13 Dec 2017

Botswana Defence Force (BDF) has donated a cheque worth P20 000 to Botswana Society for People Living with Disability (BSPLWD) during the annual music concert in Kanye recently.

The cheque was handed to the society chairperson, Isaac Nkganetsang by the BDF Staff College Commander, Brigadier Mosimanegape Molale.

In an interview, Nkganetsang said the donation came in handy for his organisation which has been going for sometime without money.

He said some of their programmes and projects were on the brink of collapse due to lack of financial support.

Among others, he said they would use the money to revive their structures, empower care givers and teach members their rights.

 Nkganetsang further said they would organise workshops with stakeholders, especially government departments and educate members on available citizen empowerment programmes and interventions with a view to encourage them to take advantage of them and better their lives.

Nkganetsang encouraged Batswana to attend BDF band concerts in large numbers in order to enable the organisation to continue giving back to the community.

For his part, Captain Drake Mswela explained that the purpose of the gesture was to reach out to underprivileged communities across the country.

He said although the festive season was time for family and giving, it was also during the same time that the gap between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ became evident when nobody reached out to them.

He said the gesture was an endeavour to express a long standing desire by the BDF to give hope and dignity to the less privileged.

“What we are actually trying to promote nowadays is that we are a people-centric defence force. We want to be seen as family. With this we are saying let’s promote our national integrity and security together,” he said.

So far, he revealed that they have dished out over P1 million to different beneficiaries across the length and breadth of the nation since they started this year’s tour in Gaborone, Orapa, Serowe, Francistown, Selebi Phikwe, Jwaneng and Kanye.

“Our aim is to break our 27-year-old record of giving, but I won’t disclose how much that is at this particular stage,” he said.

Captain Mswela also noted that although they last visited Tsabong in the last 10 years, residents would also enjoy a share of last year’s proceeds during the concert scheduled for December 16.

He said they were not only targeting areas around Gaborone, adding that they also visited Ghanzi last year.

And just like in years gone by, the band did not disappoint and had any young man watched the performance, he would wish to one day become a soldier like many others before him and play music with such scholarly exactitude and discipline.

The class act for the night was delivered by retired warrant officer, Leero Gaseitsewe with a deep, thundering voice singing one of Mahlathini’s timeless tracks.

Gaseitsewe retired from the military on July 31 this year.

His addition to the stable was an icing on the cake and a tribute to a man who has served the military for 38 years with diligence.

It might take a while to replace him but his home boy, Sergeant Keemenao Simololang could fit in the big shoes.

Another sublime performance came from Corporal Moses Dodzi and the Francistown pantsula dancers. ENDS