BDF fights Police, Prison over salaries
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The inferno that gutted a 25 man barracks block that housed members of the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) at Village Garrison, is heavily linked to the ongoing cold war between the soldiers and their police and prison counterparts.
WeekendPost has established that ever since the de-linking process earlier last year where all the disciplined force members received a windfall of going two notches up from their scales, there has been lament from the junior BDF members. At the top of the query of the juniors, is the fact that despite the de-linking, they are still at the base of the pay structure as compared to their peers from Botswana Police Services (constables) and Prison’s (warders). The contention is, all the junior officers’ wages should be equal, sources say.
“So this week’s fire at Villages Garrison is heavily linked to that issue. The senior members believe that this could have been part of juniors venting out their grievances,” one senior member of the Force told WeekendPost this week. For now the junior officers who are now on B1 salary scale contend that they should also be on the C3 scale just like constables and warders who at their respective institutions are the lowest in the hierarchy. Before the 2019 delinking exercise, Privates were on B3.
“They hoped they would have been listened to but the seniors have continued to turn a deaf ear on them and it has left them more frustrated,” added a source at BDF. It is however emphasized that the juniors have not channelled their displeasure through the right channels fearing it might be interpreted as indiscipline. This is said to be making their case even difficult to attend to. With these, this publication is also informed that there is a suggestion within some army officers that, positions of lance corporal and corporal, be scrapped off.
“Look, Lance Corporal is getting what constables and warders are getting but if you look at the years, you will find that he has been practiced long before the two could even join. So if the army can do away with both lance corporal and corporal ranks then we are only have Private then it will be clear that from there you go to Sergeant as it is the case with police,” one junior member who asked for anonymity proposed. Lance Corporal Cadres are on C4 scale which is also below that of constables and warders.
The government is also advised to avoid this confrontations and should streamline all the ranks within the three arms and ensure that salaries are the same to avoid the disparity. To this end those proposing this say, a BDF Commander should be paid same as police and prison peers and this should go down all the ranks.
The de-linking of pay from rank was simply designed to recognize and place the disciplined force members at par with their counterparts in the public service and to afford them similar remuneration both at entry point and during their progression, adding that it is also geared towards retaining personnel. BDF has for a long time been treated as the most senior of Police and Prison and it is disturbing for their staff members to be paid low compared to others, says some members.
The soldiers are of the view that their Commander Lt Gen Placid Segokgo should address them on this matter. The junior concur with their boss and legislator Major Pius Mokgware who once cautioned government against not providing low ranking soldiers with decent salaries and proper conditions of service citing it as a “security risk.”
“The last time we were addressed was prior to the delinking exercise and before then no one can say he remembers us meeting with our commander and it is not right because we have a number of issues that we want to talk with the leadership,” another junior soldier said.
In its response to enquiries sent by Weekendpost, BDF through Major Monty Malomo from Directorate of Protocol and Public Affairs referred this reporter to the Permanent Secretary to the President circular No 1 OF 2019 for information on the salary scales of members of the Defence Force.
“Salaries of BDF members are determined by the Defence Council as per section 24 (1) of BDF Act No 3 of 2018,” Major Malomo answered and added. “The Commander of the BDF addresses troops from time to time and he will continue to engage them as he always emphasises engagement with subordinates on a regular basis.”
Concerning the burning of the Village Garrison, the BDF said has nothing to share other than what is contained in the press release. The release was only detailing that a 25 man barracks block was gutted by fire on Monday at 07:30 and that no casualties was reported with only personal belongings destroyed.
BDF WARNS FAT SOLDIERS
In terms of the military power, Botswana is ranked 19 out of 34 countries that have been assessed in Africa. A United States (US) site, Global Fire Power (GFP) recently published its 2019 index of powerful militaries in Africa. Botswana is sitting on spot no. 19, which is very low when put together with her counterparts, that is, she is behind countries like Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola and Sudan amongst others. Although relatively ranked low by the power index, the Botswana military wing, Botswana Defence Force (BDF) prides itself that, today, it stands amongst a handful of militaries on the continent that were truly home grown.
Following last year’s report that BDF is one of the weakest armies in Africa, a decision to strengthen the force has been taken. Members of the BDF have been cautioned over failure to pass physical tests as most of them are mostly overweight. Failure to pass the routine physical, one will have to show cause why before a selected panel of jury assessing the fitness of the BDF personnel.
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Local tennis team upbeat ahead of Billie Jean King cup
With almost two weeks until the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup, which will be staged in Kenya from June 12-17, 2023, the Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) ladies’ team coach, Ernest Seleke, is optimistic about reaching greater heights.
Billie Jean King Cup, or the BJK Cup, is a premier international team competition in women’s tennis, launched as the Federation Cup to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The BJK Cup is the world’s largest annual women’s international team sports competition in terms of the number of nations that compete.
The finals will feature 12 teams (Botswana, Burundi, Ghana, Kenya, Seychelles, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Tunisia, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of Congo) competing in the four round-robin groups of three. The four group winners will qualify for the semifinals, and the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup will be crowned after the completion of the knockout phase.
Closer to home, the BW Tennis team is comprised of Thato Madikwe, Leungo Monnayoo, Chelsea Chakanyuka, and Kelebogile Monnayoo. However, according to Seleke, they have not assembled the team yet as some of the players are still engaged.
“At the moment, we are depending on the players and their respective coaches in terms of training. However, I will meet up with Botswana-based players in the coming week, while the United States of America (USA) based player Madikwe will probably meet us in Kenya. Furthermore, Ekua Youri and Naledi Raguin, who are based in Spain and France respectively, will not be joining us as they will be writing their examinations,” said Seleke.
Seleke further highlighted the significance of this competition and how competitive it is. “It is a massive platform for our players to showcase their talent in tennis, and it is very competitive as countries target to get promoted to the world categories where they get to face big nations such as Spain, France, USA, and Italy. Though we are going to this tournament as underdogs because it is our second time participating, I’m confident that the girls will put in a good showing and emerge with results despite the odds,” highlighted Seleke.
Quizzed about their debut performance at the BJK Cup, he said, “I think our performance was fair considering the fact that we were newbies. We came third in our group after losing to North Macedonia and South Africa. We went on to beat Uganda, then Kenya in the playoffs. Unfortunately, we couldn’t play Burundi due to heavy rainfall and settled for the position 9/10,” he said.
For her part, team representative Leungo Monnayoo said they are working hard as they aim to do well at the tourney. “The preparations for the tourney have long begun because we practice each and every day. We want to do well, hence we need to be motivated. Furthermore, I believe in my team as we have set ourselves a big target of coming home with the trophy,” she said.
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Pep Stores donates sanitary towels to Popagano JSS
The Guidance and Counseling unit at Popagano Junior Secondary School received a donation of 790 sanitary towels from Pep stores on Thursday.
When presenting the donation, Mareledi Thebeng, the Dinokaneng Area Manager, highlighted their belief in giving back to the community, as their existence depends on the communities they serve. Thebeng pointed out that research indicates one in four girls miss school every day due to the lack of basic necessities like sanitary towels. Therefore, as a company, they strive to assist in alleviating this situation. She expressed hope that this donation would help ensure uninterrupted learning for girls.
Upon receiving the donation on behalf of the students, Charity Sambire, the President of the Student Representative Council, expressed her gratitude. Sambire specifically thanked Pep Store for their generous gift, speaking on behalf of the students, especially the girl child.
She conveyed their sincere appreciation for Pep Store’s compassion and quoted the adage, “Blessed is the hand that gives.” Sambire expressed the students’ hope for Pep Stores’ prosperity, enabling them to continue supporting the students. As a gesture of gratitude, the students pledged to excel academically.
During her speech, Motlalepula Madome, the Senior Teacher in Guidance and Counseling, highlighted that many students at the school come from disadvantaged backgrounds where parents struggle to provide basic necessities. Consequently, some students miss school when they experience menstruation due to this lack.
Madome emphasized the significance of the donation in preventing the girl child from missing lessons and its potential to improve the school’s overall results. She expressed the school’s gratitude and expressed a desire for continued support from Pep Stores.
Popagano Junior Secondary School, situated in the Okavango District, holds the second position academically in the North West region. Despite its location, the school has been dedicated to achieving excellence since 2017
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Botswana misses out critical PAP committee meeting
The Pan African Parliament (PAP) committee on gender, family, youth and people with disability in its sitting considered, adopted and recommended to the plenary session the preliminary report on the framework for the model law on gender equality.
According to the last week’s media release from PAP which is sitting with its various committees until June 2nd, the committee is following up the PAP initiative to draw up a model law on gender equality to enable national governments to harmonize, modernize and standardize their legislations to address local needs is set to be discussed in Plenary.
However, what is concerning is the fact that Botswana which is a member state missed the deliberations. Kgosi Mosadi Seboko who sat in the committee representing Botswana has since been ejected by parliament and this is a huge blow for a nation that is still battling equity and gender balance.
“Although PAP has no legislative powers it makes model laws for member states to adopt. PAP also develops protocols to be ratified by countries. The input of countries at Committee state is extremely critical. It now means the voice of Botswana is missing the discussions leading up to development of protocols or model laws,” said one of Botswana’s representative at PAP Dr. Kesitegile Gobotswang who is attending the current session.
While Botswana is missing, the committee meeting took place on the sidelines of the Sixth PAP second ordinary Session being held under the African Union Theme of the Year for 2023, “The Year of AfCFTA: Accelerating the Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area” in Midrand, South Africa and will run up to 2 June 2023. Chairperson of the Committee, Hon Mariam Dao-Gabala expressed satisfaction with preliminary processes undertaken so far towards the formulation of the Model Law,” a release from the PAP website reads.
“The law should be suitable to all countries whatever the predominant culture or religion is. The aim is to give an opportunity to women to participate in the economic, political and social development of the continent. Women are not well positioned and face a lot of obstacles. We are introducing the idea of equity in the Law because we cannot talk about equality without equity,” said Hon Mariam Dao-Gabala in the press statement.
The release has stated that among issues to be covered by the Model Law is the migratory movements of women. The Committee proffered that this has to be addressed at the continental level to ensure that migrant women enjoy all their rights and live with dignity in their destination country. The members of the Gender Committee undertook consultations to consolidate the contributions of the various stakeholders that will be the logical framework format for the Model Law.