Not yet celebrations for the LGBT community in Botswana as the AG moves to appeal the ruling that decriminalized homosexuality in the country

Botswana, through its Attorney General, has moved to court to challenge an earlier court ruling which decriminalized same sex in the south African country saying the presiding judges erred.  

Last month, a High Court in Botswana ruled that sections 164 and 167of the country’s Penal Code were not constitutional after hearing a case of a student who is a member of the advocacy group of LEGABIBO and one who was admitted as a friend of the court.

The laws that have been in existence since the colonial era, criminalized homosexuality and any person in contravention of the laws risked a seven years behind bars for what the laws referred to as “carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature”.

The country’s Attorney General Abraham Keetshabe moved to challenge the June 11, 2019 ruling after reading through the judgment saying the presiding Judges Tafa, Dube and Leburu failed to reach a correct conclusion of the case as far as law goes.

While confirming to news agencies that he will, indeed, be launching his appeal in the Court of Appeal, the Attorney General said: “I have thoroughly read the 132-page-long judgment and I am of the view that the High Court erred in arriving at this conclusion”.

The ruling, which had been seen as a landmark judgment and victory for the LGBT community in Botswana especially after Kenyan courts refused to legalize homosexuality, now seems to be not final.

In their unanimous decision, the three presiding judges said in their ruling: “sexual orientation is not a fashion statement. It is an important attribute of one’s personality. All people are entitled to autonomy over their sexual expression”.

The Attorney General did not, however, reveal any more information on his intention to appeal the court ruling which left a majority of the population in Botswana, and those beyond, talking.