A Fine Balance: Assessing the Quality of Governance in Botswana

SECTION FIVE - HUMAN DIGNITY AND DEMOCRACY

SECTION FIVE HUMAN DIGNITY AND DEMOCRACY BY ALICE MOGWE & INGRID MELVILLE ‘Democracy’ is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. A basic feature of democracy is the capacity of individuals to participate freely and fully in the life of their society. In order to apply the twofold test of democracy – ‘firstly, do the people rule, and secondly, do the people rule equally?’ (Chanza & Sylvester 2010:257) – one has to examine the form of democracy that prevails in Botswana and the context within which it operates. Democracy represents a value system and development of democracy in Botswana has been guided by the national principles of democracy, development, self-reliance, unity and botho1 since the country’s independence in 1966. The framework is laid out in the Constitution of 1965. However, Botswana’s democracy cannot be looked at only within the confines of the Constitution. According to several academics, including Dr Gloria Somolekae, former lecturer at the University of Botswana and now Assistant Minister of Finance and 84 A FINE BALANCE: ASSESSING THE QUALITY OF GOVERNANCE IN BOTSWANA IDASA’S DEMOCRACY INDEX Developmental Planning, ‘[m]any researchers today have come to appreciate the fact that the notion of democracy does not lack roots in Africa. Therefore any effort which is aimed at understanding the process of democratisation should not start at independence as customarily is the case’ (Somolekae 2008:4). An assessment of democracy in Botswana should take into consideration the procedural and institutional framework for democracy characterised by the provisions of the Constitution, and the lived experiences of the people in Botswana, which are guided by practices and customs. Democracy can be seen as providing an enabling framework for the population to thrive. The country is often considered to be a shining light of democracy in Africa, despite the fact that Botswana’s Constitution does not guarantee economic, social and cultural rights, and access to basic goods and services is provided largely on the basis of laws and a policy framework. Despite the absence of constitutional guarantees to entrench access to basic goods and services, the government of Botswana makes such goods and services widely available to its citizens. Botswana is third on the 2011 Ibrahim Index of African Governance2 and is a State party to a number of international human rights instruments that deal with economic, social and cultural rights, such as the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights of 1948 (UDHR). However, Botswana is not a State party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and therefore has not demonstrated a binding commitment to international norms and standards that support human dignity. It should also be noted that Botswana has a dual legal system. This means that even those international and regional human rights instruments that it has committed itself to are not enforceable in the country unless an Act of Parliament is passed that contains the principles and standards agreed to at the regional and international levels. It is only once regional and international human rights standards have been domesticated into national laws that they will be binding and applicable in Botswana. The Constitution of Botswana, like other constitutions of the 1960s, contains only civil and political rights, also known as first-generation rights. It is silent on economic, social and cultural rights, or second-generation rights, as well as developmental and group rights, also called third-generation rights. As such, the Constitution does not provide a basis for citizens to access those basic goods and services and economic opportunities that are undoubtedly objective markers of a dignified life. While the Constitution does not impose on the government a written obligation to ensure such access to all citizens, there are laws, policies and practices that, over time, have given citizens a practical frame of reference and the expectation that the government is obliged to, and will, take the steps necessary to ensure that every citizen lives a life with dignity. While there are gaps in the national and international legislative framework to advance and safeguard the human dignity of Batswana, the national vision of Botswana, namely Vision 2016, is premised on the socio-economic advancement of citizens, as it provides a framework ‘Towards prosperity for all’ by 2016. The attainment of the national vision is advanced through national development plans. In considering human dignity in Botswana, this assessment takes into...