upWorldwide Guide to Women in Leadership
Female Heads of State of Botswana (Female suffrage 1961) Formerly a British Protectorate under the name of Bechuanaland, independent republic 1966

Also see Botswana Ministers

......Ruler Mohurutshe of the BaKwena
By some accounts the tribe are said to have split from the BaHurutshe in ancient times during her regency in "ancient times".

.... Ruler of the BaKgatla ba ga Mmanaana
The tribe which now lives at Thamaga and Moshupa are said to have broken away from the BaKgatla ba ga Kgafela (now found at Mochudi) during the regency of a female.

Around 1834 Regent Queen Mother Bobjwale of BaNgwato
Until 1842 Ruler of the Chobe-Hwange Area
Second wife of Kgosi Kgari who was killed in a battle against the BaKalanga-BaNyayi at Matopos, she was appointed regent in the political vacuum following the death of her son, Khama II. Kgosi Kgari's other son, Sekgoma I broke away with a strong following, refusing to recognize her reign. Her forces was defeated in the following civil war. Most of the tribe then defected to Sekgoma I, forcing her to flee with her children and a small following to the BaKwena state where Sechele welcomed them. Subsequently, Sechele married her daughter, Mokgokong. Other sources indicate that later, Bobjwale with her supports moved to the Chobe-Hwange region where it is said that she ruled the scattered pockets of subordinate groups under BaNgwato rule until 1842.

1910s-1940s Influential Queen Mother Seingwaeng of BaKgatla ba ga Kgafela of Mochudi
Surfases repeatedly in both oral and archival sources as a key participant at the centre of major events in the chiefdom. She stood by her son, Chief Molefi of the Kgafela in spite of his troubles with the colonial administrators and frivolous behaviour (drunkedness and womanising). None the less he treated her badly and hated her newfound religion – the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) – for its strict lifestyle code and condemnation of ‘sinful’ living, and he had her and the other members publicly flogged at the kgotla and then driven off from the chiefdom. She lived (1883-1967).

1911-31 Politically Influential Queen Mother Gagomakwe of BaKwena 
During times of intrigue and political instability she was the hand of stability during the reign of her husband Kgosi Sechele II (1875-1911-18). She was also the pillar of stability during the reign (1931-62) of her son, Kgosi Kgari I who came to the throne after his brother, Kgosi Sebele II, was ousted  by the colonial administration. Sebele II was exiled to Ghazi in 1931 where he later died eight years later.

1923-24 Acting Paramount Chiefess the Queen Mother Gagoangwe Sechele of the BaNgwaktse
She was regent for grandson until her own death.  She lived (1848-1924)

1924-28 Acting Paramount Chiefess the Queen Sister Ntebogang a Bathoen of the BaNgwaktse
Reigning in the place of her brother, Bathoen II. She lived (1882-1979).

1927-30 Regent Princess Motshabi of bamaNgwato
She ruled after the death her brother, Sekgoma II.

1946-58 Acting Paramount Chiefess the Queen Mother Elizabeth Pulane Seeco Pulane Moremi of the BaTwana
Succeeded her husband, in 1958 her son, Letholathebe II, became King, until his death in 1981. She lived (b. 1912-81 )

2000-  Kgosigadi Rebecca Banika of Chobe District

2000-03 Regent Princess Muriel Mosadi Seboko of the BaLete
2003- Paramount Chief, Kgosigadi 
Supported by her mother and 6 sisters, she challenged the appointment of a male cousin as regent after the death of her only brother, Kgosi Seboko II. She was then reluctantly accepted as regent. The following year, she demanded to be appointed as the rightful chief. The royal uncles argued that she could not be a hereditary chief because custom dictated that only males could rule, but at at a historic kgotla meeting in Ramotswa in December 2001, attended by hundreds of BaLete and the royal family she argued that excluding her from the throne because she was a woman amounted to discrimination. She pointed out that she should be appointed not on the basis of tradition but on Botswana’s constitution, which she explained guarantees freedom from discrimination on the basis of gender, religion and so on, and she was then elected the first female Paramount Chief. She took up her official duties in the Ntlo-ya-Dikgosi where she was immediately appointed as leader of the house. Her coronation on 3 September 2003 attracted many people and the event was widely reported in the national and international media. The leopard skin was draped on her by her uncles Kgosi Tshukudu Mokgosi (chief of BaLete in South Africa) and Lucas Manyane Mangope (former President of the puppet apartheid state of Bophuthatswana in South Africa).

2004- Regent Kgosigadi Kealetile Moremi of BaTawana (Acting Paraomount Chief Kgosi)
Her brother, Paramount Chief, Kgosi Tawana II, resigned toParamount Chief, Kgosi Tawana II, to stand as a BDP candidate for Maun West, and when the party rejected his candidature, he instead went into private business. Initially her uncle served as regent, but she was appointed as his successor after some initial opposition, and will be in office until Tawana's son reaches the age of majoirty. In May 2004 she was welcomed in the House of Chiefs at a ceremony attended by her mother, Princess Derby Moremi and other royals amidst ululation and dancing.

Until 2009 Member of the Ntlo Ya Dikgosi (House of Chiefs) Kgosi Mosadi Seboko

Until 2009 Member of the Ntlo Ya Dikgosi (House of Chiefs) Kgosi Mosojane of the North East

Until 2009 Member of the Ntlo Ya Dikgosi (House of Chiefs) Kgosi Moremi,

Until 2009 Member of the Ntlo Ya Dikgosi (House of Chiefs) Kgosi Sethani

- 2009- Member of the Ntlo Ya Dikgosi (House of Chiefs) Kgosi Tsaxlae Xao of Grootlaagte.

Last update 30.09.10