12 Dec 2017

MPs continue to support the draft Botswana Defence Force (BDF) Bill No 32 of 2017 that was presented to Parliament by Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, Mr Shaw Kgathi on Monday.

Supporting the the Bill, Gaborone Bonnington South MP, Mr Ndaba Gaolathe said the draft bill was a step in the direction to modernise the military.

He also said within the draft bill, he acknowledged the establishment of the military board of which integral to its function should be the constant flow of decisions coming from technical point of view because military generals should be given the latitude to provide their civilian supervisors with such.

He also said he realised that the military council included major players within government who were pivotal to the financing part which he said was crucial because the decisions taken at government level could be transplanted to the military institution for it to be more efficient.

“This is the right way to run the military,” he said.

In addition, Mr Gaolathe suggested that the legislation should define the type of people that should be part of the military council in order to complement the existing skills.

“Those I would imagine would be people such as existing military experts operational now and people who are retired having played an active roles on issues relating to security,” he said.

He said defining type of skills needed in the council was important because this would ensure that the council had people with requisite skills forming the council.

Mr Gaolathe said it was also necessary to ensure that the one who heads the military should be the best candidate  for the position of commander and that the President should only nominate a candidate for final endorsement by the legislature.

This, he said would assist the military in the long term to ensure everyone who becomes a commander  of defence forces was somebody who had not only stood the test of best military practice but had also credibility.

“The military would take pride to know they have a leader who is respected across a political divide,” he said.

MP for Mahalapye East, Ms Botlogile Tshireletso said she was happy that the Bill introduced a new governing body being the defence board that would fast track issues of welfare for military offices including their payments.

She said she was also delighted that draft Bill empowered the BDF Commander to participate in the promotion of staff members and had a say in their welfare.

Maun East MP, Konstantinos Markus said he was happy that the retirement age for BDF officers was changed under the new draft Bill, which he said would benefit them as they would accrue improved benefits after retirement.

He also said under the current dispensation, skills were lost in the early exit exercise. BOPA