African Unification Front
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See Military Reorganization
January 28, 2004
New Training Center for African Peacekeepers
A new centre for training African peacekeeping troops, has been opened on the outskirts of Accra, the capital of AU state of Ghana. The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre opened its doors to a first intake of African Union military officers and civilian officials in November 2003.
Brigadier-General Charles Mankatah, is the commandant of the new college. The centre provides courses lasting two to four weeks on topics such as conflict management, peace support operations, governance and election monitoring for peacekeeping operations. It is aimed at junior and senior officers who have to take operational decisions in the field.
The peacekeeping centre has also been designated to train officers for a permanent ECOWAS stand-by force, which has yet to be established. Mankatah said the new centre in Ghana is designed to complement the training already provided for African peacekeepers at military academies in Nigeria and Mali. The Nigeria War College provides high-level strategic training to senior political planners and policy makers. While in Koulikoro, Mali, is a tactical training centre for non-commissioned officers active at the implementation level.
"This centre" explained Mankatah "will basically complement those two institutions with training structured for middle-level management personnel," that is junior to middle ranking officers, civil servants and civilian middle management.
The first course, on Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration, consists of candidates from Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. At least 15 more courses are planned to run up to the end of November 2004. The peacekeeping centre has the capacity to run courses, sometimes concurrently, for 20 to 40 participants.
The names of all those who pass through the new peacekeeping centre will be placed on a database, so that organizations such as the UN can tap in to their expertise in the future. Course fees range from US$2,400 to $4,200 per head, but the school already has three-quarters of the entire training budget for this year.
January 21, 2004
Defence & Security Ministers Approve Establishment of African Force
African ministers of defence and security adopted on Tuesday, in Addis Ababa, the reports by the African Chiefs of Defense Staff about the creation of an African Military Force.
The African Force, to be made up of five regional brigades, aims at the prevention and intervention in cases of internal conflicts, genocides and humanitarian catastrophies in anywhere in Africa.
This institution's objectives will be to banish any internal and external threats, strengthen the cooperation in the military sector, consolidate national sovereignty, promote trust and set up a peace culture and peaceful co-existence among the constituent states of the African Union (AU).
At the opening of the meeting, the Mozambican minister of Defence, Tobias Joaquim Dai, considered the creation of an African Force as a decisive stage for the establishment of operational mechanisms, which are important for the manoeuvre of military units, in strict respect of the African Union Constitutive Act and of the United Nations Charter.
The Angolan delegation is headed by the Defence minister, Kundi Payama, and comprises the minister of Interior, Osvaldo Serra Van-Dúnem, the Army Chief of Staff, Agostinho Nelumba "Sanjar", the secretary general of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Alves Primo, and the Angolan ambassador to Ethiopia and to the African Union, Miguel Neto.
African Union's Peace and Security Council
DURBAN, South Africa, July 7 (AFP) - The Peace and Security Council of the African Union will be the African equivalent of the UN Security Council, except that none of the 15 members will be able to exercise a veto.
The council will be able to draw on a stand-by force from African armies to intervene if crimes against humanity are being perpetrated.
It will meet on three levels -- ambassadors to the union, who will meet every two weeks, and foreign ministers and heads of state, who will normally meet once a year.
Decisions will be taken by consensus, or by a two-thirds majority if an issue is put to a vote.
The council will be supported by a "Panel of the Wise" -- five highly respected African personalities appointed for three years.
A continental early warning system will provide information drawn from governments, regional bodies, international organisations, academic institutions and non-governmental organisations.
A military staff committee composed of senior officers from the countries represented on the council will advise it.
The council will be empowered to mediate in conflicts and intervene if all else fails. It will also be authorised to help provide post-conflict reconstruction, and humanitarian and disaster assistance.
It will also be entrusted with instituting sanctions if unconstitutional changes of government take place, and with combating terrorism. - Nampa-AFP
August 6 2001 Sapa
An 84-member SA Army delegation arrived in Cairo on Sunday for an eight-day visit to the Egyptian Armed Forces.
The group is headed by SA Army College commandant Brigadier-General Mxolisi Petane, accompanied by the directing staff.
"Military cooperation between South Africa and Egypt is important, and this visit will enhance possibilities for future cooperation," the army said in a statement in Pretoria.
The visit is aimed at exchanging viewpoints on military and civil-military relations, peace support operations, and combined operations in Africa.
The delegation would also learn about the Egyptian armed forces' operations and training, especially the manner in which it succeeds to protect the country's diverse geographical and political borders.
The group is to visit the Command and Staff College, Nasr Higher Military Academy, Naval headquarters, and the Air Defence College, the statement said.
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