For most of you that consider me to be a Khama critic, you will be surprised that I hereby deposit my honest condolences from the deepest part of the bottom of my heart to the bereaved royal family of Gammangwato. It is indeed a loss to the whole country.
My first and only encounter with Jackie was just six years ago on the parking lot at Sebele Mall. This was a very brief encounter that lasted less than 120 seconds and we were never to meet again until her death. I saw her at a distance and I approached her asking if she was the daughter to the president. She told me that she was the sister to the president instead.
We both laughed and she understood that my question was in reference to Seretse Khama and not Ian Khama. I immediately asked her if I could take her a few pictures and she refused with the kind of honesty I cannot explain here. This was the total opposite of her brother Ian who is so photogenic. Imagine that I was only able to lay my eyes on the first child of the first, first family of Botswana after fifty years of independence.
Jackie was not so much a public figure compared to Ian and Tshekedi. She was always keeping a very low profile like her other brother, Tony. But she was highly sociable. Imagine that I asked to speak to her for the first time in a parking lot where other women would have chosen to ignore me for security reasons.
She was born 15 May 1950 to Seretse and Ruth Khama, Jaqueline became the eldest of the Khama kin. She was born in Bechuanaland Protectorate which was under British rule. The little bundle of joy became a bonding factor between Seretse and Ruth. This was a multi-racial marriage that had caused a stir in Europe and Africa.
If she was born a boy, he would have qualified to be the heir for the Ngwato chieftaincy. One wonders what the situation would be if this was the case. A lot of questions come into play here and one wonders if Ian would be taking orders from his senior. I think like Balete, other tribes must adopt the idea of making chieftaincy gender neutral.
Further stretching our imagination, one wonders if Jackie was chief, maybe he would have not chosen the route of celibacy which has currently tossed chieftaincy succession into turmoil. With her temperament, things could be different.
Muriel Sanderson who was the elder sister to Ruth Williams gives a perfect view of how life was like at State House when the Khama children were growing. She describes Jackie as someone who is moody. I do not want to delve into the characters of her siblings.
As Jackie was born here, there is a silly interesting joke that comes around the origins of her name. It is said that after she was born, her parents went over to the elders to request for a name for the new born child. The elders said; “Jaaka leng ngwana wa lekgoa a kopelwa leina mo Batswaneng?” So the only thing Ruth heard was “Jaakaleng” as one word and then she suggested to Seretse that they must name the baby Jaqueline according to the wishes of the elders of the tribe.
However, Jackie was named Tebogo, this was the name of Seretse’s mother. It seems every one of her siblings has an inherited name from either side of the family of the grandparents. The name Tebogo really never took off and was overtaken by her English name.
Jaqueline was at secretarial school in in London in 1969 and after completing her course she returned home to work in her field of training. She landed her first job with National Development Corporation which later was transformed to National Development Bank.
Soon she found herself engaged to a Dutch man by the name of Johann. Their wedding was held on the 23rd of December, 1972 in Gaborone. Then the tribal celebration was held in the kgotla in Serowe on the 25th of December of the same year. The newly wedded couple was flown to Serowe in Seretse’s private plane.
Ian Khama who was on a very short break at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, had travelled home to see his sister getting married. Johann’s sister who lives in Europe had also travelled and she attended both ceremonies in Gaborone and Serowe.
Sooner than later, the new couple of Jackie and Johann or J&J if you like, had a boy child born to them on 11th October 1974. It was such a joy to the pair of J&J as well as RURETSE as this was their first grandchild. Then later Marcus was added to the family. Unfortunately this marriage could no longer subsist after a few years of the couple being together. Divorce occurred and each one walked their own way.
Interesting enough, Seretse loved Jaqueline more than the other children while Ian remained as the favourite to his mother. Of course Seretse was respecting the name of his own mother than the young girl. Jackie loved driving and she spent a lot of her days behind the wheel. For those who know her very well, she never trusted any one at the wheel than she trusted herself.
While the other Khama children were always living on the margins of controversy, Jackie was saved from this and she probably is the only Seretse and Ruth’s children who has never been on the front page of a newspaper for the wrong reasons.
Certainly Jackie will be missed in this country. In the absence of their mother, she had assumed the role of the alfa female of the Khama clan. She had continued in the tradition of her mother in bringing the family over to Serowe every Christmas and a holiday in the Chobe every Easter weekend. MHSRIP.
