History

Botswana is an African success story. A long-neglected British protectorate, Botswana achieved its independence in 1966 and immediately thereafter, in an amazing stroke of luck, discovered three of the world's richest diamond mines. Today the country enjoys a relatively enlightened government, and its health, educational and economic standards are rivaled on the African continent only by South Africa's.

Botswana was declared a British Protectorate (called the Bechuanaland Protectorate) in 1885 as part of the 'scramble for Africa.' The British only took over the Tswana land when they saw Germany could do so after having taken over South West Africa. For the British, Botswana was really a gateway to expansion into Zimbabwe and the Zambezi.

King Khama III approved the British alliance as it increased trade avenues for Botswana produce. Sir Seretse Khama succeeded his father to the chieftainship of the Ngwato people at the age of four. The British exiled him from Botswana in 1956 at the insistence of apartheid South Africa after he married Ruth Williams, a white British woman. In his absence, supporters formed political movements to pressure the British. The Bechuanaland People's Party was formed in 1960 and Seretse Khama returned to form the Bechuanaland Democratic Party in 1962. In the same year, the British made way for political change.

In 1965 Bechuanaland became self-governing with Seretse Khama as Prime Minister, and in 1966 the country became the Republic of Botswana with Seretse Khama as President. Botswana held democratic elections every five years and has not fallen victim to military and political instabilities that most post independence African states suffered and continue to suffer. Seretse Khama died in 1980 and his deputy, Sir Quett Masire took over. Masire was in power for two terms, and when he resigned in 1998, his vice, Festus Mogae, took over until formally elected as President in the 1999 elections.

Botswana has thus far proved to be a model of multi-party democracy and post colonial stability. The national flag, featuring a black stripe bordered by two white stripes in a field of azure, represents the unity of blacks and whites under African skies. The stripes of a zebra, used as a national symbol, also express racial harmony.

The way Africa was partitioned by foreign powers is demonstrated along the northern border of Botswana, where the Caprivi Strip marks a strange allocation of land which England gave to Namibia, formerly Southwest Africa, then under German rule.

Basically, Botswana is a multiparty parliamentary republic operating under a 1966 constitution. The country is headed by an elected president, and there is a bicameral legislature. The upper house consists of a 15-seat advisory House of Chiefs. The lower house, the National Assembly, has 40 elected members and four appointed members. Administratively, the country is divided into 10 districts and four towns.