Government

Government#

parliamentary republic

System

parliamentary republic

Capital

Gaborone

Head of state

President Duma BOKO (since 1 November 2024)

Head of government

President Duma BOKO (since 1 November 2024)

Legislature

legislature name: Parliament; legislative structure: unicameral; chamber name: National Assembly; number of seats: 69 (61 directly elected; 6 indirectly elected); electoral system: plurality/majority; scope of elections: full renewal; term in office: 5 years; most recent election date: 10/30/2024; parties elected and seats per party: Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) (36); Botswana Congress Party (BCP) (15); Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) (5); Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) (4); Other (1); percentage of women in chamber: 9%; expected date of next election: October 2029

Judiciary

highest court(s): Court of Appeal, High Court (each consists of a chief justice and a number of other judges as prescribed by the Parliament); judge selection and term of office: Court of Appeal and High Court chief justices appointed by the president and other judges appointed by the president upon the advice of the Judicial Service Commission; all judges appointed to serve until age 70; subordinate courts: Industrial Court (with circuits scheduled monthly in the capital city and in 3 districts); Magistrates Courts (1 in each district); Customary Court of Appeal; Paramount Chief’s Court/Urban Customary Court; Senior Chief’s Representative Court; Chief’s Representative’s Court; Headman’s Court

Constitution

history: previous 1960 (pre-independence); latest adopted March 1965, effective 30 September 1966; amendment process: proposed by the National Assembly; passage requires approval in two successive Assembly votes with at least two-thirds majority in the final vote; proposals to amend constitutional provisions on fundamental rights and freedoms, the structure and branches of government, and public services also requires approval by majority vote in a referendum and assent by the president of the republic

Independence

30 September 1966 (from the UK)

Administrative divisions

10 districts and 6 town councils*; Central, Chobe, Francistown*, Gaborone*, Ghanzi, Jwaneng*, Kgalagadi, Kgatleng, Kweneng, Lobatse*, North East, North West, Selebi-Phikwe*, South East, Southern, Sowa Town*

Departments#

TODO. Ministries and authoritative sites, to be filled out.

Hierarchy#

How power is wired. The diagram below carries the generic template; refine the boxes and edges to match the current regime.

        flowchart TD
  HoS["Head of State"]
  HoG["Head of Government"]
  Leg["Legislature"]
  Jud["Judiciary"]
  Cab["Cabinet"]
  Foreign["Foreign Affairs"]
  Interior["Interior"]
  Defense["Defense"]
  Finance["Finance"]
  Justice["Justice"]

  HoS --> HoG
  HoG --> Cab
  Cab --> Foreign
  Cab --> Interior
  Cab --> Defense
  Cab --> Finance
  Cab --> Justice
  HoS -.- Leg
  HoS -.- Jud

Resources#

Public-facing portals the people use day to day. Operators monitor these for policy changes, official notices, and civil-registry data.

Resource

Site

Purpose

National portal

to be filled

One-stop government services for citizens.

Tax / revenue

to be filled

Income tax, VAT, customs.

Civil registry

to be filled

Births, deaths, marriages, national ID.

Immigration

to be filled

Visas, residency, naturalisation.

Health

to be filled

Public health, advisories, vaccination records.

Education

to be filled

Curricula, school directories, transcripts.

Statistics

to be filled

Census, economic indicators, opendata.

Police / emergency

to be filled

Reporting, missing persons, emergency contacts.
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