If Khama assumes the state presidency before being married, it will be the first time Botswana is led by an unmarried president, and the first time it will be without a 'First Lady'. This article attempts to look at the constitutional, social and economic implications of such an occurrence if it were to subsist. The article also asks whether there should be such 'position' as 'First Lady', and whether it would be appropriate for a president to cohabit with a fianc or a person he is engaged to be married to.
From a constitutional point of view, it appears that there will be no violation since the status, and not position, of 'First Lady' is not a written constitutional provision.
From a social point of view, though, it is inarguable that it will be anomalous for Botswana to be led by a bachelor president. Culturally, Batswana revere marriage. The reverence is even more for adults who hold high positions of responsibility. What more for the Head of State whose family life is supposed to resemble that of the state? The very reason why the president's official residence is called 'State House' is that it should be a manifestation of a people's culture, in terms of such attributes as norms, values, practices, and so on. Certainly, a State House without a family shall not be a State House, for it shall not resemble a normal Tswana family. When foreign delegates visit the 'State House', for example, they will not learn how a normal Tswana family lives. They will miss the wife and mother in a family. They will miss the children.
