Soldiers retiring straight into poverty, says Segokgo

Soldiers are retiring into dire straits PIC: KAGISO ONAKTSWITSE
Soldiers are retiring into dire straits PIC: KAGISO ONAKTSWITSE

The Botswana Defence Force (BDF) Commander, Lieutenant General Placid Segokgo says the military is concerned that poor retirement packages are leading to former soldiers wallowing in poverty once they retire.

Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) yesterday, Segokgo said there was an urgent need to revise the BDF Act to help out ex-soldiers who were leaving the Force and sinking straight into poverty. The commander said this was because the pensions were structured wrongly and unfairly.

“The review will also address the retirement age of soldiers as we have been losing very key technically-skilled employees,” he said. “Some skills mature with age and we can use such personnel for our training.

Editor's Comment
Closure as pain lingers

March 28 will go down as a day that Batswana will never forget because of the accident that occurred near Mmamatlakala in Limpopo, South Africa. The tragedy affected not only the grieving families but the nation at large. Batswana throughout the process stood behind the grieving families and the governments of Botswana and South Africa need much more than a pat on the back.Last Saturday was a day when family members said their last goodbyes to...

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