AFRICANGLOBE – Belgium’s Chief of Defence has visited the Republic of the Congo under the guise of strengthening military cooperation between the two countries.
General Charles-Henri Delcour met the Chief of General Staff of the Congolese Armed Forces, Major General Charles Richard Mondjo, last Wednesday.
Delcour said that Belgium and the Republic of the Congo had reviewed their modest cooperation, particularly in the area of training. He said the visit allowed the two sides to better understand the Congo’s needs and to reorient bilateral cooperation.
Delcour added that the Congo is one of the countries in the Great Lakes region that maintains friendly defence relations with Belgium.
On January 7 Delcour also visited his counterpart in Rwanda, Lieutenant General Charles Kayonga, the Rwandan Defence Force Chief of Defence Staff. Delcour was also received by the Minister of Defence and visited the Zigama Credit and Saving Society, Rwanda Military Hospital and Camp Kigali Memorial Site to honour the ten Belgian paratroopers killed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. He also visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre to pay his respects to the genocide victims.
Meanwhile, Belgium personnel are busy training soldiers in Burundi. Three Belgian officers and ten instructors are in Bujumbura from January 8 to February 26 to train personnel from the Military Academy of Burundi (ISCAM).
In addition to offering training courses, the Belgians are also creating new instructors for the Academy. The Belgian team is the fifth to perform such a mission since the signing of a cooperation agreement in 2009.
Training covers the areas of financial management, human resources and equipment.
