In April 2008, Vice President Lt. Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama ( Ian Khama ), son of Seretse Khama the first president, succeeded to the presidency when Festus Mogae retired.

* 1921 – Seretse Khama, Batswana politician, 1st President of Botswana ( d. 1980 )

* Sir Seretse Khama Day ( Botswana )

Seretse Khama takes office as the first President.

His efforts were eventually successful and the Bechuanaland Protectorate, which was later to become the independent nation of Botswana in 1966 under the leadership of Khama ’ s grandson Seretse Khama, was established.

Sekgoma II reign lasted only a year or so, leaving his son Seretse, who at the time was an infant, as the rightful heir to the chieftainship ( Tshekedi was not in line to be chief since he did not descend from Khama ’ s oldest son Sekgoma II ).

The transfer of responsibility from Tshekedi Khama to Seretse Khama was planned to occur after Seretse had returned from his law studies overseas in Britain.

By now though, Seretse Khama saw his destiny not as chief of the Bamangwato tribe, but rather as leader of the Botswana Democratic Party and as President of the soon-to-be independent nation of Botswana in 1966.

The first president, Sir Seretse Khama, was the grandson and heir of Khama III and his first son from Ruth Khama, Seretse Khama Ian Khama, would succeed Seretse Khama as the paramount chief of the Bamangwato and go on to become the commander of the Botswana Defense Force, as a Lieutenant General.

Tshekedi Khama's regency as acting chief of the Bamangwato is best remembered for his expansion of the mephato regiments for the building of primary schools, grain silos, and water reticulation systems ; for his frequent confrontations with the British colonial authorities over the administration of justice in Ngwato country ; and for his efforts to deal with a major split in the tribe after Seretse married a white woman, Ruth Williams, while studying law in Britain.

Sekgoma II ’ s eldest son was named Seretse.

So in keeping with tradition, Tshekedi acted as regent of the tribe until Seretse was old enough to assume the chieftainship.

On April 1, 2008, Seretse Khama Ian Khama, son of Sir Seretse Khama, and former Vice-President of Botswana, was sworn in as the fourth President of Botswana.

President Seretse Khama Ian Khama was elected for a full term as President of Botswana on October 16, 2009.

BDP was shaped by Sir Seretse Khama, who is celebrated for nurturing the economic and political success of Botswana.

The party's base is in the traditional Setswana communities, and it was sometimes referred to as " the Chief's party " ( referring to Sir Seretse Khama ).

Sir Seretse Khama, KBE ( July 1, 1921 – July 13, 1980 ) was a statesman from Botswana.

Seretse Khama was born in 1921 in Serowe, in what was then the Bechuanaland Protectorate.

The name " Seretse " means “ the clay that binds ", and was given to him to celebrate the recent reconciliation of his father and grandfather ; this reconciliation assured Seretse ’ s own ascension to the throne with his aged father ’ s death in 1925.

On 11 October 1999, the airline was crippled when in a suicide mission, airline pilot Christopher Phatswe crashed an empty ATR 42 into aircraft at Sir Seretse Khama International Airport, destroying his aircraft and two other Air Botswana ATR 42.

As Mogae was out of the country, arrangements were made for Phatswe to speak to Vice President Seretse Ian Khama, who expressed willingness to speak to the pilot.

This fundraising campaign formally known as the Botswana University Campus Appeal ( BUCA ) was spearheaded by the late President Sir Seretse Khama in 1976.

It is also the birthplace of Seretse Khama, Botswana's first President, and the traditional center of the Bamangwato tribe.

The town also has a rich history in the Botswana Government, with Sir Seretse Khama, the first president of Botswana, current president, President Lieutenant General Ian Khama, and former president, Festus Mogae, all having been born in Serowe.

The deposed chief of the Bamangwato, Seretse Khama, was soon to become the first President of independent Botswana.

Ruth Williams Khama, Lady Khama ( 9 December 1923 – 22 May 2002 ) was the wife of Botswana's first president Sir Seretse Khama, the Paramount Chief of its Bamangwato tribe.

* Dennis Alaba Peters – Sir Curtis Seretse ; listed as Dennis Alba Peters in first series credits

Ian Khama, the son of former president Sir Seretse Khama, joined to the party ahead of the 1999 general elections.

Also in 1950, he became involved in a controversy over the interracial marriage of Seretse Khama, the future president of Botswana.

Air Botswana Corporation is the national airline of Botswana, with its head office on the grounds of Sir Seretse Khama International Airport in Gaborone.

Seretse would not budge in his desire to marry Ruth ( which he did while exiled in Britain in 1948 ), and tribal opinion about the marriage basically split evenly along demographic lines-older people went with Tshekedi, the younger with Seretse.

Eventually, once emotions had had enough time to subside, Seretse and Ruth were allowed to return to the Protectorate and Seretse and Tshekedi were able to patch things up a bit between themselves.

Ian Khama son of a Botswanian leader and a white mother is the President of Botswana and the paramount chief of the Bamangwato people.

Khama was a charismatic leader, to say the least.

The Three Dikgosi Monument features Khama III along with two other kgosi for their work in establishing Botswana's independence.

In 1966, Botswana gained independence and Khama became its first president.

Khama III ( 1837 ?- 1923 ), also known as Khama the Good, was the kgosi ( meaning chief or king ) of the Bamangwato people of Bechuanaland ( now Botswana ), who made his country a protectorate of the United Kingdom to ensure its survival against Boer and Ndebele encroachments.

Khama III ( or Khama the Great as he was more affectionately known ) is perhaps Botswana ’ s most memorable chief.

In his early twenties, Khama was baptized into the Lutheran church via the London Missionary Society ( LMS ) along with five of his younger brothers.

It was no small step for Khama.

It was not long before Macheng and Khama clashed as well, leading Macheng to attempt his own assassination of Khama, which likewise failed miserably.

Khama then ousted Macheng and, in what was either a selfless gesture of goodwill or simply a dogged adherence to tribal custom, re-installed his father, Sekgoma, as Chief of the Bamangwato.

Khama was now free to leave his mark on the history of the tribe.

In 1895, with two other chiefs from neighboring tribes, Khama traveled to Britain to lobby Victoria of the United Kingdom for protection from the dual pressures of Cecil Rhodes ' British South African Company – located in what was later to become Rhodesia to the north – and the Afrikaner settlers creeping up from the south.

Khama III was steadfast in imposing his Christianized will on the tribe.

Khama ’ s eldest son from his marriage with Mma Bessie was named Sekgoma II, who became chief of the Bamangwato upon Khama ’ s death in 1923.