General Galebotswe, who let the dogs out?

Richard Moleofe | Thursday March 24, 2016 11:24

One could tell from the language that BDF was infuriated by what the paper had published.

As an ex-soldier, I had known earlier that the military establishment was going to respond and hence this was no surprise to me. BDF clearly stated their position that it was not in the interest of the military for such articles to be published particularly when discussing general officers.

The author of the article had chronicled the root causes of the animosity between Lt. Gen. Galebotswe and Brig Magosi who at the time was No.1 Infantry Brigade Commander. From the tone in the letter, you could sense the level of frustration by the officer who penned it.

The article carried in the paper was so rich on information regarding the officers and this was the source of frustration for the military. The information came with pinpoint accuracy on the career progression of Galebotswe, Magosi, Seikano and Macheng, all of whom had worked together at Commando Squadron. The source had highlighted the level of insubordination and subordination among the four officers.

The highlight of BDF’s frustration was on the fact that the article had no declared author. At the present moment we are now seeing BDF thriving on the use of an author with a pseudonym on the papers, something they dreaded in the past. Colonel Godfrey Letsholo’s latest attack has been on the same officer they tried to protest against Mmegi two years ago.

It is highly ironic that the commander has allowed his officer to attack Brig Magosi in the media.

 However, it is not so ironic because since that rebuttal two years ago, BDF resorted to using the tactic of pseudonyms in getting any information across to members of the public through the media.

First on the line of fire was Major General Mokgware. Colonel Letsholo wrote in the media discrediting him in every way and labelling him as a bitter and frustrated man, and this was to the pleasure of those at BDF HQ. At that point, the commander should have, through his Public Relations Office issued a statement to distance his organisation from the derogatory statements thrown at one of their own.

 The same colonel has had several attacks on my person and I responded in kind. Other retired officers have had a brush with Col Letsholo and the list is endless.

The latest attack was directed at Brig Magosi and was published in the Botswana Gazette last week. Next to the letter appeared the “disgraced” Brig Magosi with an array of medals.  And one wonders why an officer with such an undesirable character would earn such accolades in the first place? Brig Magosi is a well-decorated soldier and there are no two ways about it. And by the way, medals at BDF do not come cheaply as is the case with other militaries around the world. The medals you see Brig Magosi adorning on his chest are real and hard-earned.

I must make a disclaimer here that myself and Brig Magosi were never friends. In fact I least admired his work and his modus operandi particularly when he was Chief of Intelligence. He was more of a cowboy than a soldier.  Differences aside, we should not tell subjective truth about the officer. He has had his good contribution to the organisation and after this abrupt separation, BDF must give him sufficient space to move on in life. For the commander to continue to allow such unbecoming behaviour by his officers to launch such an operation on retired officers only serves to bring his credibility to question. BDF must realise that they need retired officers so much more in order to help uplift the good name of the organisation.

The commander must also realise that his organisation is still full of officers with PHDs (Pull Him Downs). Every commander including General Khama has become a victim of the PHD syndrome. When you occupy that office, everyone pulls everyone down so that they may impress the commander by occupying that pedestal. And such are the likes of Colonel Letsholo and his operators. The most sensible thing I think is happening here is that BDF is orchestrating a Psych Ops. Psychological Operations are a critical part of every military. If BDF is engaged in this, then they must know that this will backfire on them.

That’s the nature of hastily planned psych ops.  Psychological operations can be used in many aspects of warfare. They are particularly intended to get the enemy confused, demoralised or even to believe things to be what they are not in real life. They are often used for political reasons to subdue the general public. Civilians reading this must understand that such operations are always authorised from the highest office. This is why I am holding the commander accountable for allowing attacks on his retired officers and particularly Brig Magosi. Psych Ops on retired soldiers will only serve to dampen the moral of all servicemen and servicewomen alike. Enough damage has been done on the moral of these soldiers and it needs to stop here.

Those serving in the BDF must not live under the old illusion that they will remain in the organisation forever. They will soon follow the rest of us and realise that they need people like Brig Magosi.

We need to continue that espirit de corps even after we retire our commission. The workforce outside of BDF is full of retired officers and that brotherhood bond should continue to exist beyond the days of phathisi.