Africa-Press – Botswana. Minister of Trade and Entrepreneurship, Tiroyaone Ntsima, has proposed a major overhaul of the nation’s liquor laws, one that would see the good times continue through the night.
Speaking at a kgotla consultation meeting in Maun on Monday regarding the draft Liquor Amendment Bill of 2025, Ntsima argued that the existing law, which was last reviewed in 2011, has become a hindrance to progress.
“The law is not supposed to disturb business but ensure that it does well,” the Minister stated.
At the heart of the suggested reform is the cancellation of fixed trading times during weekdays and weekends.
Instead, the Bill intends to allow liquor operators to set their own hours of operation based purely on market demand.
Ntsima is confident such a shift would allow businesses to be more efficient and profitable, particularly within the tourism and hospitality sectors.
“We have been told that we sleep too early, perhaps we will have towns that never sleep!” declared Ntsima, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Francistown East.
Currently bars operate from 12 noon until 10 at night from Monday to Thursdays but are allowed to stay open an extra two hours from Friday to Sunday.
Nightclubs operate from 19:00 hrs until 04:00 on Fridays and Saturdays while they have a midnight curfew for the rest of the week.
Liquor stores, meanwhile, can sell between 10:30 and 19:30 everyday apart from Sundays and public holidays when they have to close.
However, to modernise the trade, Ntsima called for the introduction of dedicated online liquor licenses.
This would allow operators to sell alcohol digitally without the current requirement of maintaining a traditional physical bar or bottle store.
Even more significantly, under the new Bill, the Minister said the sale of home-made traditional brews will be fully legalized and encouraged. Citizens will be urged to package and sell traditional brews, not just locally, but globally.
“International community wants to taste our brews,” Ntsima insisted, citing the success of foreign markets. “They have done so with theirs and are selling to us; equally, we can tap into the international market and trade our liquor.”
This would reverse the 2011 regulation where brews like Chibuku were moved from home sales to licensed liquor stores and bars.
To make the process of starting and running a business easier, Ntsima wants big changes to the licensing structure.
These included faster trade licences, abolishing the Liquor Control Authority (LCA) in Councils, which he explained can delay licence applications and revocations which can only occur after the committee meets every month.
He suggested removing the LCA from the Act entirely and transferring its powers directly to the Director.
The proposed Bill also addresses the distance restrictions, a policy implemented in 2003 to govern how far liquor businesses must be from sensitive areas.
The Minister announced that the 500 metre limitation currently applied to churches and major highways/main roads will be removed entirely.
The distance rule for schools, however, will be halved from 500m to 250m.
This reduction is supported by the argument that infrastructure development should not be hampered by restrictive laws, enabling businesses to operate closer to people and promoting visibility.
Addressing common community complaints, the Minister wants it to be a mandatory requirement for liquor operators to install noise-proof walls to prevent noise pollution from disturbing the neighbourhood.
The sweeping proposals did not go down well with everyone.
Deputy Chairperson of the North West District Council, Vepaune Moreti, raised strong opposition based on public nuisance issues.
Moreti recounted instances where councils previously had to close nightclubs in town centres due to serious nuisance, especially in tourism hubs like Maun.
“In other countries, when people go to a nightclub, they go in and do the clubbing, but here, just a handful go in while multitudes will crowd the surrounding of the nightclub causing havoc,” noted Moreti.
“We closed one nightclub at a shopping centre here because every morning the place would be littered with human waste, excretions, used sanitary pads and condoms. It was unsightly and not good for the image of our village which is a tourism destination.”
The consultation meetings continue to gather input from stakeholders across the country, balancing the need for economic opportunity while maintaining community order and public health.
Communities are advised to consult with their MP so that when the bill is debated in Parliament their voices will be heard.
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