Independently each can’t guarantee its survival but together we can - Museveni on EAC

He said this in a speech read by the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for EAC Affairs, Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga, who was officiating the closure of the 12th Edition of the EAC Armed Forces Field Training Exercise (FTX) at Gaddafi barracks in Jinja City.

Museveni said once integration is translated into a breathing reality, each member of the EAC will access a wider market and strategic security to manage both internal and external threats to the same.

Rebecca Kadaga Pulse

“Integration will introduce a bigger market and resources in the region,” said Museveni.

EAC partner states, he said, should continue working in close harness for the prosperity and security of the people of their respective countries in particular and the region as a whole in general.

“Independently each can’t guarantee its survival but together we can,” Museveni opined.

Kadaga, after delivering Museveni’s remarks, noted that the EAC has reaped expressly from the purchased local food and hardware used to construct contingent camps.

She added that the joint training exercise between the countries demonstrates that the defence sector has leapfrogged other sectors in the integration of East Africa in terms of progress and development.

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)

The EAC MoU on Co-operation in Defence Matters was signed in 1998 and revised in 2001. The MoU has been upgraded into a Protocol. Under the Memorandum, the EAC Partner States pursue an elaborate programme of activities, largely of confidence building among the defence forces.

These activities include exchange of visits and regular meetings of Defence Chiefs and other cadre of the defence forces; joint training; joint exercises and promotion of various joint sports and cultural activities and seminars; as well as mutual assistance in disaster management, and technical co-operation.