BDF is slowly losing its valuable history

Richard Moleofe | Friday July 15, 2016 12:14

I had earlier interviewed the officer just a few weeks before his death and one thing we were both agreeing on was that military knowledge in this country was slowly getting lost.

Phethu was a pioneering officer in armour. He was so favoured and rose very fast to the position of Commanding Officer and retired having made a mark in the industry.

He bemoaned the fact that Botswana Defence Force (BDF) was doing nothing to save its own history.

I have always held Col Phethu’s position on the state of the army’s archives on its personnel and military hardware. It is something that recent commanders and their officers have turned a blind eye on.

During Lieutenant General Khama’s era as Commander of the Defence Force, efforts were made with the advice of his officers to recruit people with the right skills. Lieutenant Ditirwa came in as an expert in the area of records management.  Then followed Lieutenant Kenosi who was a specialist in the  field of archiving. Ditirwa soon left the military for what is often referred to as greener pastures.

Sooner than later, Kenosi left to work for the University of Botswana and made his mark at this institution of higher learning. Kenosi was later headhunted by another university in Saudi Arabia.  Records and archives go hand in hand and as far as I am concerned, BDF had started on the right footing by bringing these two officers on board.  When they decided to leave the military organisation, no one made an effort to convince them to stay. Anyway, they went on to succeed in their careers.

There was a move to establish a military museum for BDF.

A civilian officer with the right qualifications was employed to establish the museum and was stationed at Glenn Valley Barracks. His employer forgot about him and he soon decided to leave when he realised that he was redundant. The fellow quickly left to avoid his professional decay. Regardless of the sweet pay he was getting, he was not growing in any professional sense.

A few months ago I wrote an opinion piece to this newspaper about saving the Shorland which was BDF’s first armoured vehicle. In fact I had had a call from two armour officers who were deeply disturbed by the idea of putting these articles of history in the firing range at Ntwetwe. It is good that we still have people at BDF who see the historic value on some of these obsolete articles of war.

And for that I would like to salute the two majors who have elected to remain anonymous for fear of recriminations. 

Truly speaking, we are a nation that cares little about our past. For that reason we cannot just apportion the blame to BDF alone for lack of enthusiasm in the area of keeping our history safe. It happens everywhere even in our private homes. Most of the pictures that our fathers brought with them from World War II have been allowed entry into our rubbish bins.  What a waste!

BDF has a rich history, but we are slowly losing it as the officers and men that founded it are departing one at a time.

When established in 1977, the first officers’ force numbers all started with the figures 80. The officers were often affectionately called “Ma Eight Zero.” The departure of the last of these officers from the military establishment was never hailed as anything. I am certain that the last of them has left because age has obviously caught up with them.

Eight Zeros were actually a mobile archive. As young officers we all marvelled at their stories. But unfortunately this was all oral history and none at all has been documented. All is not lost as a majority of these officers are still alive and in their right sense.

One of the officers that made a lot of sense in the stories they told was Colonel Lesedi. He was not just a moving archive, but a library of wisdom.

At the apex of its economic success, BDF was the best paying organisation after De Beers mining company. Colonel Lesedi was driving an old Ford Cortina while the rest of the officers were driving 4x4s. He chose to invest in the education of his children and his plan has not backfired.

One of the most appealing stories about the operations of the Rhodesian War came from Colonel Otshabeng.

While commanding a platoon in the border areas, one morning he decided to relocate his position because according to him he had had a sleepless night worrying about something he could not explain. The next morning he decided to move his entire platoon to another location. This was something that his subordinates did not take kindly to. But they obliged because orders are orders.

The following day, the Rhodesians pounded their position for hours on end.

According to him, his intuitive relocation of his base averted what would have been BDF’s worst massacre. The way the tall trees were reduced to twigs and the soil pulverised to mere dust was a telling story that had they not moved, the Lesoma massacre of 15 soldiers would have been diminished to a minimum incident.

The Rhodesians thought that they were dealing a heavy blow to BDF.

There are many untold stories that are going with these men to the grave and never to be heard again. The danger is; the few remaining may tell us stories that may not be corroborated ever.

As for equipment, there is so much that we have lost and are still losing.  Therefore there is an existing and pressing need to create a museum to save the Botswana military history of equipment and arms.