01 Feb 2015

The Botswana Defence Force (BDF) has welcomed its first female privates into the army barracks following the successful conscription of the first ever female officer cadets five years ago. 

Recently the army invited young women for a recruitment interview at Sir Seretse Khama Barracks in Mogoditshane and when responding to a BOPA questionnaire, BDF spokesperson, Colonel Tebo Dikole said the defence force intended to recruit a substantial number of women that could be trained within the existing facilities.

Without divulging the exact number of the female recruits the army intended to recruit, Colonel Dikole said the response was overly positive. 

He said the women privates would train alongside their male counterparts. “There will be no separate training for females and males; they will instead train alongside each other,” he said, adding that it was an international practice, more so that the army had the capacity to do so.

The army officer said BDF would not make any distinction between men and women in the allocation of duties.

 “We expect these women to perform similar duties as males,” he said, adding that however, the army would have separate accommodation in the barracks blocks for women to enhance and recognise privacy.

“After training we will post the recruits to different camps looking at where their service is greatly needed,” he said. Meanwhile, since the recruitment of women in the army started, Colonel Dikole said they had not encountered any specific problems.

“At BDF a challenge is only an obstacle if you bow to it,” he said, adding that with regard to performance, the army subscribes to the equal opportunity concept and does not view itself along the lines of gender; thus soldiers work related performance knows no gender. ENDS