The Cannabis Association of Botswana (CAB) has announced it has decided to pursue legal redress in a bid to get answers from government as to why its application for a Certificate of Registration has not been responded to more than a year after it was lodged.
“For over a year, CAB has been denied a Certificate of Registration by the Registrar of Societies Botswana despite consistent engagement and compliance efforts. This prolonged delay has raised serious concerns regarding the ability of civil society organizations to participate meaningfully in the sector,” CAB’s founder and president, Peo Seed (pictured here), said in a media release on 14 April 2026.
CAB’s legal team had now formally written to the Registrar of Societies outlining its concerns regarding the continued refusal to issue registration and authorities’ failure to furnish a response.
In an interview with Cannabiz Africa Seed said the Association had engaged Lands and Agriculture Assistant Minister Dr Edwin Dikoloti in April last year. Their discussions did not lead anywhere, as had CAB’s efforts to engage Botswana’s Lands and Agriculture Permanent Secretary Dr Mokganedi Mokopasetso in November. Talks with the Deputy Registrar had similarly proved fruitless.
“Botswana stands at a pivotal moment in developing its cannabis and hemp industry ” said Seed. “Ensuring that civil society organizations are able to operate transparently and lawfully is critical to maintaining public trust, promoting responsible education, and supporting inclusive sector development”.
In an unrelated issue, Reports also allege the National Cannabis Control Authority (NCCA), the oversight cannabis sector body, is inadequately capacitated and is also not engaging with civil society. . “There seem to be only seven people working there,” a source said, while questioning government’s commitment to democratise the cannabis formalisation process.
The CAB is concerned that the NCCA has been set up as a gatekeepeer to prevent local businesses from entering the cannabis economy beyond hemp cultivation and licensing. Recently published hemp licensing and processing fees have been criticized as too expensive for locals to participate, giving rise to a public debate on who actually owns the Botswana cannabis value chain.
CAB says that several of its affiliates have approached the NCCA for guidance in developing local cannabis products but have hit a brick wall.
“We want to ensure that certain cannabis products are supplied solely by locals. We do not want to see foreign cannabis products flooding the local shelves,” Peo told Cannabiz Africa.
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