General William E. Ward, Commander of U.S. Africa Command, along with Diane Corner, the United Kingdom's High Commissioner to Tanzania, transferred $9 million worth of U.S. peacekeeping equipment to the Tanzania Peoples Defence Force (TPDF) on May 12, 2009, for an upcoming deployment to Darfur.

Items transferred included armored personnel carriers. The United Kingdom will help transport the equipment to peacekeeping duties.

"Partnerships like this will enable us to succeed," Ward said. "We are all bound by mutual goals to protect the people of our nations. Building security in our regions is no small deed, but we must learn to work together to achieve global security."

Lieutenant Colonel Ally Katimbe, commander of Tanzania Battalion, said, "It's a blessing we have received this equipment, now we can meet a hundred percent of our mission requirements."

Tanzania participates in the African Contingency Operations Training and Assistance (ACOTA) program, which has trained more than 95,000 soldiers from approximately 20 countries. The program, led by the U.S. Department of State and supported by U.S. AFRICOM, trains and equips militaries to help them build capacity for participating in peacekeeping mission.

"I am honored to participate in the ACOTA handover equipment ceremony," Ward said. "It's a tremendous accomplishment. I am proud to announce that the 1st Battalion of the Tanzania Defense Force will soon deploy."

Tanzania Battalion One made up of 164 men is scheduled to deploy to Darfur in early August. The Tanzanian soldiers will work with the United Nations and the African Union to provide security and stability to the region.

During her remarks, Corner, the U.K. High Commissioner, said, "The U.S. was responsible for the procurement of the equipment and training of the troops, the U.K was responsible for transporting the equipment." She also added, "We hope this will be a very significant success in the Tanzania deployment of Darfur. Working together we can bring peace to the country of Sudan."

During his remarks accepting the ACOTA equipment, Hussien Mwinyi, the Tanzanian minister of defense, said, "We have received significant support in the areas of education and military training." He told the Tanzanian troops, "We have these top priorities: Country, duty, and building security capacity."

Tanzania has been a leader in providing security for many countries in the region. TPDF members have helped to resolve conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo and have made contributions to missions in Burundi, Darfur, Comoros and other countries.