In 1895 three Batswana chiefs, Khama, Bathoen and Sebele, travelled to London to plead a case against the British government handing over the Protectorate to Rhodes, whom they did not trust. Some Batswana chiefs had already signed concessions with the BSAC, but in nearly all cases they did not realise that they had given away their land. It was, in any case, against Setswana law to sell or give away land. Rhodes attempted to stop the kings in Cape Town and prevent them from going to Britain but he was unsuccessful.
In a meeting with Joseph Chamberlain, then the British Colonial Secretary, the three chiefs criticised the BSAC and asked that:
• Bechuanaland should remain a Protectorate directly under the Queen.
• Their independence should be preserved.
• Their lands should not be sold.
• Liquor drinking should be prohibited in their areas.
Chamberlain, told them that the British government could not go back on its promise to transfer the Protectorate to the BSAC. However, he also said that the company would obey the Queen, so it was the same as being governed by her. Hence the chiefs must reach an agreement with the BSAC. Then he went on holiday.
Instead the chiefs toured England, seeking the support of the British people against the company. Their campaign was organised by the London Missionary Society, and supported by temperance groups, anti-slavery and humanitarian groups and businesses that feared the effect of a costly war if the transfer went ahead. Chamberlain returned from holiday to find letters to this effect. Worried that the affair might become an election issue and lose the government votes, he agreed to the chiefs’ demands, with the provisos that they must all cede the land which Rhodes required for the railway, and that taxation would be introduced to pay for the administration of the Protectorate.