Soldiers must remember their first oath

“I swear to protect the President from domestic and foreign enemies”, was the most critical part of my oath as an Officer Cadet. A few weeks later I went around and asked one of the None-Commissioned Officers who was present at the time to explain what my oath entailed.

The fellow was in pains trying to explain, but at the end of it all, I could surmise that the president is the embodiment of the whole citizenry.

I became very curious because we had taken an oath four days after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and there was a rumour in the grapevine that we were being groomed for the eventual war between Iraq and the Allied Forces. The war was so popular because of the extended media coverage. We also wanted to be abreast with every inch of its development so much that one Officer Cadet nicknamed himself “Saddam”.

Editor's Comment
Let’s fight GBV as a collective

Botswana for the longest time was known for her virulent peace with family being an enviable institution.As the media, we are also scared to be incessantly reporting on these bloody scenes where women are brutally murdered and worse, sometimes in front of their children and loved ones. Yes, we have reported cases where men were also brutally murdered by their loved ones, but such cases are a drop in the ocean.For the past two weeks, Botswana was...

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