Namibia and Botswana have kicked off the joint military exercise Hanganee II, which is being held in Namibia.
The exercise, under the theme Enhancing Joint Cooperation, runs from 15 to 30 June in Gobabis, Namibia. The official opening took place this week in the Omaheke Region in east/central Namibia.
The Botswana Defence Force (BDF) said the exercise follows the recent signing of the Status of Force Agreement (SOFA) on military cooperation and collaboration between the BDF and Namibia Defence Force (NDF).
“The Joint Training Exercise is aimed at strengthening military to military strategic partnership between the BDF and NDF and it comes through as part of the implementation of resolutions for the 22nd Session of the Republic of Botswana and Republic of Namibia Joint Permanent Commission on Defence and Security (JPCDS) held in Gaborone in 2012. Exercise Hanganee, as it is called in the Republic of Namibia, or Exercise Tshwaragano as it is called in the Republic of Botswana, is a biannual exercise which is conducted every two years on a rotational basis on a shared responsibility between the two armed forces. The exercise (Ex-Tshwaragano) was first conducted in the Republic of Botswana, hosted by BDF in August 2014,” the BDF said in a statement.
Botswana has hosted the exercise on two occasions while Namibia has hosted it once in the past. The continuity in hosting the exercise was disrupted by the outbreak of COVID-19 Pandemic. “With the world emerging from this pandemic, acting in accordance with Decision 75 of the Inaugural Botswana Namibia Bi-National Commission, held in Gaborone from 05 to 09 September 2022, the two sister Defence Forces agreed to resuscitate the exercise conduct,” the BDF said.
