Botswana's First Lady

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31188, 12 October 1966, Page 2

Botswana's First Lady

(FROM THE “OBSERVER")

Eighteen years after the marriage which caused his exile from Bechuanaland, Sir Seretse Khama has become first President of the newly-independent country now called Botswana.

His wife, Ruth Khama, has changed very little over the years.

I The “London typist” label which has commonly been attached to her is misleading —and she dislikes it. She was, in fact, a highly competent executive secretary, and the daughter of a retired Indian [Army major. She is still the ' determined woman who insisted on standing by Seretse !when public opinion and politics seemed to make their martriage impossible. Friends say Ruth Khama has adapted herself completely to life there, but she remains very British, even retaining some typically British prejudices. She is very much a middle-class product. . She is not particularly politically minded, but she can be quite aggressive in defence of her husband, who tends to be more easygoing. Neither of them is much in sympathy with the nationalism of other new independent African States. Her life in Botswana is not 1

very different from the suburban existence in Croydon during their exile. In spite of her unconventional marriage and the often sordid publicity which surrounded the exile, Ruth Khama has remained solidly devoted to the manners and principles of her conventional background. She regularly reads the “Sunday Express,” and she runs her household and local organisations for women with typical efficiency.