Section 86-89 Constitution of Botswana 1966

Section 86, 87, 88, 89 of the Constitution of Botswana 1966 are under Part IV (Powers of Parliament) of Chapter V of the Constitution. Chapter V is titled Parliament.

Section 86 Botswana Constitution 1966

Legislative powers

Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, Parliament shall have power to make
laws for the peace, order and good government of Botswana.

Section 87 Botswana Constitution 1966

Mode of exercising legislative powers

1. Subject to the provisions of section 89(4) of this Constitution the power of Parliament to make laws shall be exercised by Bills passed by the National Assembly, after reference in the cases specified in section 88(2) of this Constitution to the Ntlo ya Dikgosi, and assented to by the President.

2. When a Bill is presented to the President for assent he or she shall either assent or withhold his or her assent.

3. Where the President withholds his or her assent to a Bill, the Bill shall be returned to the National Assembly.

4. If where the President withholds his or her assent to a Bill the Assembly resolves within six months of the Bill being returned to it that the Bill should again be presented for assent, the President shall assent to the Bill within 21 days of its being again presented to him or her, unless he or she sooner dissolves Parliament.

5. When a Bill that has been duly passed and presented for assent is assented to in
accordance with the provisions of this Constitution it shall become law and the President shall thereupon cause it to be published in the Gazette as a law.

6. No law made by Parliament shall come into operation until it has been published
in the Gazette, but Parliament may postpone the coming into operation of any such law and may make laws with retrospective effect.

7. All laws made by Parliament shall be styled “Acts” and the words of enactment shall be “enacted by the Parliament of Botswana”.

Section 88 Botswana Constitution 1966

Introduction of Bills

1. Except upon the recommendation of the President, which recommendation may be signified by the Vice-President or a Minister, the National Assembly shall
not—
a. proceed upon any Bill (including any amendment to a Bill) that, in the opinion of the person presiding, makes provision for any of the following purposes—
i. for the imposition of taxation or the alteration of taxation otherwise
than by reduction;
ii. for the imposition of any charge upon the revenues or other funds of Botswana or the alteration of any such charge otherwise than by
reduction;
iii. for the payment, issue or withdrawal from any public fund of Botswana of any moneys not charged thereon or any increase in the amount of such payment, issue or withdrawal; or
iv. for the composition or remission of any debt to the Government of Botswana;
b. proceed upon any motion (including any amendment to a motion) the effect of which, in the opinion of the person presiding, would be to make provision for any of those purposes.

2. The National Assembly shall not proceed upon any Bill (including any amendment to a Bill) that, in the opinion of the person presiding, would, if enacted, alter any of the provisions of this Constitution or affect—
a. the designation, recognition, removal of powers of Dikgosi or Dikgosana;
b. the organization, powers or administration of customary courts;
c. customary law, or the ascertainment or recording of customary law; or
d. tribal organization or tribal property, unless—
i. a copy of the Bill has been referred to the Ntlo ya Dikgosi after it has been introduced in the National Assembly; and
ii. a period of 30 days has elapsed from the date when the copy of the Bill was referred to the Ntlo ya Dikgosi.

Section 89 Botswana Constitution 1966

Alteration of Constitution

1. Subject to the provisions of this section Parliament may alter this Constitution.

2. A Bill for an Act of Parliament under this section shall not be introduced into the
National Assembly unless the text of the Bill has been published in the Gazette
not less than 30 days before it is so introduced.

3. In so far as it alters any of the provisions of—
a. Chapter II; sections 30 to 44 inclusive, 47 to 51 inclusive, and 56; sections 77 to 79 inclusive and section 85; Chapter VII; or sections 117 to 120 inclusive and section 127 in its application to any of the provisions mentioned in this paragraph;
b. sections 57, 63 to 66 inclusive, 86 to 89 inclusive, 90(2) and (3), 91(2), (3),
(4) and (5), and 92; Chapter VI; and section 127 in its application to any of the provisions mentioned in this paragraph, a Bill for an Act of Parliament under this section shall not be passed by the National Assembly unless—
i. the final voting on the Bill in the Assembly takes place not less than three months after the previous voting thereon in the Assembly; and
ii. at such final voting the Bill is supported by the votes of not less than twothirds of all the Members of the Assembly.

4. In so far as it alters any of the provisions mentioned in subsection (3)(b) of this
section no Bill shall be presented to the President for his or her assent unless after its passage by the Assembly it has been submitted to the electors qualified to vote in the election of the Elected Members of the National Assembly, and, on a vote taken in such manner as Parliament may prescribe, the majority of the electors voting have approved the Bill.

5. In this section—
a. references to any provision of this Constitution include references to any provision of a law that alters that provision; and
b. references to the alteration of any provision of this Constitution include
references to the amendment, modification or re-enactment, with or without modification, of that provision, the suspension or repeal of that provision and the making of a different provision in lieu thereof.

See also:

Section 90-93 Botswana Constitution 1966 (Summoning, Prorogation and Dissolution)