General elections were held in the

Bechuanaland Protectorate The Bechuanaland Protectorate () was a protectorate established on 31 March 1885, by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (later the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) in Southern Africa. It became the Republi ...

in 1961.

Background

A new constitution had been enacted in December 1960, which created both a Legislative Council and an advisory African Council.Botswana: Late British colonialism (1945-1966)
EISA The Legislative Council had just over 30 members; 10 colonial officials, 10 blacks, 10 whites, one Asian and some co-opted members. The 10 black members were elected by the African Council, whilst the 10 whites and the Asian member were all directly elected. The African Council consisted of the eight heads of the

Tswana Tswana may refer to: * Tswana people, the Bantu speaking people in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other Southern Africa regions * Tswana language, the language spoken by the (Ba)Tswana people * Bophuthatswana, the former ba ...

chiefdoms and some elected members.

Results

Seretse Khama Sir Seretse Goitsebeng Maphiri Khama, GCB, KBE (1 July 1921 – 13 July 1980) was a Motswana politician who served as the first President of Botswana, a post he held from 1966 to his death in 1980. Born into an influential royal fa ...

received the most votes in the election for the black representatives."Seretse Khama Gains Most Votes" ''The Times'', 18 May 1961, p12, issue 55084 The Council was inaugurated in June.

References

{{Botswana elections Elections in Botswana Bechuanaland 1961 in Bechuanaland Protectorate Election and referendum articles with incomplete results 1961 elections in the British Empire