Thursday, February 6, 2025

The next Bangwato queen will be an American citizen

In opening a new battlefront with the Botswana government in a foreign land, Tshekedi Khama, unwittingly may have raised some troubling questions about his future stewardship of the Bangwato bogosi – inherited traditional leadership.

The son of founding Botswana president, Sir Seretse Khama, and brother to former president General Ian Khama, Tshekedi has been earmarked as the next Bangwato kgosikgolo – supreme traditional leader. The absentee incumbent is Gen Khama who was installed in 1979 but has never served a day at the Bangwato main kgotla in Serowe. While Tshekedi’s wife, Thea, is American-born, the general impression has always been that she has been naturalised as a Motswana.

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