ALP BOTSWANA INTERIM COUNTRY REPORT
Dr. Kaelo Molefhe and Dr. Bashi Mothusi
General
1. Brief introduction to the country's political development
Located between Zimbabwe, South Africa and Namibia, Botswana attained its independence
in 1966. At that time it was one of the least developed countries in the world. However, it has
enjoyed a remarkable post-independence period witnessed enormous accomplishment in its
socio-economic and political spheres, fuelled largely by diamonds. In that respect, many
commentators have dubbed the country an exception among many developing countries,
particularly in the sub-Saharan Africa region.
Botswana operates a multiparty democratic framework and is the oldest and most stable
democracy in the African continent where regular and freely contested elections are held
every five (5) years. However, the democratic credentials of the country remain a subject of
wider debate. In particular, the long uninterrupted rule by the Botswana Democratic Party
(BDP), which has been in power since independence elections in 1965 to date, and the
weakness of the opposition parties in the face of a dominant Executive are presented as
challenges to democratic consolidation in the country. More importantly, the First-Past-ThePost electoral system and the power of incumbency are seen as advantaging the BDP over
opposition parties in the electoral process.
2. History of Parliament/ the Legislature
Botswana is generally categorised as a parliamentary democracy. However, this is not the
case in practise as it does not operate a pure parliamentary system. Rather, since
independence, the country opted for a mixed form of government that combines elements of
both the Westminster model and the presidential system.
The country’s parliament is created by section 57 of the Constitution. Its composition
includes the President and the National Assembly. The role of parliament is spelled out in
section 86 of the Constitution which states that, ‘Parliament shall have the power to make
laws for the peace, order and good government of Botswana.’ In this way, Parliament
exercises legislative powers as one of its main functions. In addition, Parliament performs
functions such as representation, scrutiny and oversight. The Constitution also clearly spells
out separation of powers amongst the various arms of government.
Although separation of powers amongst various arms of government is clearly outlined in the
Constitution, in practise things are different. The hybrid system of governance, which was
highlighted above, places all the executive powers within the Office of the President. Despite
the excessive powers yielded by the office of presidency, the president is indirectly elected by
parliament. The cabinet advises the president and is accountable to parliament for all the
matters decided under the authority of the president. In this way, the Executive is more
powerful than parliament which is directly elected by the people.
The imbalance that exists between the Executive and other branches of government means
that parliament is rendered weak in discharging its functions. Thus, in practise, parliament is
just a mere department within the Office of the President, under the Executive. It does not
have its own budget or administrative staff. Hence, Botswana parliament lacks independence
and therefore compromises its role as a watchdog of the Executive.
3. Current Status of Assembly
Dr. Margaret N. Nasha is the current Speaker of Parliament assisted by Honourable Pono P.P.
Moatlhodi (MP for Tonota South). When she was appointed in 2009, she made history as the
first lady to occupy this position since independence. The Speaker is the Head of the
Legislature in the same way as the President is the Head of the Executive or the Chief Justice
is the Head of the Judiciary. She safeguards and maintains the independence and authority of
the National Assembly. The Speaker is responsible for the administration of Parliament.
The current National Assembly which followed the 2009 national elections comprises 63
members of which 57 are directly elected to represent single constituency and the other 4 are
specially elected. As already noted above, the President is directly appointed by parliament.
Although Botswana has many parties, only three are represented in the House. The ruling
BDP has 40 MPs, its splinter group Botswana Movement for Democracy has 6 MPs, the
Botswana National Front also has 6 MPs and Botswana Congress Party has 5 MPs. The BDP
has enjoyed a long period of relative stability but this came to an end in 2009 when, for the
first time, the party fragmented leading to establishment of BMD. Chiefly, the BMD
members cited the leadership of Ian Khama as being dictatorial and, thus, disregarding
democratic values. The BNF was for a long time the official opposition party but internal
strives resulted with multiple breakaways.
The relation between the ruling party and the opposition in parliament is relatively cordial.
There has been, however, instances where the opposition felt mistreated by the ruling party.
For instance, the Leader of Opposition in parliament was in the recent past denied an
opportunity to engage with a visiting Head of State in line with established norms and
practises. Consequently, the opposition in parliament has accused the ruling party, and
particularly the Executive, of showing little regard for the role of the opposition in the
country governance process. The relations between opposition parties in parliament are
generally of resentment, with the coalition partners of BMD and the BNF not in good terms
with the BCP which ditched the opposition coalition project in 2011.
4. Legislative Function
Theoretically, MPs are expected to offer legislation, or bills, for consideration when the
House is in session. However, this is quite difficult in practice. This is illustrated by the fact
that to date no Act of Parliament of this country owes its origin from a private Member’s bill.
Therefore, the Executive always initiates all bills.
The Executive, as the body charged with governing the country, initiates most of the laws
passed by the House to help it carry out its policies. This is the case because of the power it
wields relative to other branches of government and the numerical superiority the ruling party
enjoys in the House. Once Cabinet approves a draft bill, it is included on the Government’s
legislative programme and is ready for presentation to Parliament for its consideration. When
in Parliament the bill goes through various stages before it is finally enacted as law. These
stages are: the first reading and second reading; committee stage in which the bill is assigned
to a responsible committee for analysis, and if necessary to other committees in an advisory
capacity; reporting and then the third reading. And finally, a bill becomes a law immediately
the President assents to it.
The table below shows data for laws passed by Parliament between the period 2006 and
2010. The available data indicates a generally high performance by the House in terms of
discharging their legislative functions. The high performance rate might be explained by the
majority of ruling MPs, who have a caucus system in which members are expected to tow the
line on matters presented before the House. Their business is also made easier by the low
numbers of opposition members in Parliament.
Year
Number of Projects/
Number of laws
Percentage
Proposals tabled
passed
2006
26
19
73%
2007
21
20
95%
2008
42
32
76%
2009
18
14
77%
2010
16
14
87%
5. Oversight Function
As is the case in other countries, the parliament in Botswana has a responsibility of holding
the Executive accountable. Accountability is enhanced through the establishment of various
portfolio committees which perform specific functions. In December 2011, twelve new
portfolio committees were formed, thus bringing the total number of parliamentary
committees to twenty-three. The new portfolio committees are the wildlife, tourism, natural
resources and climate change; agriculture, lands and housing; foreign affairs, defence, justice,
security and government assurances; finance, trade and economic development;
communications, works, transport and technology; labour and home affairs; health and
HIV/AIDS; governance and oversight committee; public service and its management;
education and skills development; youth, sport, arts and culture as well as the local
governance and social welfare committee. There are also inter-parliamentary bodies such as
the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the SADC parliamentary forum, Pan African
Parliament committee and the inter-parliamentary union. The Speaker of the National
Assembly chairs both Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and the SADC
parliamentary forum.
All the Members of Parliament serve in one or more parliamentary committees. Since the
ruling BDP is dominant in parliament, all the committees are chaired by their MPs with the
exception of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which is chaired by an opposition MP.
The PAC is established by the Botswana National Assembly Standing Oder 105 which
stipulates its powers and operational duties. Members of the committee, including the
Chairperson, are appointed for the life of Parliament (i.e. 5 years). Opposition MPs usually
constitute 40% of the members while the ruling party takes the remaining 60%.
The main mandate of the PAC is to ensure that public funds are utilised appropriately and in
line with the Government Financial Regulations. It, therefore, holds senior government
officials (i.e. Permanent Secretaries and Chief Finance Officers) accountable for all the
expenditures undertaken within their ministries. The committee can summon witnesses to
appear before it; investigate past, current and committed expenditures; initiate its own
enquiries; choose its own subjects of examination; meet outside Parliaments’ sessions and
request government officials to table comprehensive responses to its queries or questions.
Failure by government officials to account or justify their ministry’s expenditure may result
in disciplinary action being taken against them.
In Botswana, the PAC and the Auditor General work very closely. If the Committee feels that
there are any issues that need to be investigated further it requests the Auditor General to
conduct such investigations because the Committee does not have enough capacity to carry
out such tasks.
In an attempt to enhance transparency in the manner in which the committee conducts its
business, a decision was taken that its meetings be held in public, something which was
started in 2012. The opening up of this process is not only meant to enhance transparency but
also to the accountability process and public participation in handling of public funds.
Despite the efforts that are made to improve the performance of the PAC, it must be noted
that Ministers do not appear before the committee. This means that politicians, particularly
Ministers, do not account directly to parliament. This is an anomaly because in a democratic
system, Ministers must be held accountable for everything that takes place in their ministries.
6. Representation Function
Even though all the Members of Parliament are fully aware of the fact that they are
responsible for making, amending as well as repealing out-dated laws, the vast majority of
them from all political parties believe that representing constituents is one of their core
responsibilities. They strongly believe that serving the constituents is the most satisfying
aspect of their work. They also believe that they play an oversight role (i.e. hold the
Executive accountable) and therefore everything that is done by the two branches of
government must be in the best interest of the citizens.
Unlike in other African legislatures, the re-election rate of incumbents is around sixty
percent. About forty percent of the MPs are in their first term. This high re-election rate
assists in terms of ensuring that there is continuity in the manner in which parliamentary
business is conducted. It also goes a long in enabling MPs to develop strong working
relations with the constituents and other institutions especially the local authorities which are
responsible for spearheading the process of development at the district level.
Since the majority of the constituencies can be characterised as rural, their MPs spend a lot of
time in their constituencies providing services and assistance to their constituents (e.g.
assisting the poor people with money to buy food and clothes, help to cover funeral expenses,
source funds for development projects etc.). All of them, including those in cabinet, normally
participate in social events to show their closeness to their constituents.
From a gender perspective, it is notable that only four out of sixty-three or 6% of MPs are
women. Two of them were elected directly by the citizens while the other two were ushered
in as Specially Elected MPs. All the four women are in cabinet, two as full Ministers and the
other two as Assistant Ministers.
Almost all MPs, except three, have completed secondary education and college or beyond.
Some of them have Master’s degrees while one MP has a Doctorate. This indicates that the
MPs do not suffer from a skills deficit that could prevent them from performing their
parliamentary responsibilities and functions as expected. There is a fine balance between
young and vibrant MPs with old and experienced ones. Two MPs are below the age of forty
while the majority of them are between 40 and 70 years. Hence, the debates are usually
robust
7. Parliamentary Management and Administration
Just like any other government department, the Parliament has few divisions/units that are
responsible for assisting the Speaker, Deputy Speaker and all MPs to perform their duties and
responsibilities to the best of their ability. Even though parliament is supposed to operate as
an independent entity, the government structure is designed in such a manner that it appears
as a department under the Office of the President. Its budget, which is used to cater for
salaries, allowances, IT equipment and other consumables, is presented in parliament by the
Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration.
The Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM) is responsible for hiring, training
and promoting the parliamentary administrative staff. There is the Parliamentary Counsel
whose main responsibility is to provide legal advice to the Speaker, Deputy Speaker and
MPs. He/she helps MPs to understand the legal implications of the things that they discuss
and endorse in parliament particularly those emanating from the Executive.
All MPs are provided with constituency offices which are paid for by the government. The
salaries of the staff working in the constituency offices are also paid by the government. All
the MPs strongly agree that the availability of constituency offices help them a great deal in
terms of addressing the needs and demands of their constituents.
Despite the compromised independence of the parliament, all the MPs interviewed during the
study including cabinet Ministers and Assistant Ministers, expressed their satisfaction with
the manner in which the current Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr. Margaret Nasha,
conducts the business of the house. They fully support the reforms that she has introduced
and the ones that are still to be implemented.
8. Reforms and Development Partners’ Programs
When the current Speaker, Dr. Nasha, was appointed in 2009, she stated that her agenda
includes concluding and approving new Standing Orders, reforming the parliamentary
committee system and improving the automation of Parliament's public library. All the
proposed reforms and development are funded by the government through the annual
allocations made to it. There is no external funding.
The amendment of Standing Orders has been started and is on-going. Prior to 2009, the
discussion of one motion could be done over a few days. This is because there was no time
limit. But with the new amendment, the discussion of motions is now restricted to a
maximum of three hours. The mover of the motion is given thirty minutes to present while
other MPs are given ten minutes to comment. The time for discussions on Committee of
Supply has also been reduced from twenty to ten minutes.
As stated under item 5 of this report, numerous portfolio committees have been established
and are fully functional. The establishment of these committees has in a way improved
accountability in the sense that different ministries are now aware that MPs can seek
explanations on certain things that they are mandated to do. There is scrutiny of the various
sectors of the economy.
The automation and improvement of the parliamentary library is also on-going as evidenced
by the fact that new books and reference materials have been provided to assist MPs to
conduct proper research and familiarise themselves with what is happening in other countries.
Computers have also been procured even though the government internet system is slow. The
portfolio committee on ICT is in the process of procuring laptops and iPads for MPs as well
as connecting them to Wi-Fi.
9. Conclusion/Recommendations
Following this study, it is clear that various reform efforts are needed to make Botswana’s
Parliament more effective in discharging its functions. The following reforms focusing on
functioning and organisation of the House are proposed:

Detach Parliament from the Office of the President. This will enhance the
independence of the House away from excess control by the Executive;

Increase the number of portfolio committees to cover all sectors of the
economy;

Provide experts to assist the standing committees, and

Extend committee membership to the full period of parliament.