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- Written by: Keitumetse Carol Molwane
- Category: UK Activism
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Botswana at 60: Celebration and the Truth We Must Face
Today Botswana turns 60. The flags are flying high, drums are beating, and we celebrate six decades of independence, peace, and pride. We have so much to be grateful for — our nation has stood tall, and we have built something beautiful together. But as we celebrate, we cannot close our eyes to what is happening right beside us. There is another story that needs to be heard — one that deserves the same attention, the same urgency, the same national focus.
Our hospitals are struggling. Essential medicines are in short supply — at Princess Marina Hospital, availability is still around 40%. Staff have used their own money to buy basic supplies just to keep patients alive. Patients are being turned away or told to buy their own medication when they cannot afford it. Equipment sits broken — CT scanners not working, basic things missing — and people are suffering while help is delayed. We declared a public health emergency over a year ago, and still our people go without the care they need.
Children are missing. They vanish — from our streets, our villages, our homes — and their families are left waiting, wondering, hurting, often feeling unheard. Cases move slowly, answers do not come fast enough, and it feels as though only some names get the urgency they deserve. Every missing child is our child, no matter who their family is.
Gender-based violence remains a crisis — 37% of women have experienced violence in their lifetimes. Reports of ritual killings fill people with fear — bodies found, parts missing, families terrified — and still there is no specific law addressing it, even as the danger is real to so many.
It feels like when someone has a well-known name, things move quickly. But when it is ordinary people — our children, our mothers, our families — the response is too often slow, silent, or nowhere to be found. Every life matters equally. Every child deserves to be searched for with everything we have. Every patient deserves medicine and care when they need it, no questions asked.
So as we mark 60 years, let us celebrate fully — but let us also promise to do better. Let this Diamond Jubilee be the moment we say: we will protect every child, we will fix our hospitals, we will end the violence, and we will not rest until justice, safety, and care are real for all Batswana — not just some.
The drums are loud today. Let them sound for everyone. Let the next 60 years be the years where no one is left behind.