Botswana police raid licensed hemp farm and uproot its plants
Officers of the Botswana Police Narcotics Squad raided the farm of licensed hemp grower Fresh Standard on about 7 May 2019 and uprooted its young plants as cannabis, months after the agriculture minister had exempted the crop.
Fresh Standard, a Gaborone-based company, received an exemption in October 2018 from agriculture minister Patrick Ralotsia to grow and process cannabis sativa and hemp for medical and industrial purposes, and spent millions of pula setting up the business.[1][2]
On or about 7 May 2019 officers of the Narcotics Squad of the Botswana Police Service raided the farm and uprooted the young plants in its nursery, saying they were cannabis.[1][2]The company’s director had learned his exemption had supposedly been withdrawn by the agriculture permanent secretary in a letter of 29 March 2019.[2]
In January 2022 the Gaborone High Court ruled the withdrawal unlawful: only the minister could revoke the exemption, and the permanent secretary had neither the power nor given the farmer a hearing.[1][2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Clifford Nkomo, 51, was arrested at a farm in Gantsi and charged with unlawful possession and unlawful cultivation after police reported about 500 kg of cannabis worth P250,000, plus about 1 kg in sachets. He was remanded to 27 April 2026.
Botswana police intercepted Namibian driver Mbaunguraije Kaitjirokere at the Mamuno border and seized about 100 kg of cannabis from his truck. He appeared in the Gantsi court on a trafficking charge, was remanded in custody and had not yet pleaded by his second appearance in early March 2026.
Police seized seven bags holding 79.1 kg of cannabis from four men stopped along the Trans Kalahari road near Lobatse on 26 October 2025. The four pleaded not guilty to unlawful possession of dagga, while two admitted overstaying and one admitted entering Botswana through an un-gazetted point.
Maun Magistrates Court sentenced South African truck driver Thapelo Skhosana, 29, to 10 years in jail for trafficking dagga after police found 29.4 kilograms in his truck at Makalamabedi gate in January 2022. He was given two days to pay a P20 000 fine in place of five years, failed to raise the money, and will serve the full decade, backdated to his arrest.
