Ethiopia and Kenya have signed a new Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA), agreeing to deepen their all-weather partnership in intelligence sharing, joint military exercises, training and defense industry development among others.
The agreement was signed over the weekend at the National Defense Headquarters in Addis Ababa, following a bilateral meeting between Field Marshal Birhanu Jula, Chief of General Staff of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces, and General Charles Muriu Kahariri, Kenya’s Chief of Defense.
The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) announced in a statement that the agreement builds on “longstanding defense ties” and provides a “strategic framework” for the two countries to cooperate on key security matters.
Unlike ordinary agreements, a DCA is signed “when the relationship and trust between the parties are growing,” the ENDF said.
This historic accord came into being six decades after the first such pact was concluded in 1963, the year Kenya gained independence.
Speaking at the event, Field Marshal Birhanu Jula underscored that Ethiopia and Kenya share a historic relationship, which has been reflected in their “longstanding military cooperation”.
He said the new agreement will expand collaboration in “intelligence sharing, joint military exercises, training, defense industry development, counter-terrorism, border security, and related military matters”.
ENDF quoted General Kahariri as saying that the relationship between the two neighbors is not only historical but also “rooted in cultural, geographic, and people-to-people ties.”
The newly signed agreement carries “significant benefits for peace and stability in the region beyond Ethiopia and Kenya,” he said, reaffirming his country’s commitment to strengthening cooperation with the ENDF in future engagements.
MG/abj/APA