Morwaeng at it again with the Amendment to the Referendum Act

Adam Phetlhe writes…

As if it was not enough with the supposedly withdrawn three Bills that sought to pile more opulence and grand lifestyles on the former Presidents, Vice Presidents and ministers, Kabo Morwaeng seeks to up the ante with the introduction of the Referendum (Amendment) Bill No 20 of 2024 published on 26 July 2024. It will be recalled he was at sixes and sevens to explain that the previous Bills were withdrawn because there was no broad- based consultations with Batswana. Did he consult Batswana on the referendum amendment Bill if his line of argument is to be followed and believed? And if not which is apparent because no broad- based consultation was undertaken, why should I believe he was honest to Batswana with the two Bills on the Presidents’ and formers VPs on retirement benefits?

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“The object of the Bill is to amend Section 3 of the Referendum Act in order to give the President powers to call for a referendum on a matter that is not spelt out in the law”. This on its own is scary and appears an affront to the well established principles of democracy, transparency and the Rule of Law. Why would the President be comfortable in acting “on a matter that is not spelt out on the law”? This phrase and for all intents and purposes, presupposes the amendment is intended to clothe the President with autocratic and arbitrary powers to do as he pleases as and whenever he so desires. Why shouldn’t I fear the President will use this power for purely party political reasons totally irrelevant to Batswana in order to satisfy his political ambitions whatever those could be?

One is not oblivious to the political goings-on at the BDP with regards to succession plans which for now, have gone haywire consequent to the outcomes of bulela ditswe results in some constituencies.

We are in a long haul and the manner in which some of these suspicious Bills are brought to parliament is a big red flag. They say power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Botswana could very well be moving in this direction if not there already.

I am prepared to be no persuaded otherwise as always.

Judge for Yourself!