Botswana Officially Removes Same-Sex Ban from the Penal Code

Botswana has officially removed from the text of its Penal Code the colonial-era provisions that once punished consensual same-sex sexual relations. MambaOnline reported that the amendment was formally published on March 26. The step matters because the country’s courts had already struck down the ban in 2019 and 2021, yet the wording remained in the statute book.

The change concerns paragraphs (a) and (c) of section 164 of the Penal Code, where “unnatural offences” had included sex “against the order of nature” and carried penalties of up to seven years in prison. After the amendment by Attorney General Dick Bayford, the only conduct still left in section 164 is sex with animals.

The courts had already settled the issue years ago. In 2019, the High Court ruled that criminalising consensual same-sex relations violated rights to dignity, liberty, privacy, and equality, and the Court of Appeal upheld that decision in 2021. In practice, LGBT people could no longer legally be prosecuted for such relations, but the old language still helped sustain stigma and confusion.

LEGABIBO , Botswana’s leading LGBT rights group, called the amendment overdue. It said keeping those clauses in the law even after the court victories continued to affect LGBT people’s access to healthcare, safety, employment, and the ability to live openly without fear.

The struggle for full equality in Botswana is not over, however. As MambaOnline has also reported , Bonolo Selelo and Tsholofelo Kumile are still challenging the country’s Marriage Act, and their case is due to resume in July.