The Government of Botswana spent P13.2 million on allowances and compensation for members of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Review of the Constitution, according to Minister for State President Moeti Mohwasa. The figure includes payments to Commissioners and the Secretariat, made up of public servants who supported the constitutional review process.
Responding to a parliamentary question posed by Boniface Mabeo, Member of Parliament for Gamalete, Minister Mohwasa detailed the cost breakdown of the high-level constitutional review exercise, which spanned months and included consultations across the country.
The Minister said that Commissioners were paid varying daily allowances, with the Chairperson receiving P6,000, the Vice Chairperson P4,000, and both the Head of Secretariat and other Secretariat members also receiving P4,000 and P2,250 respectively. These rates were consistent for the duration of the assignment, which required extensive travel to remote communities for stakeholder engagement and data collection.
Mohwasa clarified that the Secretariat, which comprised mainly public servants temporarily assigned to the Commission, was remunerated at the same rate as regular Commission members—a move intended to reflect the intensity and scope of the task.
While the Commission was accompanied by a media team from the Departments of Information and Broadcasting throughout its national outreach, the Minister confirmed that no special allowances were extended to the media personnel involved. Their participation was covered under normal government duty provisions.
Minister Mohwasa said standard government travel procedures such as imprest, per diem, and subsistence allowances were not applied for the delegation. He explained that the exceptional nature of the assignment, which required swift travel to numerous villages within a compressed timeframe, necessitated an alternative approach to logistical arrangements and disbursement of allowances.
The constitutional review exercise was commissioned by President Mokgweetsi Masisi to gather nationwide views on possible amendments to Botswana’s 1966 Constitution.
