The protection of human rights has become a topical issue in local politics, including questions about the legitimacy of the death penalty since the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) won the recent General Election. As things stand, Botswana remains the only country in Southern Africa that administers capital punishment.

A recent study suggests that more than eight in 10 Batswana (82%) believe that the death penalty is an appropriate form of punishment for the most serious crimes, such as murder. Only 16% of the population is of the view that the death penalty is never justified.

To debate the issue of whether or not Botswana's death penalty should be done away with, we were joined by Martin Dingake, attorney and founder of Dingake Law Partners, Thembi Dihela, Theo Ofetotse and Buang Chelane.