The Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF) is now ready to respond swiftly to the current security challenges in the Eastern Africa region, the Minister for Defence, James Kabarebe, has said.

The regional force announced its readiness for deployment on peace operations as it wrapped up the last major EASF exercise over the weekend.The exercise dubbed; EASF Command Post Exercise (CPX) Mashariki Salam 2014 was concluded in Adama, Ethiopia in an event that was attended by the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, regional defence ministers, officials from the African Union, regional Chiefs of Defence Staff and Police chiefs.

Speaking at the event, Kabarebe said: "It is an exciting moment to witness EASF preparedness as we move closer to full operational capability in December this year, a year before the planned date.”

"Member states pledged all the required 5,200 forces and EASF Secretariat has already confirmed these pledges,” he added.

He stated that CPX 2014 has demonstrated and validated the multidimensional force readiness.

"It provides a comprehensive package of necessary measures to respond to the current and future regional security challenges,” he said.

EASF consists of military, police and civilian components and mechanism to provide capability for rapid deployment of forces to carry out preventive deployment, rapid intervention, peace support and peace enforcement. Its mandate is to enhance peace and security in the Eastern African region.

Ten member states that form the EASF are; Rwanda (the current chair), Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda.

EASF has been working toward full operationalisation of the African Standby Force which was targeted in 2015 within the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) but with Rwanda as the chair, the EASF was fast-tracked to be ready by next month.

Kabarebe said the August Command Post Exercise was one of the activities aimed at preparing 5,200 troops for the December 2014 Full Operational Capability (FOC).

"Much as attaining FOC by December 2014 is an important milestone for the region, it is long overdue. Our citizens have suffered from threats of intra-state conflicts and state collapse among others,” he said.

In justifying the need for the EASF, Kabarebe singled out insecurity caused by negative forces like FDLR, ADF-Nalu, Lord’s Resistance Army, and Al Shabaab which he said have destabilised the region.

For the last 10 years, EASF has focused on building capacity to respond to security needs using an integrated approach that brings the three components; military, civilian and police, together to train in various areas of peace support operations.

As part of preparations for operational capability, EASF has also organised major exercises in different member states to provide an opportunity for interaction as well as help to assess their readiness for deployment.

"It is unacceptable of our continent to depend on outside intervention yet our partner states have intervened in Somalia, Central African Republic, South Sudan and Darfur,” the minister said.

"We, therefore, have all that it takes to take charge of our collective security. We have the political will and a formidable force that has gained operational capability,” he added.

The EASF Command Post Exercise 2014 was conducted in Ethiopia as the last major exercise to validate the readiness of EASF before declaration of full operational capability.

Rwanda, the current chair of the regional grouping, pledged to contribute a motorised battalion of 850 troops and a police contingent of 140 police officers under Formed Police Unit (FPU) as well as 100 Individual Police Officers (IPOs) to the EASF.

During the event, Desalegn commended the successful completion of the command post exercise.

"I congratulate the respective militaries for having undertaken such a successful exercise that will go a long way in fully operationalising the long-awaited EASF that will help solve conflicts and support peace operations,” he said.

The Premier added; "The transition from the previous arrangement of East African Standby Brigade to what we have today is indeed a very encouraging progress as it represents one of the first successful initiatives among the five regional forces comprising the African Standby Force.”

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