Gaolathe Galebotswe

Gaolathe Galebotswe is a retired Lieutenant General of the Botswana Defence Force (BDF), having served as its commander from 2012 to 2016,Succeeding Lt. Gen. Tebogo Masire. Quotes A soldier’s duty is to protect the nation, its people and its interests. Their role is to defend the country’s sovereignty from internal and external threats, guided by discipline, professionalism and a strict code of conduct. What we are seeing today – soldiers turning their weapons on defenceless civilians, is an act of cowardice and a sign of moral decay. This issue needs urgent national attention. These incidents tarnish the military’s reputation and disgrace the nation. The army enforces strict firearm handling protocols. When someone is determined to commit a crime, it is difficult to prevent it. The real issue is not firearm security but a deeper societal problem. No circumstance justifies murdering a woman because she chooses to leave a relationship. This is a twisted abuse of masculinity because men were given strength to protect, not to harm. This is a twisted abuse of masculinity because men were given strength to protect, not to harm. We accepted it as part of life. What we are seeing now also looks like lack of critical thinking. Retired Army Chief Condemns Killing of Civilians by Soldiers ,Botswana Gazette(27 February 2025) The issue of military air assets should have been tabled and addressed better, perhaps first by engaging Parliament through the relevant committee to make MPs appreciate what is at stake. It should be done through the Parliamentary Committee on Intelligence and Security, which is the right structure. At some point former defence minister Ramadeluka Seretse asked this committee to allow him to be the one to present to them as an equal instead of the BDF commander, and he was allowed. Commanders are not politicians and so have limitations on how to engage and to what extent with politicians. The Minister of Defence should always brief his colleagues and take them on board. It goes way back. At some point when we went to Lesotho, there was an uproar with our MPs complaining that they had only heard through CNN that we were in Lesotho on a peace-keeping mission. The late General Mompati Merafhe was having exchanges with the late Paul Rantao on the issue and General Merafhe responded that they could not take MPs into their confidence because they could tell the enemy. The BDF is going through a rough time. We could be having an army that is not fit for the purpose due to its unreadiness. In this rough terrain you always have to maintain a certain level of readiness for ‘just in case’ purposes but I am afraid the BDF is lagging behind while repeated efforts by the army to sensitise the powers that be about this seem to be falling on deaf ears. We proposed force modernisation, including air assets or fighter jets. It was not General Khama who was behind procurement of Gripen fighter jets, as many were led to believe. It was the BDF’s idea following a thorough security assessment. A decision was taken by the BDF that we needed to conscientise our principals that it is no longer profitable to keep the current assets or fighter aircraft. Operation and maintenance costs were high and not sustainable. That’s not how we plan in the military. That nothing will happen is pathetic, to say the least. What if it happens? The military would be the laughing stock. National security is a priority among other priorities like education, poverty, unemployment and so on. The BDF ‘s fighter capability is compromised at the moment. An example of the 1978 Lesoma incident in which 17 Batswana, 15 of whom were soldiers, were killed in an ambush by the then Rhodesian regime should have been a wake-up call for us. But we have relegated that to history and the debate about our readiness at that time has turned into mere academic exercises. In short, we have learnt nothing. We thought we were fine with a makeshift army thinking we were not a threat to anybody. There is not enough education or political will to inform the nation about what we are faced with here. Some politick with it. Some speak against it due to ignorance. Most do not even know what they are talking about. I may be biased towards the military, but what I know is that we are living in a volatile environment where you may never know where and when your next attacker will come from. Should that happen, you should know that we are not ready. The BDF will soon become irrelevant, if it is not already. They know my views on this subject. We cannot always see things from the same angle. I may be biased towards the army, but I am certain that all these positions, if well considered, are equal in measure. We are a member of SADC and AU standby forces and they look to us to contribute what we have. The policy framework is that an attack on one is an attack on all and we have to contribute certain capabilities in peacekeeping and peace enforcement, which can entail fighting. EX BDF Commander Warns State Botswana Gazette (20 February 2020) our air force is in complete shambles. We forget that we have the airspace that needs to be managed. How do we enforce if bad guys intrude into our airspace. This is not only a security issue but there is money lost here as our airspace can become a play ground by whoever wants to because our air-force is incapacitated and spends so much time grounded. Developed and concerned nations like the Americans say African air forces are just a name without capability. Air forces don’t spend their time on the ground. These assets have to be flying and enforcing our airspace but in Africa they are obsolete and grounded. Our aircrafts cannot fly beyond 24 000 feet to enforce their airspace. Our air-force will be spectators because we are only an air-force by name. Under normal circumstances when you encounter such a situation with unidentified intruders who do not appear in your flight plan you challenge them midair and make them account. If they don’t, you enforce by getting your airborne fighter aircrafts into the air to challenge or force them to land. We can’t do this. Unfortunately SADC forces did not have the capacity to go beyond 24 000 feet and South Africa volunteered to do everything on our behalf in our territory. Many then felt this will reflect badly on us as a nation should people know that we have surrendered their safety and sovereignty to another country. Botswana is losing out on taxing people who invade our unmanageable airspace. BDF Cannot Defend Our Airspace’ Botswana Gazette (20 February 2020) Procurement is not the prerogative of the commander of the BDF. Procurement has a structure and it is not ad hoc. Procurement structures are in place now and working well. These structures involve the BDF, the defence minister and the permanent secretary. The minister presents to Cabinet as well as the Defence Council….While I was the commander, I stopped the middlemen who are also called agents, from calling the shots. Agents are only needed when you need more information about certain equipment. The problem stems not from lack of weapons for the department of wildlife and national parks, but from an intelligence service that serves individual interests. I must, however, caution that DCEC, of the two, is one such institution which will, for any given reason, have files for all its citizens, including even our number one citizen. Because of the nature of their work, such information should be accorded the highest security classification. DISS has to be very clear on this as failure to understand this mandate to its fullest and accord DCEC its sacred responsibility may threaten national security. DISS needs to tone down and allow established legislative structures to help on the way forward if there are issues that warrant discovery. This is a unit where team spirit is essential, and with the trust I gained from my mates and principals, my leadership abilities were testament, to my then and current professional sphere. Gen Galebotswe – An officer and a gentleman,sundaystandards( 02 October 2022)