Feelings over the issue of capital punishment are mixed...

Feelings over the issue of capital punishment are mixed in Botswana. Attorney-General Phandu Skelemani is on record as a supporter. Former Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration Ponatshego Kedikilwe, who held the portfolio of Justice, said the majority in Botswana are in favor. The Anglican and Catholic churches in Botswana are in the forefront of the abolitionist movement. Anglican Archbishop Walter Makhulu said although the Church finds itself in a position where it has to accommodate the penal codes of different countries, a life is too sacred to be dispensed with easily: "Even where horrendous crimes have been committed, retribution is not the answer." The Catholic Bishop of Gaborone, Boniface Setlalekgosi, said: "If all human life has such a high value and is sacred in the eyes of God, then surely that of the convicted criminal is also to be respected and protected."