Louis Matshwenyego Fisher Explained

Louis Matshwenyego Fisher was commander of the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) from 1998 to 2006. He is a recipient of the Légion d'honneur and a Presidential Order of Honour.

Born in the village of Tsau in Ngamiland District, now part of North-West District, Fisher received his primary education in Maun, at the Moremi III Primary School, and his secondary education at Materi Spei College in Francistown. He attended the University of Botswana and graduated in 1978 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science. He joined the BDF the same year.^[1]

Over the next twenty years, Fisher attended and graduated from the Command and General Staff College (CGSC), the U.S. Army War College (USAWC), and the Naval Postgraduate School, and acquired master's degrees in Business Administration and Public Administration. In 1998, he was inducted into the International Officer Hall of Fame of the CGSC and the International Fellows Hall of Fame of the USAWC.^{[1] [2]}

He assumed command of the BDF in 1998, succeeding Seretse Ian Khama,^{[3] [4]} son of ex-President Sir Seretse Khama, paramount chief of the Bangwato tribe, and current President of Botswana.^[5] He retired on 1 November 2006, succeeded by Tebogo Masire.^{[6] [7]}

Fisher is now the ambassador for the embassy of Botswana in Nigeria.^[8]

Notes and References

1. News: A soldier and a gentleman . Botswana Press Agency . . 2005-09-28 . 2007-08-01.
2. Book: Rupiya, Martin . Evolutions & Revolutions: A Contemporary History of Militaries in Southern Africa . 2007-08-01 . October 2005 . . vi . https://web.archive.org/web/20070928054735/http://www.iss.org.za/pubs/Books/Evol_Revol%20Oct%2005/Contents.htm . 2007-09-28 . dead .
3. Book: Kenosi, Lekoko . R. Williams . G. Cawthra . D. Abrahams . Ourselves to Know: Civil-Military Relations and Defence Transformation in Southern Africa . 2007-08-01 . September 2002 . . 198 . The Botswana Defence Force and public trust: The military dilemma in a democracy . http://www.iss.org.za/pubs/Books/OurselvesToKnow/Kenosi.pdf . https://web.archive.org/web/20070928054722/http://www.iss.org.za/pubs/Books/OurselvesToKnow/Contents.html . 2007-09-28 . dead .
4. News: Mogae among thousands at 27th BDF Day . Botswana Press Agency . . 2004-04-06 . 2007-08-01 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20051113223132/http://www.gov.bw/cgi-bin/news.cgi?d=20040406&i=Mogae_among_thousands_at_27th_BDF_Day . November 13, 2005 .
5. Swatuk . Larry A. . May 1999 . Botswana: The opposition implodes . Southern Africa Report . 14 . 3 . 27–30 . 2007-08-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070927223313/http://www.africafiles.org/article.asp?ID=3758 . 2007-09-27 . dead .
6. News: Masire appointed BDF commander . . 2006-10-27 . 2007-08-01.
7. News: Fisher Motivates Soldiers . . 2006-10-30 . 2007-08-01.
8. News: Masire to succeed Fisher at BDF . The Ngami Times . 2006-11-17 . 2007-08-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070627055845/http://www.ngamitimes.com/index1.html . 2007-06-27 . dead .