10 Sep 2018

Community investment is the bedrock of the Botswana Defence Force values. This is evidenced by the increasing number of community projects that the organisation has undertaken around the country.

These sentiments where echoed by the acting Commandant, Military College, Colonel Keebine Kgakge when officiating during the handover of donations worth P58 840 to Matsiloje Primary School by the BDF Officer Cadet Class 40 of 2017/18 recently.

 He noted that assisting the less privileged in society was the right thing to do, noting that children’s education was key to Botswana’s development.

Col Kgakge also thanked community leaders for giving the army permission to use the camp which was closer to their village.

 On other issues, he applauded the intake class for showing compassion through their outreach project. “In the past, the army was feared, however, nowadays collaboration with the community has been identified as a key pillar in poverty eradication,” he said.

Col Kgakge further explained that BDF realised government efforts to fight poverty and contribute towards economic development.

 Furthermore, he acting commandant told his audience that when they informed their students about their tradition of community service they took up the task with commitment to raise funds.

The donation, which included uniforms, school shoes, tracksuits, a photocopying machine worth P30 000 and sanitary pads, he noted, would ease the pupils challenges.

He called on parents to take care of the donated items including the photocopying machine. He also said BDF has opened its doors to help communities where possible as this contributed to the national pillars of building an informed and educated nation.

The donation, he added, would go a long way in uplifting the standard of education in the country. He urged parents to attend such  occasions in large numbers to encourage those who were donating. The BDF course coordinator for Class 40, Major Otsile Mothi noted that it was the army’s tradition that every intake ploughs back to the community.

“As BDF we value education and we believe that the intake will be remembered in Matsiloje for generations to come,” he added. Matsiloje Primary School head, Ms Tebelelo Pitso thanked BDF for their social responsibility footprint. She explained that their school was struggling to get good results and noted that for the past three years performance has not been pleasing. Ms Pitso also highlighted that the donation would go a long way in assisting in their endeavour to improve results. However, she explained that this could only happen when pupils had parental support. “This donation will surely have an impact on our performance. She said. ENDS