There has been a special relationship between Botswana and the UK since 1885 when as Bechuanaland it came under the protection of the British Government. The ruler at this time was Khama III and on 30th September 1966 when the country became independent it was his grandson Seretse Khama who became the inaugural president with an English wife Ruth Williams by his side as the First Lady. The country was renamed Botswana meaning “place of Tswana.” Unusually the language of the Tswana people uses prefixes instead of suffixes so the language is called Setswana and the people Batswana unless t.here is only one which is a Motswana!
The Tswana are the most peaceful tribal people in Africa. They have never been at war! When there is something to decide they sit together, talk quietly and work out a peaceful solution. The official language of Botswana is English. It is a republic whose government, legislation and education are based on the same principles as in the UK.
There is now a large community of Botswana people in the UK who like to get together to celebrate their culture and heritage – for example the yearly Botswana Independence Day Celebrations in London – please keep up-to-date with their latest endeavours on their facebook page called Botswana Community UK. For your convenience a live feed of posts from this page appear on the right on PCs and at the bottom on mobile phones.
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