13 Mar 2014

Parliament, on Wednesday, March 12, approved the Attorney Generals Chambers budget for the 2014/15 financial year.

Debating the budget before the approval, Selbi Phikwe West MP, Mr Gilson Saleshando said the current constitution was outdated and should be archived and a new one written.

He said the constitution was written when the country was still a protectorate and targeted only eight tribes then. Mr Saleshando said diversity was never acknowledged when the constitution was penned, as the assumption was that about 80 per cent of smaller tribes then would be assimilated by the eight tribes recognised under the Tribal Territories Act.

He noted that unity could not be achieved by assimilation but by acknowledging diversity, adding that as a modern state, the country should not be using a constitution, which was discriminatory.

Gaborone West South MP, Mr Botsalo Ntuane said he was concerned about the roll out of legal aid and said it should be publicised. He said the country should in bail applications for heinous crimes, consider relocating the perpetrators where the crimes were committed if they were to be given bail.

Mr Ntuane even suggested that might even be placed under some form of curfew and save the public from mingling with murderers and rapists. Francistown West MP, Ms Habaudi Hubona said the constitution wasy old and did not address the nation’s issues adequately.

She said many people had not been able to contribute to the development of the country because the languages they spoke of their small tribes were never recognised by the constitution.

Dr Hubona said the constitution was silent on naming everyone as a Motswana and therefore continuing do so de-dignified members of the public by calling them by a name that they did not belong to.

Ngwaketse West MP, Mr Mephato Reatile said there had been complaints about payment of legal fees for lawyers under the legal aid programme, calling on the department to rectify that.

Tati West MP, Mr Charles Tibone said the election of Ntlo ya Dikgosi members in the North East district should be inclusive of all head-men of records and not sub-chiefs only.

Maun West MP, Mr Tawana Moremi said his constituents believed that smaller tribes in Ngamiland should also have representation at the Ntlo ya Dikgosi.

Responding to the MPs debate, The Minister for Justice, Defence and Security, Mr Dikgakgamatso Seretse said the issue of the constitution seemed to be a problem with many and entrenched, noting that any changes to it might need a commission, but any changes should come through the Office of the President, which is the custodian of it.

He said rolling out of the legal aid programme and training of sign language personnel is ongoing. Ends