EYE FOR AN EYE Kgosi
Lotlamoreng wants death penalty to be maintained
Kgosi Lotlamoreng of Barolong says that the death penalty should remain in the revised Constitution. Speaking during consultative reviews of the Commission of Inquiry of the constitutional review in his area recently, Kgosi Lotlamoreng noted that it would be a grave mistake to abolish the death penalty, considering the ever increasing crimes that the country is experiencing.
Kgosi Lotlamoreng said that the execution of perpetrators should remain because many people are suffering on account of ill acts such as murder, which has increased significantly in the past few years. “Many young people are left as orphans while some are left without partners because of murders that happen,” he said.
He emphasised that stricter laws towards criminals, particularly those who take lives, would serve as a strong deterrent to potential murderers to know that their “karma” would
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come just as painful, with a noose hanging around their neck to sniff the life out of them.
years. Through
Capital punishment is a legal penalty applied for murder carried out under aggravated
prosperous and
circumstances, with executions usually carried out by hanging. The death penalty has raised a lot of contention over the years, with human
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rights activists calling it barbaric and inhumane. Under the Penal Code, the death penalty is mandatory in cases of murder unless extenuating circumstances, which could reduce the offender’s moral blameworthiness, are found.
In many cases, the courts find that extenuating circumstances exist and refrain from imposing the death penalty. It is therefore widely believed that in Botswana, because of the extenuating circumstances, the courts rarely impose the death penalty. The death penalty cannot be carried out upon individuals less than
18 years of age at the time of the commission of the offence. Section 26(2) of the Penal Code stipulates that such persons ‘shall be liable to be detained.
Botswana is one of few countries in the world that still has the death penalty, and is the only country in southern Africa that still practices capital punishment, with 80 percent of African
The
countries having abolished the death penalty. Botswana has countless times come under fire for implementing the death penalty.
The International Federation for Human Rights has on countless occasions urged Botswana to abolish the death penalty, with the support of local human rights organisation, Ditshwanelo, which is strongly vocal against the death penalty, and has countless times referred to it as a “violation of human rights.”
Executions in Botswana increased significantly after President Mokgweetsi Masisi ascended to presidency, with about six executions carried out since 2019, which has attracted harsh criticism, particularly from Amnesty International, which last year released a statement condemning the practice of the death penalty, noting:
“The continued rise of the death penalty in Botswana and the sharp rise in executions is a chilling reminder of the contempt with which Botswana authorities view the right to life.”
Despite calls for the abolition of the death penalty, findings and surveys including by Ditshwanelo itself, have established that many Batswana still believe in upholding the death penalty.
Kgosi Lotlamoreng noted despite opposition to the death penalty, that it still has a place in Botswana society because it can serve as a deterrent to violent crimes. He also encouraged corporal punishment to be taken seriously, and the role administered in flogging by the
to be amplified, arguing that corporal punishment can significantly contribute to a decrease in incidents of crime, immorality and general nuisance.