SUMMARY OF PROFILE

Brigadier General Chere Daniel Makhetha is a general officer of Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) and a defence strategist, currently serving as the Chief of Staff at the SADC PLANELM in Gaborone, Botswana.

He possesses a strong background in strategic planning, defence economics, and institutional governance, with a record of leadership in both national and regional defence structures. His expertise integrates operational command, strategic policy formulation, and applied defence economics, enabling him to advance efficient, accountable, and research based military decision-making.

He has played a vital role in the alignment of LDF and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) towards a unified strategic direction and continues to contribute to regional defence readiness through SADC mechanisms supporting the SADC Standby Force (SSF) under the African Standby Force (ASF) framework.

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

·                    Master of Arts in Defence and Strategic Studies, University of Botswana,

·                    Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management, University of KwaZulu-Natal,

·                    Bachelor of Arts with Education, National University of Lesotho

·                    Senior Command and Staff Course, Botswana Defence Force Command and Staff College

·                    Numerous short courses in defence planning, peace operations, and institutional

·                    Governance across SADC, AU, and UN institutions.

APPONTMENTS

·          Chief of Staff

·          Personal Staff Officer to Commander LDF

·          Staff Officer (Operations and Planning)

·          Officer Commanding

·          Advisor SADC Defence Inspectorate Working Group

DECORATIONS

·          National, Long Service and Meritorious Medals

RESEARCH AND STRATEGIC CONTRIBUTIONS

·                    Researcher on military efficiency and defence economics, applying Stochastic

·                    Frontier Analysis to measure performance in resource-constrained defence

·                    Environments.

·                    Lead developer of strategic and doctrinal frameworks including:

·                    Revised SADC Defence Inspectorate Working Group Doctrine

·                    LDF Special Forces Group Doctrine

·                    MoD–LDF Unified Strategy Document integrating risk, audit, and governance

·                    Mechanisms.

·                    Actively engaged in the design of SADC's Strategic Advisory and Risk Framework to

·                    Guide decision-making for the Defence Sub-Committee and Chiefs of Defence Staff.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

·                    Strategic Defence Planning and Policy Formulation

·                    Defence Economics and Resource Efficiency

·                    Institutional Governance, Audit, and Risk Management

·                    Peace Operations and Regional Security Cooperation

·                    Research, Data Analytics, and Stochastic Frontier Modelling

·                    Defence Strategy, Doctrine, and Capability Development

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP AND AFFILIATION

·                    Contributor, SADC Defence Inspectorate Working Group (DIWG)

·                    Member, SADC Planning Element (PLANELM) Strategic Advisory Network

·                    Researcher in Peace and Defence Economics

·                    Participant in SADC-AU–UN Integrated Defence Policy Dialogues

VISION STATEMENT

Advancing the efficiency, integrity, and strategic coherence of the defence sector through evidence-based planning, integrated institutional oversight, and collaborative regional security mechanisms that sustain peace and stability across the SADC region