Don’t rush the constitutional review process- Justice Dingake
Staff Writer | Friday December 19, 2025 14:44
Speaking at a fully packed press conference and public lecture organised by the Botswana Council of Non-Governmental Organisations (BOCONGO) in Gaborone last week, Justice Dingake said the constitutional review was a process that must unite the nation. He said that if the process divided the nation, then it would have failed.
He said the Constitution was a political process as well as a legal process. Dingake stated that it was a political process in that the nation gets consensus from people that a time to review the Constitution has come, and the political leadership must facilitate that process.
According to Dingake, the Constitution review was a contested terrain. However, he stressed that the Constitution belongs to the people. Dingake stressed that the Constitution was the supreme law of the land as it established the State. He said even the judiciary exercises delegated power from the people. He said it was a mirror, a roadmap, and a power map.
'It must be owned by those who will live under it,' he said.
According to the constitutional expert, the last attempt by the former government to amend the constitution was fundamentally flawed and illegitimate from start to finish. He said that constitutional conversations must not be done through the Commission of Inquiries Act.
He added that civic education was another key element that was important in terms of international best practices.
'You can consult people once you have sensitised them about what you want to do,' he said. In his view, the process must be genuine, and people must be consulted. According to the legal scholar, the Constitution was, therefore, a compromise. He advised: 'You must not rush the process. If we get it right now, we will probably not have another constitutional review in the next 50 years.'
In addition, he proposed that there be a bottom-up constitutional review that meets international best practices. He thus concluded that it's a process that requires time. Consequently, he advised that there be a Constitutional Review Act devised to guide the process. He argued that the steps as set out in the Act must be dictated by people and followed to the logical conclusion.
The debate on the constitutional review has sparked divided opinion, with the opposition, civil society, church, and academia resisting the proposed Constitutional Court (ConCourt) as proposed by the government.
The ruling Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) has tabled before Parliament a Constitutional (Amendment) Bill No. 14 of 2025. However, that has been met with fierce opposition from critics, who argue that the process must be inclusive and include a nationwide consultation process.
Meanwhile, the UDC has maintained that there was an urgent need for the ConCourt, which will lay the basis for a holistic constitutional review to follow up later.
Sharing views on this, political scientist Mokaloba Mokaloba said that the constitutional review exercise should be holistic. Mokaloba noted that the Dibotelo Commission, which President Duma Gideon Boko has relied on to make the case for a ConCourt, was discarded by Parliament for a number of reasons. 'I don’t see why today it can be a base for argument in creating a ConCourt. Why not include the matter in the broader constitutional review process?' he quizzed.
Mokaloba added that as for the structure, the people should be the centre and therefore, there ought to be a consultative and educative forum aimed and teaching the nation on the process, its importance, and lastly, they should be taken on board regarding their input.
'Banking on the discussions of the last commission, there is very little knowledge and information on what exactly the constitution is or its review,' said Mokaloba. 'The start point, therefore, is public education through any means possible. A consultation when the people don’t know what they are being consulted on amounts to nothing. A constitution is a people's document, and so is a court that proceeds on constitutional matters. Leaving behind so many processes will dent the reputation and rationale of the court, hence the need for an all-inclusive process.'
He argued that the starting point should be public education on all matters relating to the Constitution.