ADF

ADF STAFF A new surveillance system will give Ghana the most complete picture ever of its maritime domain.  The maritime domain monitoring system includes over-the-horizon radars that will let the Ghana Navy see beyond the 370 kilometers of the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Describing it as a “game changer,” Ghana’s Chief of Naval Staff Rear Adm. Issah Adam Yakubu announced the project during a February 2024 conference at the Naval Headquarters, Burma Camp. In an interview with ADF during the African Maritime Forces Summit in Accra, Yakubu said the system marks a major upgrade that lets the navy track…

THE EAST AFRICAN Security chiefs in East and Southern Africa believe new technology and a shared approach are needed to combat arms smuggling.  Delegates from 26 African countries gathered in Nairobi in March 2024 for a regional preparatory meeting in advance of a United Nations conference on preventing, combating, and eradicating the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons (SALW).  An attendee called the proliferation of weapons an “existential threat” to the continent’s stability.  “Small and light weapons continue to wreak havoc in communities, fuel conflict, undermine peace and stability, and hinder socioeconomic development in the African continent,” said…

ADF STAFF The Islamic State group (IS) has turned to cryptocurrencies to move money from places such as Somalia and South Africa to fighters elsewhere on the continent. Private donations, known as “sadaqah” in Arabic, make up one of IS’s largest sources of revenue. Although much of this money moves through the informal system known as hawala, some IS supporters use digital currencies such as bitcoin or tether to transfer money quickly while avoiding detection by international agencies seeking to disrupt terror financing. The Counter ISIS Finance Group reports that West Africa, home to Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP),…

ADF STAFF Retired Brig. Gen. Geraldine George was confirmed as Liberia’s minister of defense in April 2024, marking the first time a woman has held the position. George enlisted in the Army in 2006 after the end of the country’s civil war and held positions including infantry brigade commander and leadership roles relating to personnel and operations. She served as deputy chief of staff for six years. In a 2022 interview to launch a book called “Living Legends,” George said her first passion was the law, but after witnessing the destruction her country experienced in the civil war, she thought…

ADF STAFF The Tanzania Peoples Defence Forces has received two renovated laboratory buildings that will help the country in its fight against HIV/AIDS. The U.S. President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the largest provider of HIV/AIDS relief on the continent, funded the project. PEPFAR representatives presented the renovated buildings at the Makambako Dispensary in Njombe Region and Mbalizi Military Hospital in Mbeya Region to the TPDF in February 2024.  The TPDF plays a lead role in fighting the spread of HIV in the country and is implementing HIV testing and interventions at its 21 military health centers nationwide. “The…

ADF STAFF The Senegalese Armed Forces (SAF) launched an operation on land, river and air in February 2024 to restore security to the far east of the country, which borders Mali. The operation, known as Sentinelle Est, dismantled illegal gold mining sites along the Faleme River, disrupted trafficking routes and took on violent gangs menacing the region.  “The objective is to reinforce the security of the populations living along the border,” Senegal’s military public information directorate said in a statement. “Actions were made in all the border villages, sites of economic interest as well as uninhabited spaces.” As of April…

Late 2023 saw a surge in intercommunal conflict in parts of South Sudan, resulting in 862 instances of death, injury, abduction and conflict-related sexual violence, according to a United Nations peacekeeping mission. The U.N. Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) produced its final quarterly report for 2023 and found a 4% increase in incidents and a 35% increase in victims compared to the previous quarter. Intercommunal violence by militias and/or civil defense groups accounted for 86% of all civilians affected during the period. The main conflict hot spot, Warrap State, experienced an 87% increase in victims compared to the previous quarter,…

The African Union, by way of its Peace and Security Council, has endorsed a Southern African Development Community decision to deploy troops to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to restore peace and security in the eastern part of the country, overruling protestations from Rwanda. A communique issued after a March 2024 African Union Peace and Security Council meeting asked the AU Commission to “mobilise requisite support” for SAMIDRC, the regional community’s peacekeeping mission to the DRC. DefenceWeb reported that the first elements of the mission arrived in the eastern DRC in mid-December 2023, with the scheduled movement of part…

ADF STAFF The Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces explosive devices team started 2024 by clearing improvised explosive devices (IED) on the major Lower Shabelle Shalambot/Ceeljale supply route as part of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia. The team was deployed after IEDs, seemingly planted by al-Shabaab fighters, exploded, hitting a civilian vehicle carrying five people, defenceWeb reported. The wounded were evacuated by a mission humanitarian convoy to Ceelwaligo for treatment. After the team cleared that section of the road, Uganda Battle Group 37 Commander Col. Charles Asiimwe condemned the planting of IEDs. “The heinous and barbaric acts committed by al-Shabaab…

ADF Staff The Lewis B. Puller-class expeditionary sea base USS Hershel “Woody” Williams completed its participation in Exercise Sea Lion 2024 alongside the Ghana Navy in the Gulf of Guinea in March 2024. The ship, known as the HWW, hosted five Ghanaian Sailors, while two U.S. Sailors embarked on Ghana Navy vessels. During the personnel exchange, Sailors made their way to longitude and latitude 0 degrees, where the Greenwich Meridian meets the equator. The Sailors then swapped back to their own ships via two separate personnel transfers from an HWW rigid-hull inflatable boat crew. Once the ships reached the coordinates,…