Ruth Williams Khama

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ruth Williams Khama (also Lady Khama ; born December 9, 1923 in Blackheath , England ; † May 22, 2002 in Gaborone ; born as Ruth Williams ) was the British wife of the first President of Botswana , Sir Seretse Khama . Their marriage was the cause of years of political involvement.

Life

Time in England until the wedding

Ruth Williams was born in Eltham, South London, to George, a former officer and tea merchant, and Dorothy Williams. She had a sister and attended Eltham Hill Grammar School. During the Second World War she worked as an ambulance driver in southern England . She then worked as a secretary for an underwriting company .

In 1947, while dancing in the house of the London Missionary Society, she met Seretse Khama, who was the nominal head of the Bamangwato ethnic group in the then British protectorate of Bechuanaland and who studied in England. They discovered their mutual interest in the South African jazz band The Inkspots and fell in love. In 1948 she decided to get married, which bitterly opposed by politicians in South Africa of apartheid and in Southern Rhodesia met and the Council of Elders of the Bamangwato. The Bishop of London, William Wand , only wanted to marry with the consent of the British government. Instead, they were civilly married in Kensington in September 1948 . While the newly elected South African Prime Minister Daniel François Malan called this “nauseating”, the future Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere spoke of a “great love story”. Ruth Khama lost her job and had to leave home.

Political entanglements and life in exile

The couple moved to Bechuanaland, where the Bamangwato had spoken out in favor of the marriage in June 1949, but had to leave after the British government ordered a five-year exile . The South African government had also declared them undesirable. The British Conservative Party , which had criticized the Labor government for this, for its part extended its exile indefinitely after its 1951 election victory . The background was apparently South Africa's threat to proclaim the republic and leave the Commonwealth . Ruth and Seretse Khama lived in Croydon, England, from 1950 . Labor politician Tony Benn stood up for the couple, but Seretse Khama was only offered a post in the embassy in Jamaica , which he declined. Only in 1956, after a telegram from the Bamangwato leadership to Queen Elizabeth II , was the couple allowed to return to Bechuanaland; however, Seretse had to abdicate as head of the Bamangwato. For the time being they lived in Serowe , where Seretse Khama worked as a cattle breeder.

Life as the first wife

Seretse founded the Bechuanaland Democratic Party , with which he won the 1965 national elections. The following year the country became independent under the name of Botswana and Seretse Khama became president. Ruth Khama was politically active and influential in her role as " First Lady ". After her husband's death in 1980, she stayed in Botswana. Among other things, she headed the Botswana Red Cross and the Botswana Council of Women. She did not speak Setswana , but was given the honorary name Mohumagadi Mma Kgosi (roughly: "mother of the ruler", meaning her eldest son Ian Khama as head of the Bamangwato).

In 2002, Khama died of throat cancer . She was buried next to her husband in Serowe.

children

Ruth Khama gave birth to four children between 1950 and 1958, of which Ian, born in 1953 as the second child, took over the presidency of Botswana in 2008. Tshekedi Khama , born in 1958, also became a politician, including a minister.

literature

  • Michael Duffield: A marriage of inconvenience. Allen Lane, London 1990, ISBN 0-7139-9811-3 .
  • Susan Williams: Color bar. The persecution of Ruth and Seretse Khama. Routledge, London 2006, ISBN 0-04-440495-6 .

Film adaptations

  • 1990: A Marriage of Inconvenience. TV Movie, United Kingdom.
  • 2016: A United Kingdom . Film drama, United Kingdom.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituary in The Telegraph , accessed March 11, 2017
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Clare Rider: The 'unfortunate marriage' of Seretse Khama. Inner Temple Yearbook 2002/2003, accessed March 11, 2017
  3. ↑ a b c Obituary in The Guardian , accessed March 11, 2017
personal data
SURNAME Khama, Ruth Williams
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lady Khama, Ruth Williams (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Botswana first lady
DATE OF BIRTH December 9, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Blackheath , UK
DATE OF DEATH May 22, 2002
Place of death Gaborone