23 Mar 2026

Government maintains that capital punishment is sanctioned by law and also acknowledges and respect it as provided for in the Penal Code, Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Mr Nelson Ramaotwana has said.

Responding to a parliamentary question, Minister Ramaotwana said there could never be a moratorium on capital punishment in the country unless it had been declared in terms of the law by an appropriate authority. 

“There has never been such a declaration as neither the President nor government has declared a moratorium on the death penalty,” Minister Ramaotwana said. 

Currently, he said there were 19 prisoners on death row, out of which six had been through the Court of Appeal and four of them were dismissed by the Court of Appeal before October 2024, while two were dismissed in 2025. 

Following dismissal of their appeals, Mr Ramaotwana said the prisoners lodged applications for mercy and no decision had been made on any of the representations yet. 

“There is a critical point that we wish to show concerning three of the six who have gone through the Court of Appeal. It has come to light that three of the six applicants, were not heard by the Court of Appeal, rather the court dismissed their appeals on the ground that they had not filed their appeals on time,” he added. 

Ordinarily, the minister said the President would only take an executive decision when all judicial processes had been exhausted. Serowe South MP, Mr Leepetswe Lesedi had wanted to know government’s position on capital punishment and if a moratorium had been imposed in Botswana.

The legislator had also asked why government seemed to place more value on the rights of murderers over those of their victims and their families. BOPA