A group of at least 44 civil society organizations have come together under the auspices of the Botswana Council of Non-Governmental Organizations (BOCONGO) and are ready to go to court if the country’s president, Mokgweetsi Masisi, does not heed their request to reject the constitutional amendments included in Bill 2024, the newspaper Mmegi Online reported on April 22.
The text of the controversial bill was read for the first time in Parliament last week and was referred to the Ntlo ya Dikgosi (House of Chiefs, an advisory body) before MPs returned for a second reading.
The protesting public is led by the Constitutional Review Working Group, a coalition of civil society organizations and other stakeholders working in solidarity under BOCONGO to “raise their voice against the proposed amendments to the Constitution.”
Protesters believe the 2024 Bill fails to address key constitutional reform issues needed to strengthen democracy, protect fundamental rights and strengthen institutional independence in Botswana, and call for a process to constitutionalise Botswana’s legal system and ensure justice for the entire population of the country.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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