African air forces heads in Nairobi for key symposium

African Air Chiefs listening to proceedings during the 9th African Air Chiefs Symposium at a Nairobi hotel on August 26, 2019. [David Gichuru/Standard]

A symposium bringing together top air force officers from 38 African countries has kicked off in Nairobi.

The 9th African Air Chiefs symposium is being held in Kenya for the first time, in which aviation security will feature highly.

Themed "Personnel Recovery," it will enable the exchange of shared best practices, address challenges facing air forces and boost regional collaboration including in the fight against terrorism.

The four-day symposium is organised by the Association of African Air Chiefs.

Speaking at the opening ceremony on Monday, Defence Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo said that airpower played a key role in every nation and there was a need to constantly improve capabilities.

"Forums such as these, therefore, provide opportunities to share best practices and in the process help us improve our individual and collective airpower capabilities," said Omamo.

Kenya Air Force Commander Major General Francis Ogolla identified budgetary allocations and poor technological capacity as key challenges facing African air forces.

“Operating an air force is a very expensive venture. Budgetary allocation is a challenge we always want more than we get,” he said.

United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) Commander Jeffrey Harrigian said that the symposium was important in building “trust in operations” across the continent.

“Together we stand shoulder to shoulder to assist each other in bringing stability and security to the region,” he said.

Omamo urged stakeholders to find a permanent solution to end security threats posed by drones in order to start tapping into their benefits.

Drones are currently illegal in Kenya and the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) is set to present fresh regulations to Parliament seeking approvals for commercialisation of drones in the coming weeks.

Omamo described drones, also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) as a “double-edged sword” with immense benefits such as delivering medicine and conducting surveillance but also an ever-evolving security threat.

“Unmanned Aerial Systems have invaded the airspace and continue to be developed with varied capabilities. With their varied sizes and difficulty in detection, they pose a serious security threat,” she said.

“We must find solutions to deal with the threat aspect of UAVs,” she said.

Omamo asked the air force bosses to come up with new insights on how to mitigate threats caused by the drones.

Major General Ogallo said that thorny issues that had made Parliament reject approval of the new drone regulations two times had been addressed.

“Parliament asked that they be withdrawn as certain aspects haven’t been addressed and within the next few weeks we’ll have regulations in place,” said Major General Ogolla.