By Nangayi Guyson, nangayi.guyson@alleastafrica.com
Kampala, Uganda, – A joint force of 10 countries have teamed up to form an Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF) to respond to conflicts in the region. Kenya’s Defence Forces chief Samson Mwathethe told the press in Nairobi this week.
The East Africa Standby Force will be headquartered in Nairobi with soldiers from Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia and Sudan.
The force has been formed to solve the unending conflicts in E.A and avoid a tendency where a single country can choose to send troops to another like it has recently been the case with Uganda unilaterally deploying forces in South Sudan raising questions of impartiality.
The contributing countries have established a peace fund that so far has amounted to about kenya Sh100 million, excluding the total amounts pledged by member States. They are also supposed to set aside about 450 specially trained troops for rapid deployment.
The idea of forming a joint was agreed upon after 22nd African Union (AU) summit in Addis Ababa where the Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said the region urgently needed a rapid response force.
The EASF is a regional organization whose mandate is to enhance peace and security in East Africa.
Copyright ©2017 Alleastafrica.com All rights reserved. The information contained in Alleastafrica.com may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the prior written authority of Alleastafrica.com
