Week 99: Sir Seretse Khama Day

Sir Seretse Khama was the first president of Botswana and the father to the current president, his Birthday, July 1^st, is a national holiday. Khama was born to the paramount chief of the Bangwato people who reside primarily in what is now the central region of Botswana. As a child he was sent to South Africa for schooling and attended university in the UK. It was in the UK where he met his wife a white English woman by the name of Ruth Williams, this interracial marriage led to Khama’s exile. The British adhered to Apartheid South Africa’s pressure to refuse Khama to return to his home since they did not want to lose goods from the mines in South Africa. The British had this power since Botswana was a British Protectorate known as Bechuanaland. In order to return home, Khama had to renounce his tribal throne, which he had held since his father's death when he was four (Khama's Uncle was acting as regent). After a five year hiatus from politics Khama formed the Bechuanaland Democratic Party and helped Botswana gain independence, September 30^, 1966. Botswana is made up of many different people groups each with their own tribal chief, called a Kgosi. These tribal systems are still in place and work in conjunction with the democratic system that Sir Seretse Khama helped to install. Happy Sir Seretse Khama Day!