EA states to conduct joint military exercises

By Donald Kiirya

Uganda will host a military Field Training Exercise in May, 2013, according to the Deputy Chief of Defense Forces, Lt. Gen. Ivan Koreta.

Koreta revealed this as he was delivering his opening remarks during a planning conference for the Field Training exercise 2013 at the Ugandan Rapid Deployment Capability center at Gadhafi barracks.

At least 83 delegates from member countries of the Eastern Africa Standby Force are attending the five-day conference which started on Monday and ends on Friday.

 “This will help in conflict resolution among the member countries of the Eastern Africa Standby force and Uganda in particular,” said Koreta.

 “The government particularly the Ministry of Defense and the UPDF is committed to successfully hosting that field exercise in 2013. Therefore the delegates who are drawing the plans for that exercise should be assured and confident that their work is going to guide this exercise,” Koreta added.

Maj. Gen. (Rtd) Cyrille Ndayirukiye the Director of Eastern African Standby Force Coordination Mechanism (EASFCOM) said EASFCOM is one of the five African standby forces on the African Continent.

 “This is in accordance with the African Union road map to build an African Standby force to deal with conflicts in those regions,” Ndayirukiye said.