(Graphic: John McCann/M&G)
Lesedi Molapisi, a young Motswana woman, faces possible execution in Bangladesh after she was convicted for drug trafficking. Her case has prompted Botswana’s government to act, with diplomatic representatives reportedly appealing for her life and calling for her rights to be protected.
Yet this intervention is in stark contrast to its domestic reality, where it continues to uphold the death penalty.
The death penalty is applicable under Botswana’s Penal Code for murder under Section 203, unless extenuating circumstances are proven. Other capital offences include treason (section 34), instigating invasion (section 35) and piracy endangering life (section 63.2). The sentence is to be carried out by hanging at Gaborone Central Prison.
Judicial discretion is limited, especially in murder cases. Judges are required to impose the death sentence unless mitigating evidence is deemed sufficient. This rigidity has attracted criticism, particularly from the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which continues to urge member states to abolish capital punishment or declare moratoriums.
Historical practice
Since gaining independence in 1966, Botswana has averaged one execution a year. The practice has long been carried out in secrecy. Families are often notified only after the fact, and executions receive little to no public notice in advance. The authorities do not maintain or publish a current list of individuals on death row, further obscuring oversight.
The 2001 execution of South African Mariette Bosch remains emblematic of Botswana’s clandestine approach. Bosch was hanged early on a Sunday morning, without her family being informed in time. Her execution sparked international condemnation and cast lasting doubt on the country’s transparency and fairness in capital cases.
Two people were hanged in 2022. No detailed reports followed.
Flawed justification
Government officials have historically invoked public opinion to justify retaining the death penalty. According to Afrobarometer’s 2024 survey, 82% of Batswana support the death penalty for serious crimes. But public opinion surveys can be influenced by the methodology used, the time when these are undertaken and overall should be used as a tool to assess how much more public human rights education is needed on the true reality of the death penalty.
Studies internationally have shown that the death penalty does not effectively deter violent crime. Its application is frequently discriminatory, falling disproportionately on the poor, the legally unrepresented and those with mental or intellectual disabilities.
Regional trends
Botswana is now the only country in Southern Africa that continues to carry out executions.
Across the continent, momentum is building toward abolition. Twenty-four African countries have abolished the death penalty in law. Fourteen more are considered abolitionist in practice; they have not executed anyone in the past 10 years and are believed to have a policy or established practice of not carrying out executions.
In December 2024, Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa signed the Death Penalty Abolition Bill into law for ordinary crimes after years of public debate. Mnangagwa himself was sentenced to death during the liberation struggle.
Other countries are following suit. Kenya and Liberia have introduced abolition Bills, while The Gambia has initiated constitutional reforms to eliminate capital punishment. These developments signal a clear regional realignment in favour of life and restorative justice.
Global picture
According to human rights organisation Amnesty International’’s report on the global use of the death penalty in 2024, at least 1 518 executions were recorded worldwide in 2024, representing a 32% increase from the previous year and the highest figure since 2015.
But the significant increase in the known global total was mainly the result of a spike in executions in three countries in the Middle East — Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
The known totals did not include thousands of people believed to have been executed in China, which remained the world’s lead executioner, and in North Korea and Vietnam, countries believed to continue to carry out executions extensively but where access to information is restricted.
Importantly, the number of countries carrying out executions fell to a record low of just 15.
This suggests that although some regimes have doubled down, most of the world is moving toward abolition.
In 2024 at least 2 087 death sentences were imposed in 46 countries, but in many, no executions followed.
The abolition of the death penalty has long been recognised as the goal to be achieved under international human rights law and standards. Amnesty International opposes it unconditionally as a violation of human rights.
Chance for human rights
President Duma Boko is uniquely positioned to lead Botswana away from capital punishment.
As a human rights lawyer, he has spent much of his career challenging the legitimacy of the death penalty. In the early 2000s, he launched a constitutional challenge against its legality and defended several clients facing execution.
As the president of Botswana, he now has the opportunity to lead the process of abolition and consign the death penalty to the history books.
Since taking office in late 2024, Boko has continued the hiatus in execution and not authorised a single death warrant.
As of May, this year, 15 men were reported as remaining on death row. Although this restraint is significant, it is not sufficient. Without an official moratorium or legal reform, the machinery of execution remains intact.
Nevertheless, there are indications of a changing legal framework. The minister of justice recently announced plans to repeal the outdated Prisons Act and replace it with a Correctional Services Act, which aims to incorporate rehabilitation and human dignity in its provisions.
This reform process presents a strategic opportunity to integrate broader human rights reforms, including abolition of the death penalty.
Moral contradiction
Lesedi Molapisi’s case starkly exposes Botswana’s contradictory stance on life and justice. The same government that rightly pleads for compassion in Dhaka, Bangladesh, has in the past signed off in silence and secrecy in Gaborone. If the sanctity of life is worth defending abroad, it must be defended without exception at home.
There is no credible evidence that capital punishment is more effective in deterring crime than life imprisonment. What it does is perpetuate violence under the cover of legality. It denies the possibility of rehabilitation and risks irreversible injustice.
Justice must be principled. It must be consistent. It must recognise that the value of a person’s life cannot depend on the location of their conviction or the circumstances of their crime.
The principled stance the government has taken in calling for cancellation of the death penalty in Bangladesh ought to be accompanied by a removal of this most cruel forms of punishment in Botswana too.
Boko has a historic opportunity to align principle with policy and law. He could begin by declaring an official moratorium on all executions in the country and committing to legislative reform to remove the death penalty from the history books.
These are not radical demands. They are necessary steps toward a justice system grounded in dignity, accountability and the sanctity of life.
If Lesedi’s case has taught us anything, it is that life is too precious and justice too fallible to gamble with. Botswana must lead not by the weight of tradition, but by the courage of its values.
Nkanyiso Mtolo is a campaigner at Amnesty International.