The 27th ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff (CCDS) meeting has ended in Cotonou, Benin Republic with a resolution that "enough is enough with regards to military intervention in the politics of member nations."
Towards giving teeth to the resolution, the ECOWAS Defence Chiefs decided to send the Chiefs of Defence Staff of Ghana, Liberia, Togo and Cape Verde to Guinea Bissau, which has been having continuing disruption of democratic governance by its military, "to express our unhappiness and misgivings at the consistent military interventions in the country."
The body stressed that "any further disrespect for political authority must be condemned in the strongest terms” “military government is no longer in vogue and we must move ahead with the times."
Addressing newsmen at the end of the meeting, the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Paul Dike, who is the chairman of the CCDS, announced that the next quarterly meeting of the body would be held in Guinea Bissau "to make collective strong representation to the military so that they fall in line as other militaries in the region."
He also said that the body resolved that "pro-active steps will be taken to counter the activities of extreme religious groups prevalent in the Sahel region of West Africa."
It therefore tasked the Chiefs of Defence Staff of Mali and Niger to study the problem of religious extremists and ways to tackle them and report to the next meeting of the body.
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US AFRICOM has helped the Liberians re-institute their Coast Guard.
A small team from the newly formed Liberian Coast Guard successfully launched, for the first time, a Zodiac boat off of Bushrod Island, the historic home of the Liberian maritime forces, March 25, 2010.
The event was historic for the unit of 49 men and one woman, which was activated just more than a month earlier at Liberia's 53rd Annual Armed Forces Day in Monrovia.
At the activation ceremony, coast guard members marched in formation onto Monrovia's Barclay Training Center parade field. Standing at attention in their new white uniforms, a strong contrast to the sea of green fatigues worn by soldiers of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL), the coast guard received its charge from Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and its guidon.
After a decade's long absence from the water, the coast guard's activation signaled Liberia's commitment to reestablish its presence on its territorial waters.
"What is especially significant this Armed Forces Day is the reactivation of the Liberian National Coast Guard…," Sirleaf said during the ceremony. "Under the 2008 National Defense Act, we are obliged to develop and re-establish our capacity to man our territorial waters. The coast guard has a mandate to improve the security of our coastline and control smuggling and illegal fishing. I congratulate you, the members of the coast guard, who have pledged to safeguard Liberia's territorial waters."
Watching from the stands that day, and also looking on with pride the day of the boat launch, was U.S. Coast Guard Commander Jennifer Ketchum, who works out of U.S. Africa Command's (AFRICOM) Monrovia Office of Security Cooperation, responsible for coordinating all security cooperation engagements between the U.S. and Liberia.
"This is a great job," she said, "being able to see and measure success and help the Liberians."
"This is the first we've had the boat out and I'm so excited I just can't tell you," said Ketchum. "A lot of training has come before this and I'm just really proud of the guys today for getting out here and launching the boat."
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The South Africans are putting the military back on border patrol duty, especially facing Zimbabwe.
The first four SA National Defence Force (SANDF) companies to take over border security from the SA Police Service (Saps) on the northern borders, held a farewell parade in Bloemfontein on Monday.
SANDF chief Lieutenant General Solly Shoke said the troop deployment would work closely with other law enforcement agencies along South Africa's borders, as they had done in the past.
The group of soldiers is part of the first phase of the South African Border Management Agency (BMA) approved by Cabinet in October 2009.
The four companies, of about 130 soldiers each, would be deployed on South Africa's north-eastern borders with Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
The soldiers would conduct foot and mobile patrols, monitor the border fence and supply reaction capabilities.
Shoke said advance teams of SANDF engineers were already deployed to the areas, including bases at Musina and Pontdrif, to prepare the facilities for the troops.
By: Brant
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