Section 30-35 Constitution of Botswana 1966

Section 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 of the Constitution of Botswana 1966, among others, are under Part I (The President and the Vice-President) of Chapter IV of the Constitution. Chapter IV is titled The Executive.

Section 30 Botswana Constitution 1966

Office of President

There shall be a President of the Republic of Botswana who shall be the Head of
State.

Section 31 Botswana Constitution 1966

First President

1. The first President shall be the person who immediately before 30th September,
1966 holds the office of Prime Minister under the Constitution.

2. The first President shall be deemed to have assumed office at the coming into
operation of this Constitution.

Section 32 Botswana Constitution 1966

Election of President after dissolution of Parliament

1. Whenever Parliament is dissolved an election shall be held to the office of
President in such manner as is prescribed by this section and, subject thereto, by
or under an Act of Parliament.

2. Nominations in the election of a President shall be delivered to the returning
officer on such day and at such time as may be prescribed by or under any law
for the time being in force in Botswana; the nomination of a candidate in an
election of a President shall not be valid unless it is supported, in such manner as
may be prescribed by or under an Act of Parliament, by not less than 1000
persons registered as voters for the purpose of elections to the Assembly.

3. The following provisions shall then apply—
a. a person nominated as a Parliamentary candidate may, at the time of his or
her nomination and subject to the provisions of paragraph (b), declare in
such manner as may be prescribed by or under an Act of Parliament which
of the candidates in the election of President he or she supports, but the
nomination of a Parliamentary candidate shall be valid notwithstanding
that the nomination paper does not contain such a declaration;
b. such a declaration shall not be made in relation to any Presidential
candidate unless that candidate has signified, in such manner as may be
prescribed by or under an Act of Parliament, his or her consent to the
making of a declaration in his or her favour by that Parliamentary
candidate;
c. where the Parliamentary election is contested in any constituency a poll
shall be taken in that constituency at which the votes shall be given by
ballot, and for the purposes of that poll any Parliamentary candidate who
declared support in accordance with paragraph (a) for a particular
Presidential candidate shall use the same voting colour and symbol, if any,
as may have been allocated under any law for the time being in force in
Botswana to that Presidential candidate for the purposes of the
Presidential election;
d. the returning officer shall declare to be elected as President any candidate
for whom support has been declared in accordance with paragraph (a)
above by not less than such number of persons elected as Members of the
National Assembly in the Parliamentary election as corresponds to more
than half the total number of seats for Elected Members in the Assembly,
and if there is no such person the returning officer shall declare that no
candidate has been elected.

4. Parliament may make provision whereby the time for nominating Presidential
candidates may be extended in the event of there being no qualified candidate
nominated at the expiration of the time for the delivery of such nominations.

5. Where, at the expiration of the time for the delivery of nominations in the
election of a President, more than one qualified candidate is validly nominated
and any of those candidates dies before the commencement of the poll in the
Parliamentary election, the poll in the Parliamentary election shall be
countermanded, fresh nominations of Parliamentary candidates shall take place
in every constituency and a fresh election of a President shall be held in
accordance with the foregoing provisions of this section.

6. Where—
a. any candidate in an election of a President dies during the period
commencing with the taking of the poll in the Parliamentary election and
ending when the result of the election has been ascertained and that
candidate would, but for his or her death, have been entitled to have been
declared elected as President under subsection (3) of this section; or
b. the returning officer declares in accordance with the provisions of
subsection (3)(d) of this section that no candidate has been elected,
the new National Assembly shall meet on such day (not being more than 14 days
after the result of the election is ascertained or, as the case may be, the
declaration that no candidate has been elected) as the Speaker shall appoint,
and shall elect a person to the office of President in such manner as is prescribed
by section 35(5) of this Constitution and subject thereto by or under an Act of
Parliament. Such an election shall take place before the election of the Specially
Elected Members of the National Assembly.

7. A person elected to the office of President under this section shall assume that
office on the day upon which he or she is declared elected.

8. Without prejudice to the provisions of section 92 of this Constitution, an Elected
Member of the National Assembly may, in the event of there being one or more
successful election petitions following a general election, move, at the first
sitting of the Assembly after the resultant by-elections have been decided and
the Members thereby elected have taken their seats, that the President does
not enjoy the support of the majority of the Elected Members of the Assembly;
and in the voting on that question the Specially Elected Members of the
Assembly shall have no vote. If it appears as a result of the voting on that
question that the President does not enjoy the support of a majority of the
elected Members of the Assembly, the office of President shall become vacant.

9. Any Elected Member of the Assembly may give notice to the President that he
or she intends to move in the Assembly a motion under subsection (8) and
notwithstanding any other provision of this Constitution the President shall not
after receipt of any such notice be empowered to dissolve Parliament before the
conclusion of the sitting of the Assembly mentioned in the said subsection (8).

10. If the office of President becomes vacant in accordance with subsection (8) of
this section the seats of the Specially Elected Members of the Assembly shall
also become vacant, and the election of a person to the office of President shall
take place before the election of the Specially Elected Members.

11. In this section—
• “Parliamentary candidate” means a candidate in the Parliamentary
election;
• “the Parliamentary election” means the general election to elect those
Members of the National Assembly who are referred to in section 58(2)(a)
of this Constitution following any dissolution of Parliament;
• “Presidential candidate” means a candidate for the office of President;
• “the returning officer” means the returning officer specified in section 38 of
this Constitution.

Section 33 Botswana Constitution 1966

Qualification for election as President

1. A person shall be qualified for election as President if, and shall not be qualified
unless, he or she—
a. is a citizen of Botswana by birth or descent;
b. has attained the age of 30 years; and
c. is qualified to be elected as a Member of the National Assembly.

2. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, for the purposes of this section
and section 39—
a. the term “citizen by birth” shall be understood to include only those
persons who became citizens of Botswana prior to the amendment of the
law relating to citizenship by the Cap. 01:01 Citizenship Act;
b. any person who, although his or her father was a citizen of Botswana at the
time of that person’s birth, had, by virtue of his or her having been born
outside Botswana, to be registered as a citizen of Botswana, under the law
relating to citizenship in force at that time, shall be regarded as a citizen by
descent.

Section 34 Botswana Constitution 1966

Tenure of office of President

1. The President shall, subject to the provisions of this section, hold office for an
aggregate period not exceeding 10 years beginning from the date of his or her
first assumption of office of President after the commencement of this Act.

2. The President shall cease to hold the office of President if at any time during his
or her tenure of office any circumstances arise that would, if he or she were not
a member of the National Assembly, cause him or her to be disqualified for
election thereto.

3. The President shall cease to hold office of President at the expiry of the period
prescribed under subsection (1) of this section, or when the person elected at
the next election of President following a dissolution of Parliament assumes
office.

Section 35 Botswana Constitution 1966

Vacancy in office of President

1. Whenever the President dies, resigns or ceases to hold office, the
Vice-President shall assume office as President with effect from the date of the
death, resignation or ceasing to be President.

2. If the office of President—
a. becomes vacant in circumstances in which there is no Vice-President; or
b. is vacant whilst the Vice-President is absent from Botswana or is, by reason
of physical or mental infirmity unable to perform the functions of his or her
office, the functions of the office of President shall, until such time as a new President assumes office in accordance with this section or section 32 of this Constitution, be performed by such Minister as the Cabinet shall appoint. For the purposes of this subsection, a certificate of the Chief Justice that the Vice-President is by reason of physical or mental infirmity unable to discharge the functions of his or
her office, shall, in respect of any period for which it is in force, be conclusive and shall not be questioned in any court.

3. Any person performing the functions of the office of President by virtue of
subsection (1) or (2) of this section shall not exercise the power of the President
to revoke the appointment of Vice-President or to dissolve Parliament.

4. If the office of President becomes vacant, the National Assembly shall, unless
Parliament is dissolved, and notwithstanding that it may be prorogued, meet on
the seventh day after the office of President becomes vacant, or on such earlier
day as may be appointed by the Speaker, and shall elect a person to the office in
such manner as is prescribed by the next following subsection and, subject
thereto, by or under an Act of Parliament.

5. In an election of a President under this section—
a. the Speaker shall preside at the meeting and conduct the election;
b. a person may be a candidate if and shall not be a candidate unless he or she
has been nominated as a candidate with his or her consent prior to the
sitting of the National Assembly at which the election takes place, by not
less than 10 Members of the National Assembly entitled to vote in that
election;
c. at the election every Member of the Assembly except the Speaker shall be
entitled to vote;
d. the votes of the Members of the Assembly who are entitled to vote shall be
given by ballot in such manner as not to disclose how any particular
Member voted, and any person who receives the votes of more than one
half of the total number of persons entitled to vote shall be declared
elected as President;
e. a person elected as President under this section shall assume the office of
President on the day upon which he or she is declared to be elected;
f. not more than three ballots shall be taken unless in the opinion of the
Speaker the holding of further ballots is likely to result in the election of a
President, in which case not more than two further ballots may be taken;
g. only one ballot shall be taken at any sitting of the Assembly, and the
Speaker may adjourn the meeting at which a second or subsequent ballot is
to be taken for such number of days (in addition to the days on which and to
which the meeting is adjourned), not being more than two, as he or she
thinks fit;
h. if there is no candidate duly nominated for the first ballot in accordance
with paragraph (b) or if after the number of ballots permitted under
paragraph (f) have been taken no candidate has been declared elected
Parliament shall stand dissolved or, in the case of a Presidential election
held in accordance with section 32(6) of this Constitution, the foregoing
general election shall be void.

6. No business other than the election of a President shall be transacted at a
meeting of the National Assembly under subsection (4) of this section or under
section 32(6) of this Constitution and such a meeting or any sitting thereof shall
not be regarded as a meeting or sitting of the Assembly for the purposes of any
other provision of this Constitution.

7. At any time when the office of Speaker is vacant or the holder of that office is
unable by reason of absence or illness to exercise the functions vested in him or
her by this section and section 32(6) of this Constitution, those functions may be
exercised by the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly or, if there is no
Deputy Speaker or the Deputy Speaker is unable by reason of absence or illness
to exercise those functions, by such member of the Assembly (not being the
President or Vice-President or a Minister or Assistant Minister) as the Assembly
may elect for that purpose.

See also:

Section 36-41 Botswana Constitution 1966