GABORONE - The United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) headquarters will not relocate to Africa from Stuttgart, Germany, in the foreseeable future.
Visiting Africom commander, Gen. William Ward said this during a press briefing on the purpose of his trip to Botswana in Gaborone on Wednesday.
He said too often when they visit a partner nation, there is speculation that they are looking for bases or seeking to place US troops in that particular country.
Gen. Ward emphasised that he was in Botswana to discuss ongoing security cooperation programmes, and look for ways that could help US Africa Command support Botswanas future military goals and objectives.
In addition, he noted that the Botswana Defence Force is a truly capable and professional organisation.
He said they are pleased to have very robust military-to-military partnerships with the Botswana Defence Force, adding that they have had 40 events occurring between the two organisations in the past year.
Just last month, he said, a team visited Botswana to talk about how the US trained non commissioned officers to serve as staff members in an operations center.
The event, he said, directly supported the BDFs desire to improve the capabilities of their NCOs corps.
In addition, he said US Africa Commands focus is on sustained security engagement with African partners.
We seek to assist our African partners with their desires to continue strengthening their capacity for increased security and stability, he added.
During his visit, Gen. Ward met with officials of the Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security and the Commander of the BDF besides discussing ongoing cooperative programmes and their future focus.
Botswana Press Agency
