Botswana Travel Guide
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Seretse Khama
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Botswana Travel Guide

Seretse Khama



During the reign of Tshekedi, a problem arose over the future of Seretse Khama. Seretse was educated abroad, in London, Fort Hare and Oxford. In 1948 Seretse wrote to inform his uncle that he wanted to marry an English woman, Ruth Williams. Tshekedi opposed the marriage on the grounds that a king or chief could not do as he pleased because he was the servant of the people, and an heir to the chieftaincy was at stake. Traditionally the chief’s wife was chosen by the morafe or tribal group. Seretse insisted on his right to choose his own wife and married the Englishwoman.
They were still arguing when the British took matters into their own hands. In a case that created international scandal, the British government barred Seretse from the chieftaincy of the Bamangwato, and exiled him for six years. They invited him to Britain, where they forced him to stay. They also banned Tshekedi Khama from entering the Bamangwato reserve.
Secret documents have since confirmed that this British intervention was in order to satisfy the South African government, which objected to Seretse Khama’s marriage to a white woman at a time when the policy of racial segregation, apartheid, was being enforced in South Africa.
Seretse, Tshekedi and their people fought against this banishment. The Bamangwato refused to pay taxes, sent delegations to the British and led protests. They refused to accept a British nominated chief and many people, including women, were flogged for this refusal.
Finally Tshekedi visited Seretse in London and the two resolved their differences. Seretse returned to Botswana with Ruth. Although a condition of his return was that he remained barred from the chieftancy, both he and Tshekedi continued to play an active role in the politics of Botswana, and were instrumental in the lead up to independence.


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