Deceit by BDF, DIS ‘too much’—Soldiers

An aggrieved group of Botswana Defence Force (BDF) commissioned officers say the deceit they endured at the hands of the military and the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) was too much to bear and has caused them significant mental anguish.

The 11 soldiers, Mpho Baleseng, Matlhogonolo Kearabile, Timothy Mogatwe, Kaone Matlhosi, Moagisi Buti, Morena Mangesi, Karabo Tsimako, Baeng Ramohobo, Edward Gabaikanngwe, Vincent Motsie and Lesego Mokopakgosi say they were led into the contracts under false pretenses, and that the subsequent realisation of the deceit has caused them significant mental pain.

“The unlawful contracts have deprived us of the rightful benefits and emoluments we would have enjoyed had we not been ferried to the DIS,” they said.

Their court papers, as they challenged BDF and DIS for being posted to the intelligence agency, reveal the alleged anguish and psychological trauma they suffered as a result.

They argued that they have experienced significant social distress and career stagnation as a result of the unlawful contracts and that they have been unfairly labelled as failures by their peers, causing them to suffer reputational damage and emotional distress.

“There is also a stalling of our careers, as we have been unable to progress professionally in the same manner as our BDF colleagues. This stagnation has not only impacted our financial stability but also our self-esteem and sense of personal achievement,” decried the soldiers.

Considering what they alleged they went through, the soldiers sought compensation saying they had been wronged by the very institutions that were supposed to protect their rights and it is only just that they be compensated for their suffering.

The soldiers prayed that the court award them damages in the amount of P3 million each, the amount being merely a reflection of the financial losses they have incurred, but also a recognition of the emotional and psychological toll that the BDF and DIS’ actions have taken on them.

The back of the matter is that the soldiers were divided into two groups – Intake 36 of 2012–2013 and Intake 37 of 2013–2014.

The first eight soldiers as named accordingly were all members of Intake 36 of 2013 and the last three soldiers were all members of Intake 37 of 2014.

The particulars of the claim are that the background as it relates to Intake 36 was that on varying dates in 2012, the soldiers belonging to Intake 36 submitted their applications to the BDF for enlistment as Officer Cadets and each soldier in the intake possessed distinct qualifications at the time of application.

They submitted that the qualifications were not only relevant but also met and exceeded the criteria set forth by the BDF for the positions in question and that the invitation was identical for all soldiers.

The soldiers said they were amongst a select few who successfully navigated the rigorous selection process and out of approximately 500 shortlisted candidates, only around 50 were successful, thereby indicating a staggering failure rate of 90%.

“This underscores the exceptional qualifications and capabilities by us both in our intakes 36 and 37. We were informed of our success by phone and we were instructed to present ourselves at SSKB on October 19, 2012, for attestation,” outlined court papers.

They explained that they duly presented themselves on the attestation day and were ushered into the SSKB auditorium where they took an oath and swore allegiance to the BDF. At that point they were specifically told that they were now BDF officers and that their training would start immediately.

They said after attestation, but on the same day and at the auditorium, some officials addressed the congregation and stated that the congregation should be prepared that after training, they may be posted to different geographical locations and departments.

“After the address, officials from both the BDF and the Office of the President (OP) singled out the first eight soldiers, stating their ‘interest’ in hiring them but clarifying that discussions would continue after training. No agreements were reached at that meeting,” they submitted.

The soldiers mentioned that during the last quarter of training, all trainees were asked to write where they wished to be posted upon completion of their training. That was to be written in a document that was circulated amongst all of them and in that document, none of them ever wrote DIS or OP.

They noted that they were commissioned on November 8, 2013, as Second Lieutenants and that on the day of the commissioning, they were summoned to the then BDF Force Training Establishment (FTE) Commandant Brigadier B G Addanes’ office, who stated that as the BDF policy dictates, new entrants should be ready to serve and operate in various operational environments and that it was the same message relayed after attestation.

“We were surprised that we were posted away from the BDF when we expected to be posted to either different geographical locations or departments within the BDF. When we asked questions, we were advised that all questions should be addressed to where we were being posted, being the Office of the President.” They wrote that just after the commissioning ceremony, they were hurriedly informed that they should relinquish all BDF uniforms and other items that they had in their possession and that following the handing over of BDF equipment, in the afternoon of the commissioning day, they were ferried from SSKB to a certain facility in Main Mall, Gaborone (then unknown to them) in a combi.

Furthermore, they submitted that they were received by the then Director General (DG) Isaac Kgosi and he advised them that they had been posted to DIS and that they would offer better salaries than that of their colleagues who remained in the BDF.

The soldiers said they were unsettled and queried the development as they had applied to become employees of BDF and not DIS, however, Kgosi maintained his stance that they should not at all worry about it as he would “address the issue”.

The aggrieved soldiers said a few days down the line, they were issued with offers of appointment letters by the then Director Corporate Services (DCS), Tshegofatso Dioka, bearing a salary scale of C2 (bottom notch) as opposed to a higher notch commensurate with that of their colleagues at BDF.

They argued that it was a big problem for them and they did not want anything to do with the DIS since it offered a lower salary than what they had been paid by BDF following their attestation while at various times during November, they continued to question the looming assimilation into the DIS as well as the anomaly of salary differences.

The BDF officers said DCS mentioned that she was sent by Kgosi to present the offer to them and that she was given word by him that anyone who is not going to accept the offer and still wants to go back to BDF, Kgosi will make sure that no one was successful in going back to the army and similarly that person will not remain with DIS but will be dismissed and sent straight home to unemployment. Further, the soldiers said during one of the meetings between the DCS and them in November 2013, the DCS informed them that they should consider themselves lucky as they were never successfully enlisted by BDF but the DIS “picked their application letters from dustbins after BDF rejected them”.

“Sometime in December 2013, the same Tshegofatso Dioka, together with the then Director Training Collen Kgengwenyane, (deceased) came to us with drafted resignation letters instructing all of them to put the date of November 7, 2013, and to append our signatures therein. We queried why we had to backdate the letter to a date which did not make sense to us because, on the said dates that we were instructed to backdate the letter to (November 7, 2013), we were still on training at BDF conducting rehearsals for commissioning parade the following day,” stated the soldiers.

They emphasised that they had no intention of resigning from BDF, but were further informed that it was an instruction from Kgosi and that no one should/can question, and similarly, anyone not willing to sign “will be dismissed and sent straight home” to unemployment.

They said due to the nature of the threats and fear of being sent home, they did what they were instructed to do and signed the resignation letters. In conclusion, the officers said the current leadership of DIS knew there was a problem but did nothing to resolve it, which forced their hand and took legal action.

Had no intention of resigning from BDF We suffered mental anguish, career stagnation

Now we are called ‘failures’