Burundi President and EAC Summit Chairman His Excellency Pierre Nkurunziza (second left) exchanging ideas with EAC Secretary General, Dr. Dr. Richard Sezibera during the event.

Burundi President and EAC Summit Chairman His Excellency Pierre Nkurunziza (second left) exchanging ideas with EAC Secretary General,  Dr.  Dr. Richard Sezibera during the event.

East African Community Secretariat, Arusha, Tanzania: Burundi President and EAC Summit Chairman His Excellency Pierre Nkurunziza today opened the EAC Military Sports and Culture Event 2011 at the Prince Louis Rwagasore Stadium in Bujumbura, Burundi where he reaffirmed the importance of military cooperation.

 

"More than ever, military cooperation in our Community is a must, not only in the field of the army, but in other sectors as well.

"The military are not only trained to handle the trigger but to participate actively in sports and culture, to contribute to the construction of their country, and rehabilitation of the society and the environment," President Nkurunziza noted.

The President challenged participants to make the most of the Games and expressed his confidence that "the competitive spirit and mutual understanding would triumph".

Burundi is hosting the two-week event that ends 28 August for the first time and more than 500 sportsmen and women from the EAC Partner States are taking part in the Games that feature disciplines such as handball (men and women), football (men), netball (women), cross-country marathon (men and women) and basketball (men).

The primary objective of the event however is not competition but confidence building and nurturing a spirit of sportsmanship among the EAC Defense Forces as well as for the individual soldiers to demonstrate their immense talents and diverse cultures.

Burundi's Minister for National Defense and War Veterans Maj. Gen. Pontien Gaciyubwenge described the Games as "a very powerful illustration of common purpose and a positive signal of unity and cooperation among us" and "a real sign which shows that our Community is guided by the principles of mutual respect, harmony, security, stability, peace and sovereign equality".

The EAC Secretary General Amb. Dr. Richard Sezibera lauded the implementation of the EAC Memorandum on Cooperation in Defense, under which the Military Sports and Culture event is held, as "one of the most successful and exemplary programmes in the EAC integration process".

The Secretary General noted that the EAC bloc bears great geo-political significance that imposes on the Partner States an enormous responsibility in as far as regional defense, security and stability are concerned.

"Whereas the East African Community has a developmental mission, we know that peace and security are the pre-requisites for social and economic development.

"With the rising threat of international terrorism and creeping instability in a multiplicity of hotspots around the world, the issues of defense and security have assumed a greater importance and significance in the agenda of nations and indeed the agenda of groupings of nations such as ours," Amb. Sezibera asserted.

He reaffirmed that by cooperating in defense matters, EAC Partner States would have neither reason nor cause to resort to violent conflict among themselves, and added that the Military Games as such bore symbolic significance of the aspirations to a competitive, stable and united East Africa.

Alongside the sports event the EAC Defense Sector will also be celebrating 10 years of cooperation which will climax in November 2011 with the theme One People, One Destiny: Yet Another Decade for Deeper EAC Defence Cooperation.

The East African Military Games and Culture Events have been held on a rotational basis since 2005 when the first edition was held in Kampala, Uganda. Other editions of the games have since been held in Nairobi/Kenya (2006), Zanzibar/Tanzania (May 2007), Kampala (June 2008) and Kigali, Rwanda (2009).

The Military Games and Culture Event is held within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Defense, which was signed in 1998 and revised in 2001. The MoU has specific provisions for areas of co-operation which are visits andexchange of information to which Sports and Cultural is encompassed, joint military training, joint operations and technical cooperation among the EAC Defence Forces.

Also in attendance at the official opening of the EAC Military Sports and Culture Event were the Chairperson of the EAC Council of Ministers and Minister for EAC Affairs (Burundi), Hon. Hafsa Mossi; Cabinet Ministers; Chiefs of Defence Forces from the Partner States; Ambassadors and other dignitaries.