04 Feb 2026

The atmosphere was filled with tense air as scores of tribesmen and women at Gangwaketse main kgotla took turns to air their views on government’s proposal to establish the constitutional court.
The meeting, which went until late evening saw differing views and concerns that the Constitutional Court has the potential to preside over matters of the constitution.
The Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Major General Pius Mokgware’s address recently, sparked a lot of interest and concern among community members, with people expressing strong opinions on how the Constitutional Court might impact on their lives and governance.
The community’s concern was that government’s focus on the establishment of the constitutional court was now diverting attention and resources from pressing issues such as healthcare, therefore calling for the availability of drugs and medical supplies at health institutions.
One of the residents Kgosi Seate Marumo of Moshana said he was of the view that the Constitutional Court was going to abolish the death penalty.
Kgosi Marumo explained that death penalty was intended to curtail repeated occurrences of offences. “Constitutional Court is important but not urgent,” he said. He urged the government to prioritise availability of drugs in clinics and hospitals instead.
He expressed a suspicion that the introduction of Constitutional Court was intended to pardon murder convicts. Senior chief representative Kgosi Kwelagobe Mookodi said government had not yet demonstrated the intentions to restore the powers of dikgosi, expressing doubt that the Constitutional Court had the potential to address their concerns as indicated in the ministers’ speech.
Kgosi Mookodi said as dikgosi they still felt there was lack of respect for traditional leadership, adding that they were not consulted on the establishment of the Constitutional Court.
Whilst Mr Mokgethi Mmolai, said the public’s concerns and proposals were not prioritised indicating that people were expected to foot the bill for drugs and other medical supplies.
This he said was a heavy burden for Batswana.
Another participant Mr Dikabelo Selaledi said there were pressing matters that government should focus on, saying the country was stricken by Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and experiencing poor food security due to poor registration system, making it difficult for farmers to access ploughing subsidies.
In response minister Mokgware stated that government did not have any intentions of abolishing the death penalty. He noted that the death penalty had strong public support hence its inclusion in the constitution.
He implored the residents to inform themselves and understand issues in a fair manner and approach them with an open mind.
Maj Gen. Mokgware stated that there were only nineteen murder convicts as opposed to comments that murder convicts cells were overflowing.
He also explained that in order to advance developmental projects, government could not only focus on one area of development whilst neglecting others citing the residents’ call for government to focus only on medical supply and drugs as well as FMD alleviation.
He encouraged the community to familiarise themselves with budget allocation saying it demonstrated that critical sectors like health have been prioritised. Minister Mokgware stated that government had prioritised procurement of drugs and medical supplies.
He had earlier on informed the residents that the Constitutional Court would bring peace and tranquility.
The aim he said, was to have a court that could address issues harmoniously and on time citing that human rights issues should be tried by the Constitutional Court.
He stated that the reasons that led to the idea of the establishment of the Constitutional Court was that it was the only court that could resolve inheritance cases.
He also explained that the rights of employees were usually compromised on issues of company liquidation as the liquidation act was not in favour of employees’ welfare. ENDS