BDF moves to cushion resignations

BAME PIET
Staff Writer | Friday June 17, 2011 00:00

Though the Commander of BDF Lieutenant General Tebogo Masire has denied that the army is losing soldiers in great numbers, it has been found that indeed many are leaving either to engage in self-employment or for greener pastures. The most affected cadres are officers who possess scarce skills desired by the private sector such as law, medicine, information technology, engineering and science-related fields.

General Masire said early this year that the number of soldiers who have left the army did not even account for a fraction of those who were joining. But interviews with some soldiers, who preferred to remain anonymous, revealed that there is a lot of frustration stemming from bad working conditions and what some term as modern day slavery and indignity, as the reason for mass resignations.

Public Affairs and Protocol Officer Colonel Sharp said yesterday that they were recruiting 500 soldiers for the cadre of private and 60 officer cadets who will undergo training in the next coming weeks. He said that they recruited the same number in previous years and they included both males and females.

In the local newspapers the BDF has invited 2,075 candidates (privates) to the SSKB main gate for selection and recruitment, which Sharp said would be reduced to 500. He said that the selection process would weed out those who are not fit for training as well as those who have criminal records. 'Sometimes we find that the candidate possesses the qualities we need for our recruitment, and only to find that they have criminal records,' he said.

The spokesperson also confirmed the retirement of Colonel Enock Emang of the Millitary Police at SSK Barracks, retirement of Brigadier Letsogile Motsumi in Francistown and Major General Tumelo Paledi of the BDF air arm.