13 Feb 2022

A total of 86 officer cadets received their commission with Botswana Defence Force (BDF) after completing a year of basic training.

Speaking during the cadets’ commissioning at Sir Seretse Khama Barracks on Friday, Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, Mr Kagiso Mmusi warned the cadets that a threat-riddled landscape awaited them.

“A landscape with a myriad of threats awaits you, the nation relies on you to deal with complexities such as terrorism, pandemics, cyber warfare and global warming to mention but a few,” he said.

Mr Mmusi said recently, the BDF contributed a contingent to the SADC Mission in Mozambique to curb violent extremism in the northern part of the country.

Other BDF officers were assigned to the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), he said.

In addition, Mr Mmusi said, BDF continued to be deployed in local operations such as anti-poaching in support of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks.

Therefore the commissioned officers would be taking the reins in the BDF, he said.

Imploring them to tap  into  other officers’ experiences in order to advance their careers, Mr Mmusi told them that they would be joining a crop of professionals who had made major strides in military operations.

They were also cautioned that they would be leading people from diverse backgrounds which could be a huge challenge.

The minister said  supervising subordinates with different personalities, problems and expectations required skillful and dynamic leadership.

On the social front, he said they would have to deal with issues such as HIV/AIDS, drug and substance abuse, gender-based violence and COVID-19. Ends