Fred Mukinda
29 October 2009
Nairobi — Military experts from four European countries are in Kenya with the aim of promoting peace in the eastern African region.
The Danish, Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish offices will assist the region in the ongoing establishment of a united military force to deal with conflicts on the continent.
Once functional, the East African Standby Brigade (EASBRIG) will be deployed to trouble spots within 14 days after chaos erupts, to restore order and prevent atrocities against civilians. The brigade will have troops from 14 countries.
The experts from the European countries, which are part of the Nordic Bloc, are based at the EASBRIG headquarters, at the Defence Staff College in Karen, Nairobi.
"The Nordic countries have a long tradition of peace-keeping and peace support operations and are well known for their even-handedness. Their assistance is valuable to our regional unit as well as for Kenya," said Defence minister Yusuf Haji, who inaugurated the new offices on Thursday.
Vice-Chief of General Staff Julius Karangi said the foreign experts would help fast-track the process of setting up the standby brigade.Training
It is expected that the military unit will be fully operational by 2015 but it could also start its operations as early as 2010.
The military unit will comprise 35,000 soldiers 1,000 police officers plus 1,000 civilian staff. Kenya is already training 2,000 soldiers to be seconded to the force once it is in place.
On Wednesday, Kenyan troops sailed from Mombasa for Djibouti, where they will train with counterparts from other countries in the region.
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Well done East Africa; let the dreams and hopes for the better of All Africans become a true reality. Keep charging on on the road of Unity and development for Africa.