EA Armed Forces Day to be held annually

Arusha. The East African Armed Forces Day will from now on be held annually to enhance cooperation among the partner states.

That was announced early this week by the deputy secretary general of the East African Community (EAC), Mr Charles Njoroge, during a regional military event in Uganda.

"The EAC Protocol on Cooperation in Defence has four pillars which are military training, joint operations, technical cooperation and exchange of information," he said.

These, according to him, include organising activities related to the civil-military cooperation in the region as part of the Armed Forces Day.

The first event was held at Bukedi in eastern Uganda this week under the theme ' Reaffirming the Contribution of the Armed Forces towards Regional Integration for our Strategic Security, Development and Prosperity'.

The armed forces from all the six EAC partner states -- Burundi, Kenya, South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania -- participated.

Civil-military activities were conducted by medical and engineering contingents of all the forces in Butalega, Pallisa, Budaka, Kibuku, Tororo and Busia.

He commended  the Uganda government and its military (Uganda People's Defence Forces) for hosting the first EAC Armed Forces Day.

"We need unity, peace, stability and strength to defend our common interests. EAC cooperation in Defence offers such prospects," Mr Njoroge added.

Analysts believe defence cooperation in the bloc stemmed from real and potential complex emergencies such as disaster management and insecurity.

These threats range from natural to man-made disaster, poverty and disease, porous borders and proliferation of small arms and light weapons, internal strife and terrorism.

"It is for these reasons that it is very important to develop the East African Community’s capacity to handle such emergencies and threats," one of them said here recently.