Law has no business in bedrooms-LEGABIBO

MARANYANE NGWANAAMOTHO
Staff Writer | Friday February 25, 2011 00:00

The case by Botswana Network on Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDS (BONELA) and Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals of Botswana (LEGABIBO) is targeting Section 164 of the Penal Code. The two NGOs said yesterday that the law denies people protection from diseases, the right to associate and to express their sexuality.

The director of BONELA, Uyapo Ndadi told the media in Gaborone that the law does not have a place in modern Botswana where all people are protected by the constitution regardless of their religious belief and sexual preferences. Section 164 says that: 'Any person who

(a) has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature; (b) has carnal knowledge of an animal; or (c) permits a male person to have carnal knowledge of him or her against the order of nature, is guilty of an offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years'.

Monica Tabengwa, a human rights lawyer and LEGABIBO chairperson said that even the law penalises 'sex against the order of nature' it is not clear what nature is or whose nature it is. 'Is it defined by the President of Botswana or the different religions that we have?' she asked.

Tabengwa said that there is a common constitution that should be held supreme above religious beliefs and any other structures that may be used to define nature and morality.

'We are a nation with diverse beliefs, religions and ways of living. Some people do not even believe in any god. No one should impose their beliefs on these people,' she said.

She stated that homosexuals are two consenting adults and there is no harm intended in their act. She added that this therefore means there is no cause for concern.

She said that their aim is to chase the law out of bedrooms where people should be allowed to choose who they get intimate with. 'I do not see what the law could be doing in people's houses, because there is even no intention to harm. People should be allowed their privacy,' she said. 

Early this week, former president of the country and chairperson of the National AIDS Council (NAC), Festus Mogae raised concerns about lack of provision of condoms in prisons.

He said availing condoms in prison can drastically reduce the number of new HIV infections.

'I am not interested in if it is right or wrong for men to have sex with other men. If we have evidence that people go to prisons without the virus and come out infected, then we should act to save these people,' he said.