Military exercises are always scenario based and these are as close as possible to real life situations. Like I earlier said, the military is the only institution with sufficient capabilities to take over the running of a country in case of a collapse of government which will certainly result in chaos.
Someone might be placed on the edge of their seat thinking that I am suggesting a coup for our country. This is not the case but rather, they would be doing it for the sake of us all. The military’s role in aiding governance has been misrepresented in this continent especially in West Africa where almost every country has experienced a coup or half a dozen of them in the case of Nigeria.
The military has been misrepresented in many ways in Africa and across the world. Imagine what is happening to Myanmar right now. The military is actually in pains to explain to the rest of the world why they did a takeover of government.
The Myanmar military has gotten addicted to power. This is why they can just wake up one morning and announce a takeover of government regardless of the fact that the civilian democratic government was doing very well. When the military gets entrenched into power, they never want to leave. This is why as often as possible there is need to flush out unwanted generals. It is healthy exercise for our democracy and any other.
One of the things which have come out clear from this crisis is how unprepared as a country we have been for a challenge of this proportion. Supply chains have been disrupted and the new normal is not normal at all. We have seen that with the short supply of petroleum products in the country last year especially petrol. Not many people are aware of the fact that more than two thirds of truck drivers in the petroleum industry are ex-soldiers. These are the men who worked tirelessly to close the deficit gap that the country found itself in last year.
To begin with, which other government institution has a hospital in this country besides the Ministry of Health? There is none except BDF which has two. One at the headquarters at SSKB and another at Thebephatshwa Air Base complete with a mortuary.
In other countries military hospitals are the best and it is where the president and his or her cabinet receive their treatment in a secure environment. A good example is with South Africa. There is No1 Military Hospital in Pretoria and No 2 Military Hospital in Cape Town. These are very efficient referral hospitals and they do outclass a lot of private hospitals in the country.
Military hospitals are usually staffed with the best medical professionals and in fact it is always over staffed in anticipation of any national emergency such as the breakout of war. The South Africans invested heavily in the health of their military during the years of conflict in southern Africa.
The South African military hospitals are now serving the country so efficiently in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. The military is involved at a strategic level as is supposed to be the case for any country. However, there are rumours of graft and corruption in as far as the military is conducting itself in the crisis. Reports from social media are that the South African National Defence Force has gone on to purchase COVID-19 vaccines worth over R229 million without following laid out government procedures of procurement. As if this was not enough, a soldier who formed part of the security detail for the consignment accidentally left the cold room door open overnight and by so doing rendering the vaccines redundant.
This occurs in the background of a COVAX deal gone sour at government level. The vaccines that were recently procured by government from India are said to have already expired. This is a logistics nightmare because they all have to be returned to the manufacturer in the state they were in when they arrived. The arrival of the vaccines was met with pomp and ceremony. The convoy of blue lights was something never seen before in the country.
It is now clear that the military in South Africa is not involved in government strategic plans for the delivery of a safe COVAX. Covid-19 is certainly a national security issue and one fails to understand how the military can isolate itself from participating in the efforts by civil authorities.
The military in Botswana is showing itself to be ready for this national emergency. For three days this week, BDF was conducting training on Covid-19 vaccine deployment. The medical professionals in the military have taken an initiative to train frontline workers on issues of logistics in regard to the distribution of the vaccines. Logistics surrounding the distribution of the vaccine has always been a nightmare in every country.
The United States which became the first country to rollout nationwide vaccination has had a serious problem in the area of logistics. Interesting enough, their military was involved in the planning but things never went according to what was on the drawing boards. Because of the experience of the military in running such complex operations, the mistakes were quickly corrected and now the project is back on course.
The US military is very big in logistics. One of their biggest logistics facilities is Fort Lee Logistics Base and School. Several of the BDF officers have had an opportunity to participate in training here and we will be looking forward to bringing that training to life in Botswana.
It may not be crystal clear but the military is now in charge of our country. The Presidential Covid-19 Task Force is housed in the building of the Ministry of Defence and one of the decision makers in this committee is a major general who at the same time serves as the deputy commander at BDF.
