Parly to deliberate on additional constituencies Bill
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Monday July 18, 2022 06:00
The call came after MP for Gaborone North, Mpho Balopi brought a motion calling for additional four constituencies to the existing 57 the country has and the motion passed.
On Tuesday, at the BDP parliamentary caucus, members were allegedly informed that the Bill will be tabled in this winter Parliament and they should support the Bill that will be brought by the Ministry of State President.
According to the latest report by Statistics Botswana, generally, cities and towns have the highest population densities compared to predominantly rural districts.
BDP chief whip, Liakiat Kablay confirmed that the caucus has agreed to support the Bill calling for an additional four constituencies.
“There is a need to have additional constituencies. The reason why the constituencies are increased with fewer numbers is that the government does not have money to pay for more MPs. I will be calling for my constituencies for Letlhakeng/Lephephe to be looked into and divided into two because it is broad unlike others,” he said.
Mmegi has learnt that some of the constituencies that some BDP MPs might recommend to be re-aligned include Selibe-Phikwe since its population has gone down, Serowe and Kgalagadi ones.
Currently, the latest Statistics Botswana report shows that Gaborone has the highest density of 1,444.4 persons per square kilometre followed by Francistown with 1,296.8.
It further shows that Selebi-Phikwe, Orapa and Sowa Town have low population densities, with the lowest record of 18.2 persons per square kilometre in the latter.
Recently MP for Mogoditshane, Tumiso Rakgare also said it is now time for the area to be divided into two constituencies since the population has doubled in an 11-year period (2011 and 2022).
Mogoditshane is the largest village in Botswana with an estimated population of 88,098.
When it released the 2022 Population and Housing Census preliminary results, Statistics Botswana revealed that Mogoditshane, which is amongst other villages connected to the capital city Gaborone, revealed generally cities and towns have the highest population densities compared to a predominantly rural district.
Rakgare told Mmegi in an interview yesterday that he feels the constituency should be divided into two because in the 2011 statistics, there was a report that an MP can only service a population of 35,000 people but that is determined by delimitation. He admitted that currently, it is difficult to service such a huge number of people and also address their complaints.
The population quota as determined in accordance with the formula provided by section 65 (3) of the Constitution is 35,524. This is derived from dividing the population of the country as determined in the 2011 comprehensive National Population Census which was 2,024,904 with the number of constituencies into which Botswana is divided which is currently 57.
The Commission carefully considered these submissions and finds that in some instances, calls for the creation of additional constituencies are entirely justified.
For example, the Commission feels that there is a compelling need for the creation of an additional constituency in the North West District because of the inaccessibility of some of its constituencies owing to geographical features such as swamps, rivers, heavy sand, absence of or insufficient road network which make it exceedingly difficult for incumbent MPs to visit their constituencies.
In 2011, Statistics Botswana report said new constituencies are also needed in Gaborone and some districts that have experienced rapid population growth in the last 10 years namely, Kgatleng, Kweneng (around Mogoditshane village) and the western parts of the Southern District.
In all, the Commission was convinced that there was a need to create five new constituencies.