Sir Seretse Goitsebeng Maphiri Khama was the first president of Botswana. Twice a hero to his people. As chief of the Bamangwato tribe he accepted exile rather than give up either his people or his English bride. Then, six years later, he was feted again for surrendering his rights as a chief and returning to win independence by constitutional means without bloodshed.
Background
Seretse (the name means "the clay that binds together") Khama was born in Serowe, British Protectorate of Bechunaland, on 1 July 1921. He was from one of the more powerful of the royal families of what was then the British Protectorate of Bechuanaland. His grandfather, Kgama III, was paramount chief (Kgosi) of the Bama-Ngwato, part of the Tswana people of the region. Kgama III had traveled to London in 1885, leading a delegation which asked for Crown protection to be given to Bechuanaland, foiling the empire building ambitions of Cecil Rhodes and the incursions of the Boers.
Kgama III died in 1923 and the paramountcy briefly passed to his son Sekgoma II, who died a couple of years later (in 1925). At the age of four Seretse Khama effectively became Kgosi and his uncle Tshekedi Khama was made regent.
Education
Seretse was sent to South Africa for his education, and in 1944 he graduated with a BA degree from Fort Hare University College. He then left to further his studies in law in England, first at Balliol College, Oxford, then at Inner Temple, London. In 1947 he met Ruth Williams, the daughter of a retired army officer. They were married in September 1948. Seretse’s Uncle Tshekedi ordered him to come home so that he could rebuke him for his marriage to a White woman. He wanted Seretse to get a divorce, but Seretse managed to win the people’s favor. He was recognized as Kgosi, and Ruth as his wife. Their marriage in September 1948 threw southern Africa into political turmoil.
The British government on February 5, 1950, banned him as chief for not less than five years and deported him. On August 21, 1950, he arrived in Britain as an exile with his wife and newly-born first child.
When the Bamangwato tribe refused to elect a new chief the British government appointed Rasebolai Kgamane as Chief Native Administrator. On May 27, 1952, attempts by the British government to have him deposed permanently were revealed. He was offered a £770 a year post as administrative assistant in the Colonial Service in Jamaica. He refused.
A reconciliation between him and Tshekedi resulted in a British government statement on September 26, 1956, ending the banishment. After renouncing all claims to the chieftainship for himself and his heirs he returned to Serowe on October 10, 1956. His first cautious step back towards power came on October 19, 1957 when he was chosen one of the 25 members of the Tribal Council. On June 20, 1961, he was sworn in as leading African delegate to the Legislative Council.
On January 29, 1962, he launched the Bcchuanaland Democratic Party, Campaigning on a multi-racial platform Ihe BDP won 28 of the 31 seats in the new Legislative Assembly at the elections on March 2, 1965. He was appointed the first Prime Minister—and Minister of Home Affairs—on March 3, 1965.
Re-elected on October 18, 1969, he has resisted all moves to transform Botswana into a one-party state. He remains a man of immense tolerance. His attitude to dialogue between black African States and South Africa was defined in January 1971 when he said that it could only take place on the basis of human equality and the principle of self-determination. Overtures by minority regimes to independent states did not constitute such a dialogue because, he said, “in all cases the objective of the minority regimes is to gain acceptance of the status quo within their boundaries and to blunt the edge of the African, and hence, international pressure for change”.
At the Commonwealth Conference in Singapore in January 1971 he took a firm stand on the Rhodesian question that there should be no independence agreed by Britain before the achievement of majority (African) rule. He also placed increasing emphasis on links with Zambia by visits to Lusaka for talks with President Kaunda. In April 1972 he discussed with Kaunda the proposals for a 200-mile road between Botswana and Zambia with finance from the United States Agency for International Development. In February 1973 he went to Lusaka for talks on the political and economic impact of the Rhodesia- Zambia border crisis.
Between 1966 and 1980 Botswana had the fastest growing economy in the world.[14] This growth was primarily driven by mining, and the government moved to secure itself greater revenue. The customs union between Botswana and South Africa was renegotiated in 1969, with the government of Botswana securing for itself a greater share of the mining revenue, and in 1975, once it became clear how productive these mines were, the government again renegotiated the diamond mining agreement to guarantee itself 50% of the revenues. By the mid-1970s, Botswana had a budget surplus.
Achievements
Religion
He his best known for his total dependence on God. He believed no man is perfect before God, thus every human is prone to mistake. During his time of ruling, he gave equal amount of opportunity to all the citizens, not minding their religious background.
Politics
His political views are clearly seen in his work. he played an important role in southern African politics when he negotiated the future of Zimbabwe and South West Africa/Namibia and developed a vision of a southern Africa post-colonialism and post–apartheid, seen to be a key part in the development of the Southern African Development Community that has since been founded.
Views
Below is Seretse Khama’s view on history, quoted from a speech at the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland in 1970:
"in a very positive way, to despise ourselves and our ways of life. We were made to believe that we had no past to speak of, no history to boast of. The past, so far as we were concerned, was just a blank and nothing more. Only the present mattered and we had very little control over it. It seemed we were in for a definite period of foreign tutelage, without any hope of our ever again becoming our own masters. The end result of all this was that our self-pride and our self-confidence were badly undermined.
It should now be our intention to try to retrieve what we can of our past. We should write our own history books to prove that we did have a past, and that it was a past that was just as worth writing and learning about as any other. We must do this for the simple reason that a nation without a past is a lost nation, and a people without a past is a people without a soul".
Quotations:
"We stand virtually alone in our belief that a non-racial society can work now, but there are those .. who will be only too delighted to see our experiment fail."
"I think that the trouble we now face in the world is caused mainly by the refusal to try and see another man’s point of view, to try and persuade by example — and the refusal to meet a rather passionate desire to impose your own will upon others, either by force or other means."
"It should now be our intention to try to retrieve what we can of our past. We should write our own history books to prove that we did have a past, and that it was a past that was just as worth writing and learning about as any other. We must do this for the simple reason that a nation without a past is a lost nation, and a people without a past is a people without a soul."
"Botswana is a poor country and at present is unable to stand on its own feet and develop its recourses without assistance from its friends."
"We are convinced that there is justification for all the races that have been brought together in this part of Africa, by the circumstances of history, to live together in peace and harmony, for they have no other home but Southern Africa. Here we will have to learn how to share aspirations and hopes as one people, united by a common belief in the unity of the human race. Here rests our past, our present, and, most importantly of all, our future."
"[D]emocracy, like a little plant, does not grow or develop on its own. If must be nursed and nurtured if it is to grow and flourish. It must be believed in and practiced if it is to be appreciated. And it must be fought for and defended if it is to survive."
Membership
Botswana Democratic Party
,
Botswana
1962
Personality
For a number of years leading up to his death, Khama's health deteriorated. He suffered from heart and kidney ailments. In 1960 he had been diagnosed with diabetes. In 1976, he underwent a heart operation to install a pacemaker in Johannesburg, and from then on, frequently flew to London for medical treatment. In June 1980, he flew to London, where doctors diagnosed him with terminal pancreatic cancer, and he was flown home after it was determined that no cure was possible. On 13 July 1980, Khama died of pancreatic cancer at age 59.
Despite his political success he is said to take his triumphs quietly without any cult of personality.
A knighthood, announced on September 21, 1966, was conferred on him at independence on September 30, when he became President of the Republic of Botswana.