Gov’t can’t say why 40,964 died in five years

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”.