Gov’t can’t say why 40,964 died in five years
Spira Tlhankane | Wednesday August 12, 2026 06:00
The startling revelation emerged in Parliament recently when Nkange legislator Motlhaleemang Moalosi asked the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Pius Mokgware, to provide statistics of registered deaths between June 2021 and June 2026, state the major cause of death in Botswana, and give the average age of the reported deaths.
Mokgware’s answer instead exposed a disturbing gap in Botswana’s death records as he revealed thousands of deaths but could not provide the major causes. The minister was able to provide a detailed five-year tally, but when it came to the most fundamental question of all, why people are dying, the answer was effectively, “Ask Health”.
Mokgware told Parliament that the issue of major causes of death was not within his portfolio responsibility and requested that Moalosi redirect the question to the Ministry of Health.
“Regarding this question on the major causes of death, my view is that it be directed to the appropriate ministry as it is not my portfolio responsibility. I, therefore, would like to request the honourable member to redirect this question to the Ministry of Health,' Mokgware told Parliament.
According to the minister the figures supplied by the Births and Deaths Registration System show that Botswana recorded 8,861 deaths from June 2021 to June 2022, 7,346 deaths from June 2022 to June 2023, 7,918 deaths from June 2023 to June 2024, 8,178 deaths from June 2024 to June 2025, and 8,661 deaths from June 2025 to June 2026. This adds up to 40,964 registered deaths in five years, and the numbers also show a worrying rebound.
According to the minister, after falling to 7,346 deaths in 2022–2023, registrations increased every year thereafter, reaching 8,661 in the latest period. This, he showed, represents an increase of 1,315 deaths, or almost 18%, from the five-year low.
But the numbers become much more difficult to interpret without causes of death. Whether the deaths were driven predominantly by non-communicable diseases, infectious diseases, road crashes, violence and other causes, the government couldn’t reveal because the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs has the country's registered death figures, whilst the minister pointed Parliament towards Health for the causes.
This raised questions about whether Botswana's death-registration data and health-mortality data are sufficiently integrated to give policymakers and the public a clear picture of what is actually driving mortality in the country.
The figures supplied to Parliament also show major fluctuations in the average age of reported deaths. The average age was 79 years in 2021–2022, plunged to 67 in 2022–2023, and then stood at 69 in 2023–2024 and 68 in 2024–2025. It subsequently jumped back to 79 years in 2025–2026.
Critics now argue that the issue is bigger than a statistic because Botswana as a country needs to know who is dying, how many are dying, and why they are dying to properly plan its health services, allocate resources, and respond to emerging threats.