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News release

Growing majority of Batswana say the president must obey the laws and the courts, Afrobarometer survey shows

20 Feb 2023 Botswana
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News release
Key findings
  • More than eight in 10 Batswana (84%) say the president must always obey the laws and the courts, even if he thinks they are wrong. Only 13% say instead that since the president was elected to lead the country, he should not be bound by laws or court decisions that he thinks are wrong (Figure 1).
  • The view that the president is bound by laws and court decisions is particularly strong among more educated citizens (91% of those with post-secondary qualifications) and urban residents (92%) (Figure 2).
  • The proportion of citizens who say the president should be bound by the laws and the courts has increased by 17 percentage points since 2008 (Figure 3).

An overwhelming majority of Batswana say the president must always obey the country’s laws and court decisions, even if he thinks they are wrong, the latest Afrobarometer findings indicate.

The proportion of citizens who hold this view has been increasing steadily over the past decade.

Critics have accused President Mokgweetsi Masisi of interfering in the allocation of judges for some cases.