History was made in Botswana following a landmark High Court ruling on Tuesday to strike down colonial-era laws by declaring unconstitutional parts of section 164, 165 and 167 of the penal code, which criminalise same-sex relationships. Consequently, the high court ruling legalized of homosexuality resulting in diverse reactions from the local and international community on the decision. A panel of three high court judges led by Justice Michael Leburu, Abednego Tafa and Jennifer Dube delivered judgement in favour of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community. In the ruling, the court struck down section 164 (a) and (c) which criminalized consensual same sex sexual conduct and have removed “ private’’ from acts of gross indecency criminalized under section 167. Section 164 reads that “Any person who has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature” or “permits any other person to have carnal knowledge of him or her against the order of nature is guilty of an offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years”. Section 165 of penal code notes that “Any person who attempts to commit any of the offences specified in section 164 is guilty of an offence and is…