22 Sep 2013

Integrity, discipline, good character and knowledge are guiding principles, which will always bring meaningful development to the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) and nation at large, President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama has said.

Giving a keynote address at the graduation ceremony for Senior Command and Staff Programme  at Glen Valley Barracks on September 20, President Khama said in tune with the BDF value system, integrity took the lead than any other quality.

“Integrity is more than our talk. Integrity brings security, the absence of integrity leads to ruin. If you would travel far and do much as a leader in the Botswana Defence Force and generally in life, never compromise your integrity,” he said.

He said the 12 months training had equipped trainees with the requisite knowledge expected to enable them to translate the commander’s thought process into meaningful orders. “Thus you will be able to oversee the execution of the commander’s plan and process the ability to think, analyse and make timely decisions,” he said.

President Khama noted that the BDF’s guiding values were duty, integrity, spirit de corps and discipline, adding that all members of the BDF embraced these values. He said great leaders were not in leadership and management for personal gains, but for their desire to serve other people.

He said they relied on discipline and not emotions.  “Leadership is often easy during the good times,”  he said, adding that leaders faced crucial moments when they had to choose between stepping up or giving up.

“To make it through those trying times, they rely on the firm foundation of discipline and not the shifting sand of emotion,”  he said. President Khama advised graduates to be familiar with the current security challenges facing the country and the world in general.

He said as the world continued to experience volatile trends, the economic and security needs had heightened the need for more knowledgeable and exemplary leadership. President Khama also told graduates that the course had armed them with the necessary skills to plan and conduct joint and combined operations while understanding the principles of strategic planning.

He said the 52-week course was modelled to capacitate them to effectively serve the BDF as mid-level commanders and staff officers in various formations and units.

In his vote of thanks, the commandant of the Defence Command and Staff College, Brigadier Shadrack Moloi advised graduates that the knowledge and ethical grounding they had gained should not be shadowed by any darkness.

He urged them to continue learning and to keep pace with the dynamics of the changing world, adding that their efforts would be realised in the long run. Brigadier Moloi also advised them to apply competencies they acquired and assume command and staff appointments that would enable them to effectively respond to defence and security challenges. ENDS