East African military academy commanders meet in Bujumbura
Bujumbura, Burundi (PANA) – Commanders of the military academies of the six member countries of the East African Community (EAC) on Tuesday began meeting in Bujumbura over three days, according to security sources which said the meeting is discussing harmonization of common training and defence programmes.
The six member countries of the East African community are Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and South Sudan.
According to the Commander of the Burundian high institute of military officers (ISCAM), Col. Gaspard Baratuza, the summit is one of the two annual statutory meetings, set by the ‘’East African Community’s protocol in terms of defence and security’’.
At the end of the protocol, the member states will accept to cooperate in terms of military training, common operations and visits, as well as information sharing.
In addition, the protocol obliges member countries to ‘’promote peace, security and the good friendly relations in view to guarantee the protection of the East African Community’s peoples and their environmental area’’.
The armies of member countries are still urged to “cooperate on the supply, acquisition of spare parts, the use and repair of military equipment’’.
For some time, the relations within the Community are particularly tense between Burundi and Rwanda, which partially explains the slowdown noted in the sub-regional integration process, according to observers.
The ‘’weak links’’ of the community accuse each other of mutual destabilization, raising fear for a military escalation through alliances, in a sub-region that has huge and significant military power, according to some international reports.
The "Global Power Index" 2017, which evaluates the military power per country, ranks Kenya in the 77th world position, Uganda 92nd, Tanzania 96th, South Sudan 99th, as Rwanda and Burundi are nowhere in the ranking.
In other domains, EAC has, since 2010, launched its own common market of goods, labour and capital in the region, the objective being to create a common currency in 2012, and a common political federation in 2015, which is far from being achieved.
-0- PANA FB/IS/MSA/VAO 19March2019
