The Tswana Chiefs' Diplomatic Initiative and Institutional Preservation

Key Insight

On September 6, 1895, three African chiefs—Khama of the Ngwato, Bathoen of the Ngwaketse, and Sebele of the Kwena—arrived in England. Their mission was to protect their people and five other Tswana states, then known as Bechuanaland (which became Botswana in 1966), from the aggressive expansion of Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company. Although Britain had declared Bechuanaland a protectorate in 1885, primarily to block Boer and German expansion without full-scale colonization, Rhodes' company, having already expropriated vast lands in what became Northern and Southern Rhodesia, now targeted Bechuanaland. The chiefs viewed greater British control as the lesser of two evils compared to annexation by Rhodes, which they believed would lead to disaster and exploitation.

With assistance from the London Missionary Society, the chiefs sought to persuade Queen Victoria and Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain. After their initial meeting with Chamberlain on September 11, 1895, where he expressed consideration for imposing British control, the chiefs embarked on a nationwide speaking tour across England to garner public support. This tour covered major cities including Windsor, Southampton, Birmingham, Sheffield, and Manchester. The context of Cecil Rhodes' ongoing preparations for the disastrous Jameson Raid likely made Chamberlain more receptive to their pleas. A subsequent meeting on November 6 resulted in a settlement where the chiefs would retain internal rule over their territories 'under the protection of the Queen,' with an appointed British officer, and the British would take only necessary land for a railway, with compensation, ensuring minimal intervention.

Rhodes' reaction to being 'outmaneuvered by three canting natives' highlighted the chiefs' success in protecting their valuable political institutions. The Tswana states had developed a unique degree of political centralization alongside collective decision-making, embodying a 'nascent, primitive form of pluralism' rare in sub-Saharan Africa. The 'kgotla' (council place) served as a general assembly for adult males, where tribal policy, disputes, and decrees were discussed, allowing open speech and even the overruling of chiefs' wishes. The chieftaincy itself was not strictly hereditary; talent and ability could lead to leadership, a concept captured by the proverb 'kgosi ke kgosi ka morafe' ('The king is king by the grace of the people'), indicating the chief's legitimacy stemmed from the people.