Disabled soldier languishes in poverty

BAME PIET
Staff Writer | Tuesday August 24, 2010 00:00

 

Baraedi said that the defence council did not bother to listen to his case and the only response he got was that he was fairly dismissed from the force.

A letter dated July 21, 2010 from the Office of the President confirms Baraedi's dismissal.

'I wish to inform you that the defence council during its meeting of July 8, 2010 considered your appeal regarding your dismissal from the BDF. The council, after considering all the documents pertaining to your appeal came to the conclusion that you were properly discharged from the BDF. Your appeal was therefore dismissed for lack of merits,' says a letter signed by permanent secretary in Ministry of Defence Justice and Security, Augustine Makgonatsotlhe.

But Baraedi insists that he was unfairly dismissed from the force and unduly denied his benefits and a month's salary.

He said that his troubles started when he fell sick after accidentally stepping on a wooden splinter with his right foot during routine training in 1999. The ex-soldier, employed in 1987, said that his health deteriorated in the following two years to the extent that at some point his lower body, from the waist down, was paralysed.

He said that there was a time when he was hospitalised and none of his supervisors or colleagues bothered to check on how he was doing.

He said that in many occasions there were logistical problems for him to be transported between his home in Molepolole and Princess Marina Hospital.

The transport problem got worse, forcing him to engage a friend to transport him to Gaborone for regular check-ups and medication and most of the time he was bedridden.

Apparently the wooden splinter remained in his leg for about two years causing bacteria that nearly caused decomposition.

He said that he followed all procedures to be granted home-based care by his relatives in Molepolole and once in a while he would report to his station at SSKB.

Baraedi said that the problems continued until November 2003 when one of his supervisors sent him to military jail for failing to report for duty despite available medical reports and sick leave.

'He wouldn't even listen to me and sent me to jail for 14 days. He could see that I was walking with the support of crutches but he showed no compassion. He just did not care,' lamented Baraedi.

He said that when he was about to complete the sentence, the same officer extended his jail term by an additional seven days. The irony of the matter, Baraedi said, is that you have to appeal to the same senior officer who is sending you to jail and the officer did not bother to listen to him.

He said that by July 2004 he had served over 30 days in the military jail despite his deteriorating health.

He said that one day when he reported for duty the officer told him that he was no longer an employee of the BDF and he should leave the army premises immediately.

He said that he was denied a wage for that month and he also lost the welfare money, which he accumulated in monthly contributions. 'All I was told was that I had lost the money because I had been jailed. Even my other benefits I have not got a thebe from the BDF and nobody is willing to help me,' he said.

He said that for the past six years he has been sent from one office to another in pursuit of his dues and he is left a poor man.

Baraedi said that he had exhausted all the procedures even trying to meet then Vice President Ian Khama. He said he finally went to report to the defence council who also did not invite him to testify.

'I had hoped that I would be called before the body to lead my testimony but I only received this letter confirming my dismissal,' he said. Among the senior government officials who sit on the defence council are the Attorney General, Minister of Defence Justice and Security, Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, the permanent secretary to President and the Commander of BDF.