Botswana: Southern African Development Community(SADC) Standby Communication Exercise was officially opened at Oodi Village, Botswana.
The Southern African Development Community), has a standby force previously known as the Southern African Development Community Standby Brigade.
The brigade was formed as a result of resolutions that were made in the Republic of Zambia in 2007 in accordance with the African Peace and Security architecture in line with the African Union Concept Force, which has filtered through to regional levels.
This Regional Force was established to deal with a wide range of security issues, such as civil unrest, genocide as well as human challenges resulting from natural disasters within the Southern African Development Community region.
As a result, the Southern African Development Community(SADC) Communication Exercise was sanctioned from the 29th Ordinary Defence Sub Meeting, which was held in Lusaka, Zambia, in 2019 with the aim to exercise Southern African Development Community Standby Force Communication Capability under the theme “Enhancing Communication Inter-Operability in Southern African Development Community Missions”.
The main objective of the exercise other than to achieve seamless communication in voice and data in secure mode, is to integrate the Military, Police Services, Correctional Services and Civil Components of the Southern African Development Community Missions.
At the official opening of the Southern African Development Community(SADC) Communication Exercise operationally named DIPUISANO held at OODI village, Botswana on 26 August 2023, nine Southern African Development Community Member States comprising of Botswana (host), South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia, Zambia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola were welcomed, with Malawi arriving later on the day.
The Official Opening Ceremony began with welcome remarks by Brigadier O.S. Tsamase representing the Chief of Botswana Defence Force (BDF). Brigadier Tsamase then highlighted that the purpose of his address was to welcome all the Southern African Development Community member states present, as well as extend a hand of gratitude to the leadership of the Kgatleng Tribal Authority, where the host village of OODI is situated.
In his conclusion, Brigadier Tsamase reiterated that as much as the people of Botswana are loving and welcoming, the possibility of hostility due to criminal activities may not be ruled out.
The Official Opening address was done by Professor K.I. Theletsane, Director: Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Affairs, then highlighted the difficulty that comes with organizing exercises of this magnitude. Prof Theletsane thanked all member states that managed to make the trip despite all the challenges.
In his address, Prof Theletsane highlighted that “Exercises of this scale do not just happen overnight”, a lot of preparation goes into ensuring that planning and execution of such exercises as the Southern African Development Community Standby Communication Exercise enjoy a great deal of success.
The Ceremony was concluded by the Exercise Director, Brigadier J.M. Mathambo who thanked all members for their participation in ensuring that the opening ceremony enjoyed success. Brigadier Mathambo further highlighted that the exercise participants will be spread across three districts, namely Kgatleng, Lobatse and Kanye.
The exercise will run from 26 July to 04 August 2023, with some elements scheduled to conduct an After Action Review for two days upon conclusion of the exercise.