Burundi Defence Minister Affirms Peace Efforts

His Excellency Hon Emmanuel Ntahomvukiye, Minister for Defence and Veterans of the Republic of Burundi reaffirmed commitment of EASF to continue working towards lasting peace, security and stability for the Eastern Africa region.

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Ntahomvukiye was speaking during the 21st Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers of Defence and Security held on 28th October 2016 in Bujumbura, capital city of Burundi where he was the Chief Guest.  He expressed the growing concern about the fate and well-being of  the 250 million people living in the Eastern Africa region, which, he said, should not be decided by a few gun totting, deranged and diabolical individuals or groups who use every excuses and pretexts to carry out their heinous acts.

 “It our home where we desire to create a more conducive environment for the economic growth and the development of our people and the fulfillment of their long cherished dream of well-being”, said Ntahomvukiye.  

The meeting was chaired by Gen Abdulkadir Dini, Chairperson of the Council of Ministers of Defence and Security of the Eastern Africa region, who is also the Minister of Defence of the Federal Government of Somalia.  In his opening remarks, he emphasized the urgent need to address critical tasks ahead of deployment in peace keeping mission.

The Policy Organs Meetings provide guidance for executing the affairs of EASF.  The 21^st session was convened to further consolidate operationalization of EASF in view of the current security dynamics in the region.  Among the items on the agenda were plans for participating in ongoing peace support missions,  the activity plan 2017 and resource mobilisation for deployment.

The meeting was attended by Ministers of Defence, Chiefs of Defence and their representatives, senior government officials of the Republic of Burundi,  and representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Internal Security as well as members of the Diplomatic Corps from nine member states, namely, Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Seychelles, Somalia, The Sudan and Uganda.

Photo Gallery of the 21st Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers of Defence and Security