Tshekedi Khama

Tshekedi Khama was born on September 17, 1905, in Serowe, the son of Khama III. In 1925, following the death of his elder half-brother Sekgoma II, the twenty-year-old Tshekedi was recalled from Fort Hare College to serve as Regent for his infant nephew, Seretse Khama.

Tshekedi was a tireless, brilliant administrative modernizer who resisted British encroachments on tribal authority. In 1933, when a British naval expedition famously marched into Serowe to suspend him for sentencing a European youth under customary law, public outcry forced his swift reinstatement. He founded Moeng College, the first secondary school built entirely through community contributions, and was a stalwart defender of Batswana land against South African incorporation.