The undersigned CSOs wish to express deep disappointment with the manner in which several of our elected leaders conducted themselves during the Special Parliamentary Meeting on 8 and 9 April 2020. It was largely used to score political party points instead of uniting in a non-partisan manner, to fight the coronavirus, while ensuring the protection of the human rights of all. This includes respecting COVID-19 protocols.
We expected our elected representatives to have seized this critically important opportunity to enable each and every member of parliament to be fully informed about the reasons for the motion tabled by the Vice President and Leader of the House, His Honour Slumber Tsogwane, to endorse the State of Emergency declared by His Excellency, President Masisi on 31 March 2020 and to extend it for six (6) months. The justification for the 6 (six) month State of Emergency remains unclear.
Our country is at serious risk of an uncontrollable spread of the coronavirus, particularly in light of our limited medical facilities and resources. Botswana opted for the declaration of a State of Public Emergency, in addition to a national lockdown, to control the spread of the virus. This marks a shift away from the use of the Public Health Act (PHA) as the primary law for a health response to a health crisis.
Section 23 of the PHA empowers the Director of Health Services to declare that a public health emergency exists for not more than seven (7) days. The Director may also extend the period of the public health emergency and may take action to ‘segregate or isolate persons ..’, ‘evacuate persons from any area’ … prevent or permit people’s access to any area’, ‘control the movement of any vehicle, animal or person to any area’. These are the components of the current lockdown which began on 2 April and ends on 30 April. Further, the Director may authorise persons to assist him or her in carrying out his or her directions. This includes any authorised person or police officer to enter, by reasonable force where necessary, any place to save human life. Non-compliance with the directions of the Director may be punishable by law.
The power to declare a national lockdown is within the powers of the Director of Health Services. However, following the declaration of the State of Public Emergency by President Masisi on 31 March 2020, the Emergency Powers Act Regulations 2020 state that ‘during the state of public emergency declared by the President under the Emergency Proclamation, the President may declare a national lockdown for the whole of Botswana or a lockdown in a particular location or area of Botswana …. For the purpose of preventing, controlling and suppressing the spread of COVID-19, a lockdown is hereby declared with effect from 2nd April 2020 at midnight until 30th April 2020, for the whole of Botswana’.
On 31 March 2020, President Masisi declared the State of Public Emergency in accordance with section 17 of the Constitution, ‘’until further notice’’. Section 17 empowers the President to declare it for a period of 21 days, when Parliament is not sitting. He further resolved to hold a Parliamentary Meeting to ‘’.. seek a resolution of Parliament for the state of emergency to continue for a longer period’’. During a press conference on 7 April 2020, President Masisi stated that he would seek a resolution for a State of Emergency for a period of 6 months. Section 17 of the Constitution limits the maximum period for which such a declaration can be approved, is six (6) months. On 9 April 2020, Parliament passed the resolution tabled by Vice-President Tsogwane, for the State of Emergency to last for six (6) months.
We call upon:
• President Masisi and our members of Parliament to protect the human rights of all persons in Botswana, including their rights to health and their right to participate in decision-making processes which affect their lives, especially during this State of Emergency and
• all of our political leadership, across political party lines, to remain accountable to our people, as the COVID-19, respects no such distinction.
Botswana Centre for Public Integrity (BCPI), Botswana Gender Based Violence Prevention and Support Centre (BGBVC), Botswana Labour Migrants Association (BoLAMA), Botswana Network on Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDs (BONELA), CHILDLINE Botswana, DITSHWANELO – The Botswana Centre for Human Rights, Friends of Diversity, Inclusive Directions Botswana, Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals of Botswana (LeGaBiBo), Molao Matters, Molayakgosi, Putting Women First Trust, Save Widows and Orphans Botswana, Skillshare International Botswana, Stepping Stones International, Turning Point, WoMen Against Rape (WAR), and Youth Alliance for Leadership and Development in Africa (YALDA – Botswana).
12 April 2020
Gaborone
For more information regarding this communication, please contact, on behalf of the listed organisations, Mr. Machete at +267 72300902.