KAMPALA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Uganda's military chief has welcomed commitments made by Chinese President Xi Jinping to boost military support to Africa and the UN peacekeeping efforts.
Gen. Katumba Wamala, Chief of Defense Forces told Xinhua in a recent interview that the Chinese aid to the Africa Union (AU) will be critical in the conflicts that are affecting the continent, making thousands of people homeless and leaving others dead.
President Xi while speaking at the UN last Saturday said China plans to set up a United Nations permanent peacekeeping force of 8,000 troops and would provide 100 million U.S. dollars to the AU to create an immediate response unit capable of responding to emergencies.
"It is a welcome idea because what has been lacking is not will, soldiers but lack of capacity in terms of training and equipment," he said on Oct. 1.
He said looking at the Somali conflict, the AU peacekeeping troops there are facing a shortage of force multipliers.
"What we need is force multipliers in form of attack helicopters and also force enablers in terms of engineering equipment, transport aircraft," he said.
He said the infantry troops also need combat equipment noting that most of the equipment has been destroyed by improvised explosive devices.
"These are the critical areas that would change the ball game if we had them in good numbers and at the right time," he said.
Uganda provides the bulk of the AU peacekeeping troops in volatile Somalia.
President Xi told the heads of state at the UN that China would form a helicopter squad for peacekeeping operations in Africa. He also said China would train 5,000 peacekeepers from other countries over the next five years.
Katumba said there is need to reform the UN peacekeeping procedures noting that the current threats are not of the same magnitude as back in 1945 when the UN Charter was formed.
He said the current threat is about non-state actors like terrorist groups that do not conform to international laws unlike state actors.
Wamala said such actors need a different approach if the continent is to stabilize.
"Somalia is the blue print, there are lessons to pick from the Somali experience on how future conflicts on the continent can be handle," he said.
