The President of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, on Saturday July 22, inaugurated the first military training school in the country, which will help train soldiers to, among others, participate in peacekeeping missions in the world.
Dressed in military uniform, army general Sissoco Embaló recalled his three-month stint as a conscript when he served in the Armed Forces in the 1990s to emphasize the role of the institution in Guinean society.
The Guinean President welcomed the creation of the first military training school in Guinea-Bissau, located in Cumeré, about 36 kilometers north of Bissau, which will be called Biagué Na N’Tan, named after the current head of the Armed Forces.
The school, according to the head of state, will help “train military personnel in operational tactical terms” and also train men and women “in respect for hierarchy and discipline”.
“A good military man is obedient. Even General Biagué, if he were not obedient, would probably no longer be in his post,” emphasized Sissoco Embaló, who also questioned the fate of generals “who were involved in coups d’Etat”.
“They are all out of the Armed Forces”, stressed the Guinean Head of State.
Umaro Sissoco Embaló also explained that the Cumeré School, a former military instruction centre, will be the base for the preparation of future elements of the Guinean Armed Forces who will resume participation in peacekeeping missions. The Guinean President said that the country’s military had stopped participating in peacekeeping missions because “they were considered violent”.
Umaro Sisosco Embaló urged the military to stay away from politics and also insisted that they must not get involved with drugs.