Britain barred Seretse Khama from his chieftaincy for marrying an Englishwoman, and as Botswana's president he signed his people's mining land over to the state without compensation

Seretse Khama was born in Serowe on 1 July 1921, grandson of Kgosi Khama III. He was proclaimed kgosi of the Bamangwato in 1925, aged four, with his uncle Tshekedi Khama as regent. In September 1948, while training as a barrister in London, he married Ruth Williams, an English clerk. Tshekedi ordered him home to divorce her. After public meetings in Serowe, the people recognised Seretse as kgosi with his wife. South Africa had banned interracial marriage. In 1951 Britain barred him from the chieftainship and exiled the couple to England. A judicial inquiry's report was kept secret for thirty years. In 1956 they were allowed home as private citizens after he gave up the throne. He founded the Bechuanaland Democratic Party, and on 30 September 1966 became the first president of Botswana. In 1967 diamonds were found at Orapa in Bamangwato territory. On 5 July 1969 at Serowe, Seretse as president signed an agreement with the Bamangwato tribal authority, Leapeetswe Tshekedi Khama. Under it, tribal land for mining copper, nickel and diamonds passed to the state "absolutely and without compensation," except payments to people moved off it. A speaker at a 2026 commemoration in Serowe said Seretse feared that if only mineral areas gained, the country would become unequal. Seretse died on 13 July 1980 and is buried in the Khama graveyard at Serowe. His son Ian Khama was president from 2008 to 2018.