34 Facts About Ian Khama

Ian Khama won a full term in the 2009 election and was re-elected in October 2014.

Ian Khama is the second child of Sir Seretse Khama, Botswana's foremost independence leader and its president from 1966 to 1980, and Lady Khama.

Ian Khama was born in Chertsey, Surrey, while his father was living in exile in the United Kingdom, due to the opposition by the colonial government and the emergent apartheid regime in South Africa to his marriage to a white woman.

Ian Khama is the grandson of Sekgoma II, who was the paramount chief of the Bamangwato people, and the great-grandson of Khama III, their king.

Ian Seretse Khama is named after his father to continue this historical legacy.

Ian Khama is known simply as Ian Khama to differentiate between himself and his father.

Tshekedi Khama II, Ian Khama's brother, was named after their great uncle, Tshekedi Khama who was the regent and guardian for Seretse Khama, the first president of Botswana.

Ian Khama was educated at Waterford Kamhlaba, a United World College in Mbabane, and at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

Ian Khama later served as the Commander of the Botswana Defence Force from his appointment in 1989, retiring from the position in 1998.

Ian Khama, serving as Commander of the Botswana Defence Force, announced on 16 December 1997 that he would retire from his command on 31 March 1998.

On 1 April 1998, when Vice-President Festus Mogae succeeded Masire as president, Ian Khama was appointed as the new vice-president.

However, Ian Khama did not hold a seat in the National Assembly, and so could not immediately take office as vice-president.

Ian Khama returned to his duties as vice-president on 1 September 2000, although he was replaced as Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration at that time.

Ian Khama had been backed for the post by President Mogae, paving the way for Ian Khama to eventually succeed Mogae as president.

In 2007, Ian Khama appeared on British television in the BBC's Top Gear motoring programme, meeting the presenters as they prepared to cross the Makgadikgadi Pan in northern Botswana by car for the Top Gear: Botswana Special.

In December 2022, a warrant for Ian Khama's arrest was given for illegal possession of firearms.

Mogae stepped down, as he had long said he would do, on 1 April 2008; Ian Khama succeeded him as president.

At his swearing-in ceremony in Gaborone, Ian Khama said that there would be continuity in policy and no "radical changes", although he said that "a change in style and special emphasis on a number of issues" might be evident, and he emphasized his commitment to democracy.

Ian Khama immediately undertook a major cabinet reshuffle, and he appointed Mompati Merafhe, who had been Foreign Minister, as the new vice-president.

Ian Khama was not elected to the presidency for his first year in office, being appointed due to his position as vice president.

In 2009, Ian Khama appeared on CNN's African Voices which painted a positive picture of Ian Khama, and named Botswana an African "success story".

Ian Khama put in place a ban on elephant hunting in 2014.

In 2015, Ian Khama was awarded an honorary doctorate in political science from Konkuk University in South Korea.

Ian Khama took a strong stance against the Zimbabwean government, particularly Robert Mugabe.

Ian Khama did so by refusing to recognize the government unless and until it included members of the Movement for Democratic Change headed by Morgan Tsvangirai.

Ian Khama has been criticized by some figures for making poor decisions, including by former president Quett Masire, who claimed that the BDP had been taken over by opportunists looking to benefit from senior government positions.

Ian Khama put in place a ban on elephant hunting during his time as president, and supported conservation efforts in Botswana.

Ian Khama gave an interview with the Yonhap News Agency during his visit to Seoul, South Korea in 2015, criticizing the North's leaders for 'living in the Stone Age' and called their aggressive actions unacceptable.

Ian Khama campaigned for the BPF, which won three seats in the 2019 general elections in the Serowe area.

In 2018, after resigning from the presidency, Ian Khama became a member of the Board of Directors of the US-based organization Conservation International, which is active in Botswana.

In 2021, Ian Khama went on a self-imposed exile, during which he claimed that there had been a plot to poison him.

On 13 September 2024, Ian Khama returned to Botswana after three years in exile, to appear in court and request to be released pending trial.

The incoming government following the 2024 Botswana elections dropped the firearms charges, which Ian Khama had alleged were politically motivated tactics from the former Masisi government.

On 20 January 2025, Ian Khama was sworn in as a member of the Ntlo ya Dikgosi, the advisory body of hereditary chiefs advising Parliament.