Botswana's 49th Independence Day Celebration

The Botswana Day in Stockholm was organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Botswana in Sweden. The celebration took place on the 30th September 2015 at Musikaliska, Stockholm, Sweden. Attending this occasion, amongst others, was the Head of the Africa Department of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Pereric Högberg, Heads of Diplomatic Missions and other guests of honor. A live band music performance by Re Batswana Music Ensemble all the way from Botswana cheered up the celebration.


The ceremony kicked off with an opening speech by the Botswana Ambassador to Sweden, H.E. Mr. Lameck Nthekela.

H.E. Mr. Lameck Nthekela, Ambassador of Botswana to Sweden, on Botswana Independance Day

During his speech, the Ambassador congratulated his country’s recent achievements, reflected on the extent to which they have gone since independence in 1966 and that the country also has a vision for the future. The Ambassador also said in his speech that they still owe all the brave patriots, who helped them go through the struggle for independence at the time when they were surrounded by hostile regimes. During this period, he added, Botswana was amongst the world's poorest and least developed countries.


Enumerating some of the achievements after independence, he added that the country’s annual per capita income before was just 84$, but today they could count up to 7700$. As poor as the country was, with only 6km of paved roads, presently the country is proud through hard work to have a total of 6400km of paved roads. Education was at its poorest but the country is now proud to have graduated many from universities.The ambassador also mentioned in his speech the cooperation between his country and the host country Sweden, as both of them enjoy excellent relations and have developed a number of cooperation initiatives for the benefit of their people.


Ending his speech, the Ambassador extended his gratitude to Musikaliska, the media partners, friends of Botswana, the embassy staff (Team Botswana) and the entire public who attended the event.

The musical team, ReBotswana Music Ensemble, coming all the way from Botswana, was present during the ceremony. The band was made up of artists like Nnunu Bomolemo Ramogotsi, a musician and songwriter from Gaborone. Accompanying her was Andrew Chinganga, a saxophonist, and a group of dancers who visited Sweden for a musical exchange program. The musical band performance, with their traditional dancing costumes and acrobatic displays cheered up the ceremony and showed the true tradition and attractiveness of Botswana.


While waiting for more news about Botswana, stay tuned with us! Here are some of the photos from the event. Click to view them in full format.

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