Constitutional review to start within six months – Boko
Sharon Mathala | Thursday November 14, 2024 10:01
Speaking yesterday (Tuesday) following the announcement of his first batch of Cabinet ministers, President Boko said the issue of a constitutional review 'needs to be understood and unpacked'.
Explaining the process, Boko highlighted that the Constitution has a mandate which is to define the shape of the country.
“Botswana is a republic, not a monarchy. That is what the Constitution says, this tells us that if this is a republic; certain things should govern us. After the Constitution defines the shape of our country it distributes power. It distributes power to offices and/or people who have been appointed to those offices,” Boko said.
Further driving his point, the President noted there is the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary which operate in synch. The main function of Parliament is to make laws for the peace and good governance of the country. The Judiciary is not to make laws. It is to interpret the law and the Executive is to execute the law,' he said.
“Moreover, the Constitution gives rights to the people. Now when we want to amend and/or review the Constitution what does it mean? It means we want to improve the system,' he added. 'This means we should go back to the people and introspect, argue, and find a way forward on how the Constitution should look like or operate.'
According to the new President, the previous regime failed this process by consulting the people but still had one person making the final decision. According to him, this rendered the process ineffective.
“Meaning that the time we took to debate about the Constitution was a waste of time. The difference between what happened when there was a supposed constitutional review is huge. There is a big gap between what happened and what we believe should have happened. What we want to have happened is to understand the three arms of government and how best we can improve the rights of the people,” Boko said.
In discussing his administration’s constitutional review, Boko explained that after consultations with stakeholders and the public, the ideas generated should then be handed over to professionals who, using their expertise, will further examine and refine what is in the best interest of the people.
“Then, we will agree on the position of the Draft Constitution. We want a comprehensive constitutional review to start within six months. We need to have completed this process, (ensuring that) we all agree on (the final draft) and take it to Parliament to adopt (it).”