BCP to report Government to international community
Party demands transparency in the Constitutional Review
The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) has resolved to enlist the international community so that things are done transparently instead of allowing President Mokgweetsi Masisi to handle the Constitutional Review process unilaterally. “The President appointed the Commissioners alone leaving Parliament out. Parliament has got no contribution to this project. This is unacceptable,” said the BCP leader, Dumelang Saleshando in a press conference this week. He said that his party will engage foreign embassies in Botswana to share with them the party concerns. “We also intend to pass an urgent motion in parliament that the whole review process be suspended while parliament discusses it.”
He added that the
BCP National Executive Committee (NEC) has also instructed him to write a letter to the President to advise him of the dangers of the path he has taken.
“The President must not allow the Constitution issue to divide us when it should unite us,” said Saleshando. Saleshando explained that the first step should have been to involve
Parliament, which would come up with a Constitutional Review Act.
“The purpose of the Act is to define the whole process including stipulation of terms of reference, as well as who qualifies for membership to the Commission. “As things stand, even those who were chosen have got no idea what qualified them to be there,” said the BCP leader who is also the vice president of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC).
“Ke mo gotweng motho o latswitswe ke tlhware. Rona re ne re sa batle thulaganyo ya tlhware mo go tlhopheng gore ke mang yo o yang go tsamaisa tiro e,” Saleshando said. He explained that the unilateral approach to the review of the Constitution is an indication that only the President will have access to the report and its contents. “It is going to be up to the President to decide whether he allows us access to the report or not. I say this because we have had several commissions of enquiry done but have not had access to the contents,” said the Member of Parliament (MP) for Maun West citing the example of the Commission on the lung disease in Ngamiland in the year 2000. “Some 22 years later, the report has not been released. Now, because a constitution is the supreme law of the land, we would not allow a situation where its review is kept a secret,” noted Saleshando.