BOTSWANA – On 7 July 2026, senior government officials from across the Government of Botswana convened for the Executive Leadership Data Protection Forum. The high-level engagement was designed to strengthen executive capacity on data protection governance, digital trust, and accountability.

Held under the theme "My Data, My Responsibility," the Forum equipped 55 Permanent Secretaries and senior officials, the accounting officers of their ministries, with the statutory knowledge and leadership responsibilities needed to safeguard personal information across government.

Delivering the opening remarks, CIJ’s Executive Director Ron Chari described the Forum as an important milestone. It marks the Institute’s first engagement in Botswana on executive leadership and data protection.

A Shift in Perspective

Chari observed that data protection has traditionally been treated as a technical matter, the preserve of IT professionals and legal practitioners. He argued that the evolving digital landscape demands a fundamental shift. Permanent Secretaries, as heads of ministries and government institutions, bear the ultimate responsibility for ensuring that personal information is protected in accordance with the law.

Government ministries process high volumes of personal and sensitive data across nearly every function of public administration, from social grants and health records to immigration, digital services and bilateral engagement. Each of these functions now fall within the accounting officer’s direct statutory responsibility.

"The responsibility for protecting personal data rests with executive leadership. It is about governance, accountability, and building public trust," he said.

Botswana's Strengthened Legal Framework

The Forum reflects Botswana's strengthened legal framework for data privacy. The Data Protection Act No. 18 of 2024 came into effect January 2025, establishing comprehensive obligations for protection of personal information. Legal accountability now extends beyond private entities to the State and all public institutions.

The Forum’s six sessions moved from the statutory foundations of executive accountability to the lessons government can draw from corporate data governance. Participants then turned to the cost of failure. They examined African enforcement precedents and data breach case studies illustrating the regulatory, operational, financial, and reputational consequences of weak governance. A further session addressed cybersecurity and artificial intelligence as emerging executive responsibilities, reflecting the pace of Botswana’s digital transformation. 

Founder and Managing Partner of Perle Business and Management Solutions, Ellen Gara, designed and delivered the Forum. It closed with a session on executive reflection, in which participants identified governance priorities and leadership commitments to carry forward within their ministries.

Why This Matters

The engagement advances three of CIJ’s strategic priorities. It applies the Act as a live statutory framework governing government operations. It builds the institutional capacity and accountability structures needed to make that framework operational. It treats trusted data governance as a precondition for the digital transformation envisaged under the Botswana Economic Transformation Programme (BETP) and National Development Plan 12 (NDP 12).

For CIJ, the Forum marks the start of a new institutional relationship with the Government of Botswana at the most senior levels of the public service. It also lays foundation for future collaboration on data governance and digital transformation across the public sector.

CIJ is grateful to Ellen Gara and Perle Business and Management Solutions for their partnership in designing and delivering the Forum, and to the Permanent Secretaries and senior officials of the Government of Botswana for the leadership they brought to the day.

Data protection is not a technical safeguard bolted onto government. It is a leadership responsibility that sits at the heart of public trust.