SADC brigade ready for emergency operations

ASSAH MWAMBENE in Maputo

The Southern African Development Community Brigade (SADCBRIG) is ready to carry out any emergency operation in the region should it be mandated to do so by the regional summit. Speaking at a press conference, the SADCBRIG Military Planning element Officer, Brigadier General Lancaster Bottoman, said the brigade was ready to respond to any emergency operation.


He was responding to a question by a Mozambican journalist who wanted
to know why it was taking long for the SADCBRIG to intervene in the
raging political crisis in Madagascar. The journalist also wanted to
know if the brigade was ready to be deployed in Madagascar before the
completion of the third field training exercise scheduled to be held in
South Africa in September this year.

General Bottoman said the regional brigade was ready to carry out any
emergency operation any time should they be mandated by the Heads of
State and Governments. In case of emergence the SADCBRIG is ready to
act any time they are mandated to do so, General Bottoman said. He
noted, however, that there were a number of procedures needed to be
addressed before considering a military option, saying the region has
well spelled out framework in dealing with crisis.

As a matter of procedure, General Bottoman said decision on whether to
respond to an emergency or not lies in the hands of the regional Summit
of the Heads of State and Government. Earlier, the Head of the SADC
Peace Support Mission, Dr Moses Dhlamini, had said this was a second
exercise to be conducted by the SADCBRIG since its establishment in
August 2007 in Lusaka, Zambia.

He said the first mop up exercise took place in Cabo Ledo, Angola in
February, 2009. The next Field Training exercise, scheduled to be
carried out in a fictitious country called Lohatla, will take place in
South Africa in September, 2009. Dr Dhlamini said the exercises were
meant to test the regional brigade capability to respond to conflict
situations in line with the evolving international peacekeeping
framework.

Daily News

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