Botswana’s prison service currently manages 22 facilities, including a center for illegal immigrants, with an official capacity of 4,337 inmates. This information was disclosed this week in Parliament by Nelson Ramaotwana, the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, during his committee of supply presentation for the Botswana Prison Service (BPS).
As of March 18, 2026, the prison population stood at 4,457, including two children accompanying their mothers, Mr. Ramaotwana revealed. This number exceeds the authorized capacity by 2.8 percent, highlighting a persistent issue of overcrowding.
“Overcrowding places pressure on our resources and stifles efforts to maintain a humane and rehabilitative environment,” the minister said. “Provision of custodial services is a core function of the BPS. It consists of security, safety, and humane treatment of offenders. Thus, the Service is required to maintain secure and orderly operation of facilities to ensure the integrity of institutions conducive to rehabilitation.”
To address these challenges, Mr. Ramaotwana proposed a budget allocation of P906,692,740 for the recurrent budget and P38,520,000 for development projects for the Fiscal Year 2026/2027.
In a related parliamentary exchange, Unity Dow, the Member of Parliament for Kgatleng West, inquired about the number of individuals detained under civil imprisonment for failure to pay debts over the past six years. She also questioned the daily cost to the government for such detentions and whether the laws and procedures governing civil imprisonment should be reviewed.
In response, Mr. Ramaotwana explained that civil imprisonment occurs when a person who owes money is committed to prison following a judgment and writ in favor of the creditor, issued under Order 53 of the High Court Rules and Orders.
He disclosed that from 2019 to 2025, 3,820 people were admitted to prison under civil imprisonment: 436 in 2019, 239 in 2020, 516 in 2021, 635 in 2022, 737 in 2023, 766 in 2024, and 491 in 2025.
“A judgment creditor is required by law, under section 56 of the Magistrates Court Act, to pay for the maintenance of the judgment debtor whom they have sent to prison,” Mr. Ramaotwana said. “The cost of maintenance is P1.50 a day.”
He further revealed that the government has paid P17,707,620 in maintenance fees at a rate of P105 per person per day, covering 168,644 detention days. The judgment creditors, however, were only expected to pay P252,966 at P1.50 per person per day. To date, only P59,689.15 has been recovered from creditors, underscoring the difficulties in enforcing these obligations. Payment of maintenance costs is not a prerequisite for admitting judgment debtors to prison.
“This is a heavy burden on the public for prisoners detained at the instance of judgment creditors,” Mr. Ramaotwana said. “The law on civil imprisonment presents a number of challenges, as shown above. To this end, my Ministry will review the law and bring it before Parliament for appropriate legislative action.”