�BDF plots against spy�s daughter� � Rebuttal
| Friday April 15, 2016 12:05
We wish to denounce quite vehemently the allegations carried in the story which makes a desperate link between the case of Medical Assessment on Sergeant Dzikamani Mothobi and the findings of a Medical Board on Recruit Private Tsholofelo Mothobi, which is slander and could only have been done with the purpose of defaming the BDF and misleading the public by suggesting that the BDF engages in a witch-hunt to unfairly dismiss members.
The suggestion that there are unlawful, unreasonable, unjust and ulterior motivated separations of members at the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) is tantamount to tabloid gossip not fit for public consumption as it is misleading.
The article further makes false claims that Mothobi was also subjected to a Medical Board with a view to dismiss him from the Defence Force, which couldn’t be further from the truth. It is worth noting that the said Sergeant only underwent a Medical Assessment, which is a routine medical check-up done on every member of the BDF and he is no exception to such.
It is primarily done to determine whether the member is deployable and nothing more.
A medical board on the other hand is done to determine if the member can be retained in the Defence Force and is usually preceded by a member’s medical condition that hinders them from performing military duties effectively.
This is provided for in the BDF Act, Defence Force (Regular Force) (Discharge) Regulation 2 (10).
This therefore is by no means a unique process but one that has been used whenever the need arose through the years to ascertain the retainability of members It has to be understood that the BDF as a security organisation mandated to defend Botswana’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and national interests under the Constitution, espouses the values of duty, integrity, esprit de corps and above all discipline and therefore can never separate one of its own maliciously.
A member or trainee can only be separated in accordance with BDF stipulated statutes. Such separations can include failure by trainees to meet set military training standards as well as recommendations by a Medical Board.
This is contrary to the article as it seems to suggest that the BDF and its leadership are made of morally decayed individuals who can subject an individual to a medical board solely for the reasons of settling personal scores.
As a professional and morally upright outfit, the BDF convenes medical boards comprised of a team of medical experts also bound by professional ethics to preside over a case objectively and determine whether a member’s medical condition would hinder them from performing military duties.
It is therefore regrettable that the newspaper never solicited our input on this matter save for contacting the Deputy Director, Protocol and Public Affairs (BDF), that they were sending a questionnaire, which they never did. Had they done so, they would have learnt that Medical Boards and Medical Assessments differ materially in nature, composition and intent.
It is worth noting that Recruit Privates train for a period of six months and at the end of training they should have satisfactorily met the standards for Recruit Basic Military Training Course. A Recruit Private who has not graduated from the training academy will not qualify to be a soldier in the BDF.
Medical Board assessments are intended to ascertain the retainability of BDF members to include trainees.
Of importance to note is that we are ethically and morally bound to respect one’s privacy and therefore it would be insensitive and unprofessional for us to discuss a member’s or trainee’s case in the public domain.
We therefore, wish to reiterate that the BDF does not engage in petty personal squabbles with its members, trainees or their families as suggested by the article.
It can only be surmised that the article is not only malicious but has been written in bad taste, bent on misinforming the public and to tarnish the good image of the BDF.
Colonel T. K Dikole
Director, Protocol and Public Affairs Botswana Defence Force HQ