Acting Defense Minister of Zambia Brenda Tambatamba led a procession of Soldiers to stand before an array of aircraft on the sun-soaked tarmac of Lusaka Air Base for the opening ceremony of Exercise Blue Lugwasho.
Replete with a brass band and a fighter jet flyover, the pageantry was a fitting way to mark the return of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) “Blue” exercises after a COVID-19 pandemic-induced hiatus since 2019.
Nearly 1,000 Air Force troops from across the regional bloc took part in Blue Lugwasho, a humanitarian and disaster response exercise, from September 8 to 26. Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe joined host Zambia.
“To the SADC member states representatives and military personnel, your presence is the very essence of the SADC spirit,” Tambatamba said during the September 8 opening ceremony. “You have not just sent air assets and personnel; you have sent a message. A message that while we may be demarcated by borders, our humanity knows no boundaries. That when one nation suffers, we all stand ready to help. This collective resolve is our region’s greatest defence.”
Dating to 1997, SADC’s biennial Blue exercises have focused on peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts. Tambatamba delivered her speech standing in front of a C-130 Super Hercules transport aircraft loaded with 50-kilogram bags of maize ready to be airlifted to Zambia’s southern and eastern provinces that have been hardest hit by a historic drought.
On behalf of Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, she described the exercise as “a practical demonstration of regional solidarity and preparedness in responding to natural disasters, humanitarian crises and modern security threats.”
Zambian Air Force Director of Public Relations Col. Mutale Kasoma said Blue Lugwasho and the return of SADC military exercises are critical to fostering regional unity and building capability.
“The goal is improving interoperability, coordination and response and reaction time,” he told ADF. “We are seeing how we’re able to mobilize as a region and respond to a given situation within the shortest possible time to save lives and also to bring impactful relief to the people that need it the most.”
Blue Lugwasho featured a command post exercise in Lusaka to plan and coordinate the logistics of the airlift, followed by a field exercise from September 18 to 25 to deliver the supplies.
“Everything is tied up before the actual exercise on ground starts,” Kasoma said. “Preparation is cardinal if you’re going to succeed in any activity. The execution is the smaller part of it. You cannot overemphasize the need to prepare, practice and be ready for any eventuality.”
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Oscar Nyoni said that Zambia’s Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit provided 450 metric tons of maize.
Zambian C-27Js and Botswana Defence Force C-130s airlifted more than 1,100 50-kilogram bags of maize from the exercise’s strategic operating base in Lusaka to the main operating base at Livingstone Air Force base on September 10.
SADC troops, in unison with units of the Zambian Army and the Zambia National Service, delivered the humanitarian aid to forward operating bases and drop zones during the field-exercise portion of Blue Lugwasho. Zambia’s southern and western provinces have been severely affected by the ongoing drought that began in January 2024 and is considered the worst to hit the country in four decades.
Kasoma, who was a captain in 2003 when Zambia hosted Exercise Blue Angel, fondly recalled his experience as a young officer and was excited to see SADC’s Blue exercises revived in his home country.
“It is quite fulfilling and motivating that we’re able to coordinate and be of greater help to one another,” he said. “The more we do this, the more seamless it becomes and the better we get at it.
“There is great camaraderie. These are lifelong connections that you form and you live with for the rest of your career in the service, things that you carry with you each and every day and wherever you go within the SADC region and beyond.”