UPDF to join EA standby brigade
Feb 17, 2004
UGANDA and five other countries have offered troops to a special peace force, the Eastern African Standby Brigade (EASBRIG), soon to be formed as part of the African Standby Force (ASF), a new strategy to combat terrorism and other conflicts on the continent.
By Alfred Wasike
UGANDA and five other countries have offered troops to a special peace force, the Eastern African Standby Brigade (EASBRIG), soon to be formed as part of the African Standby Force (ASF), a new strategy to combat terrorism and other conflicts on the continent.
The first-ever continental peace force, a 2002 African Union (AU) initiative will be equipped and authorised to be combative to return fire. The ASF will comprise of 4 regional brigades of 4,020 combatants each. The meeting chaired by the UPDF army commander, Maj. Gen. Aronda Nyakairima did not disclose the quotas. Rwanda was represented by Maj. Gen. James Kabarebe.
The other contributors to the force are Djibouti, Kenya, Rwanda and Somalia. An ordinary brigade comprises of at least 3,000 soldiers. Eritrea, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and the Comoros are also expected to contribute troops.
The Uganda-chaired seven day closed meeting of chiefs of defence staff and Experts held in Jinja, formulated the EASBRIG policy framework and resolved that Kenya would host the planning headquarters for the force but the standby troops would be assembled and deployed as soon as need arose.
Others present were representatives from Tanzania, France, Britain, Denmark, South Africa, the Inter Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
The meeting, closed by the state defence minister Ruth Nankabirwa also resolved that the defence ministers in the region would meet in April at the AU’s Addis Ababa headquarters to finalise the plan.
Nankabirwa told delegates that issues of defence and security can no longer be relegated to the back burners of the political discourse.
Ends
UGANDA and five other countries have offered troops to a special peace force, the Eastern African Standby Brigade (EASBRIG), soon to be formed as part of the African Standby Force (ASF), a new strategy to combat terrorism and other conflicts on the continent.
The first-ever continental peace force, a 2002 African Union (AU) initiative will be equipped and authorised to be combative to return fire. The ASF will comprise of 4 regional brigades of 4,020 combatants each. The meeting chaired by the UPDF army commander, Maj. Gen. Aronda Nyakairima did not disclose the quotas. Rwanda was represented by Maj. Gen. James Kabarebe.
The other contributors to the force are Djibouti, Kenya, Rwanda and Somalia. An ordinary brigade comprises of at least 3,000 soldiers. Eritrea, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and the Comoros are also expected to contribute troops.
The Uganda-chaired seven day closed meeting of chiefs of defence staff and Experts held in Jinja, formulated the EASBRIG policy framework and resolved that Kenya would host the planning headquarters for the force but the standby troops would be assembled and deployed as soon as need arose.
Others present were representatives from Tanzania, France, Britain, Denmark, South Africa, the Inter Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
The meeting, closed by the state defence minister Ruth Nankabirwa also resolved that the defence ministers in the region would meet in April at the AU’s Addis Ababa headquarters to finalise the plan.
Nankabirwa told delegates that issues of defence and security can no longer be relegated to the back burners of the political discourse.
Ends