BDF Day Still The Favourite
Pini Bothoko | Monday April 24, 2017 15:14
Some of the spectators are said to have arrived at the venue as early as 3am.
Masses continued pushing into the stadium to find space and some had to be sent back home.
BDF was celebrating its 40 years anniversary and it appeared no one wanted to miss the action as queues reached as far as Maruapula.
Despite been told that the stadium was full, some people forced their way in and decided to stand the whole day to watch the activities.
Although there were men amongst the crowd, people who came in high numbers were school going children and followed by women who filled every nook and cranny of the stadium, laughing their lungs out at the hilarious displays by lumbering clowns and cowering under an intense eardrum-splitting bombardment in a mock gun battle.
One wonders what really makes people to be eager not to miss the BDF Day celebrations as every year they come in numbers.
Some force organisations such as the Botswana Police Service and Botswana Prison Service (BPS) also have annual celebrations but none of them is able to fill the stadium to its rafters like BDF.
Usually children attend the event in numbers, as they usually aspire to be soldiers when they grow up but they are also attracted by the clowns and shooting of guns.
There might be something unique about BDF celebrations and Facebook followers has been posting status challenging the man behind the #Tlatsa Lebala, Tshepiso ‘Kast’ Molapisi to consider asking for assistance from BDF so that he can able to achieve his dream of filling up the National Stadium come May 6, 2017.
As usual, the President Ian Khama graced the event and had the opportunity to inspect a guard of honour.
The guest of honour was the the second Deputy Commander of the BDF from 1989-1991 Major General J. Motang.
The Minister of Defence, Justice and Security Shaw Kgathi and other senior government officials graced the event.
The activities of the day included the parade, synchronised drill, dog, horse display, band display and colour guard, obstacle assault course, mock battle, fly-past, parachute drop to mention but a few.
In synchronised drilling, three civilians, two women and a man, volunteered to join the soldiers.
They obeyed drill commands just like the soldiers they were marching with and added the fun as they struggled to imitate them.
The volunteers marched, halted or held the gun the wrong way when the command was for them to be doing the opposite and this left spectators in stitches.
However, at the end of it all, they won prizes ranging from P200, P150 and P50 for having tried.
The event ended with the BDF showcasing its fleet of military hardware.