By Jasmine Atieno
The Peace Unity 2024 is a joint military exercise involving the militaries of China, Mozambique and Tanzania, with a focus on counter-terrorism operations.
The exercise which began on 29th July at the comprehensive Centre in Mapinga, Dar es salaam includes both land and sea drills aiming to enhance the participating troops’ capabilities in joint counter-terrorism operations and deepening military cooperation.
The Chinese forces have brought a significant contingent, including ground units and a naval flotilla. It also marks the largest military deployment to sub-Saharan Africa for such an exercise.
This joint exercise has several key objectives including; Enhancing Counter-Terrorism Capabilities.
The primary focus is on improving the participating forces’ abilities to conduct counter-terrorism operations effectively.
By Strengthening Interoperability and working together, the military’s aim is to enhance their ability to operate jointly, ensuring smooth coordination and communication during combined operations.
Another objective includes building Mutual Trust by fostering trust and understanding among the participating nations, which is crucial for future collaborative efforts.
The drills include various scenarios that help troops refine their tactical skills in both land and maritime environments and showcase military readiness to respond to potential threats in the region.
These objectives are designed to ensure that the forces are well-prepared to handle real-world counter-terrorism challenges and to strengthen regional security cooperation.
The exercises are expected to carry some huge diplomatic implications for the countries involved as the exercise signals a commitment to collective security which can deter potential threats and promote stability in the region.
By conducting such exercises, the countries send a message to other global powers about their capability and readiness to address security challenges independently.
This will also result in more economic and development partnerships, potentially leading to increased investments and development projects in the participating countries.
Even as such, there are still citizens who are divided on whether the Peace Unity 2024 joint exercise has hidden agendas that might be harmful to the citizens.
“The exercise will be happening not anywhere close to where people live, I am told it’s close to the wetlands in Mapinga. So we are trying not to think that there might be conflicts arising with the residences. This might also mean we don’t have to worry about pollution as such although there is a possibility such issues might arise. I think our biggest worry right now is our freedom of speech because people being kidnapped and disappeared has been on the rise. Also, we have limited access to the internet, and there is word that the state is heavily monitoring all journalists in Tanzania. And we suspect it has something to do with this exercise,” shared a journalist who wished to remain anonymous.
While it might not necessarily be related to the exercise, BBC Swahili recently highlighted the state of the civic space in Tanzania, with journalists, activists, and some politicians (amongst them activist Tito Magoti and journalist Roland Malaba) reporting threats on their lives while in their active duty of calling for accountability of state duty bearers.
Some segments of the Tanzanian population are starting to view the exercise with suspicion and concern, which is slowly leading to unrest and possible protests.
As with any large-scale military exercise, there are inherent risks of accidents or unintended incidents that could harm civilians. At the same time, it is leading to diplomatic tension from neighboring countries.
Sharing his perspective on the permanent base in Tanzania, activist and Law graduate from the University of Tanzania, Bradley Ouna says it will have adverse impacts on not just the region but the continent as well.
“Establishing permanent military bases raises tension by the competing forces and interest over the resources which most of the time result in full-fledged conflict. Once conflicts emerge it mostly takes a life of its own apart from causing untold suffering and death. Violent conflict on its own is a lucrative business for arms merchants, once it begins chances of it ending are not known because of the profits it comes with” he says
He further notes “I may say that establishing military bases in Tanzania is a real recipe for violence in the region as opposed to advancing security and stabilizing the area. As it has been seen and is the trend nowadays the government’s establishing these bases mostly go for private military companies to secure their interests. Russia uses the Wagner group; the US uses the Black Waters Inc. These are private Military companies which have destabilized different corners of the world from West Africa and Middle East for the reason that no country is responsible for the excesses”
He says that they don’t know the form the Chinese military bases will take but they know in all the corners of the world where there are foreign military bases, insecurity has always increased.
“It has always taken the form of terror organizations and heavily armed militia groups destabilizing governments where they are established,” he says.
Aside from this, China has established itself as one of the biggest weapons suppliers, especially in African countries stirring a debate on their actual motive.
Many analysts believe that China’s Arms sales is driven by strategic considerations rather than purely economic.
By supplying weapons, China strengthens its political and military ties with the recipient countries, strengthening its ties. This is despite the concerns on the quality and reliability of Chinese weaponry.
