy as should be the case.

 “We want the supremacy and independence of parliament to be enhanced because for the longest time there have been concerns over its lack of independence. It should have its own budget that it has full control of and it should be in a position to recruit its own personnel,” he said. 

On the upgrading to full district status of sub-districts, Mr Bogopa said that would call for reforms in Ntlo ya Dikgosi as tribal territories would likely be affected. 

Another proposal that he submitted was for dikgosi to steer clear of politics, or for a Kgosi to vacate bogosi should he/she decide to go into politics. 

On former presidents, Mr Bogopa said the law should bar them from taking up formal employment or holding political office; both of which he said could taint the reputation of the affected individuals and of their offices as statesmen. Ends