Gaborone — Reports on involvement of some members of Botswana Defense Force (BDF) in incidents of homicides, femicides or suicides harms the professional image and status of the military as an institution entrusted to protect the nation.
This was said by the BDF acting commander, Major General Mpho Mophuting when he appeared before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) recently.
Maj. Gen. Mophuting said the BDF leadership, like the nation, was equally concerned about the widespread concern in the decline of discipline within the defense force.
"BDF has been hit with recurring incidents of homicides and suicide across the country and even outside the country, despite the institutions efforts to offer psycho social support to the army officers. It is disheartening that the disciplined forces are involved in serious crime of ending lives," Maj. Gen. Mophuting said.
He indicated that more than any other institution, the BDF demanded from those within its service to conform to a set of rules and regulations while discipline led soldiers to obey an order no matter how unpleasant.
"But behaviour of some members is unheard of and questionable. As disciplined forces, their duty does not allow them to lack discipline. They have been trained even on policing and public safety, and when they turn around to commit murder, either being suicide or killing of another person and have misconduct, this is a disgrace and disappointing," he added.
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Nevertheless, Maj. Gen. Mophuting said they continued through various structures to provide support services through counselling and therefore working on creating the right environment to deal with disciplinary matters.
"The environment requires the leadership to pay close attention to several essential elements that play central roles in an effectively managed organisation. The BDF has since taken a deliberate decision to enhance the psych-social support services capacity in the army," he said.
He however lamented shortage of psychiatrist nurses despite availability of social workers and pastors to attend to psychological and spiritual support.
Furthermore, he said the BDF management would also intensify engagements in a bid to solve social problems as well as find the root cause and come up with implementable plans.
"We have never neglected the psychological and social welfare of the army and we will take all necessary measures to ensure prudent psycho-social experiences. We promise to engage the psych-social support services more to address issues," he said
Maj. Gen. Mophuting was responding to one of the PAC members, Mr Polson Majaga, who said the nation was concerned about the number of killings committed by some BDF members.
Mr Majaga had also wanted to know how BDF intended to address indiscipline within the military, arguing that the BDF as a disciplined force, should be exemplary because they had been entrusted with a huge responsibility to protect the nation.
"They are constantly in the public eye so the slightest misconduct otherwise stands out," he warned.
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