Rwandans lead the way when it comes to joining the civilian component of the Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF), an official said yesterday at the onset of a related exercise in Kigali.

EASF is a regional multidimensional and fully integrated force, including military, police and civilians who are ready to deploy in any conflict zone in a region of 10 countries.

The Secretariat of EASF, formerly Eastern Africa Standby Brigade, is undertaking a roster verification exercise in member states to enable the transfer of profiles of experts who meet set criteria to the African Standby Capacity Database for selection and deployment whenever the need arises.

"Among the 10 partner states that applied, Rwandan civilians are way ahead as regards coming on board,” said Joshua Kariuki, in-charge of rostering and coordination at the EASF Secretariat in Nairobi, Kenya.

The African Union (AU) is developing a continental roster for suitably qualified civilian experts that would be readily available for deployment in peace support operations.

Rwanda, as one of the member states of the EASF, looks to mobilise more of its citizens to join in the effort. The exercise begun in January and Rwanda is the fourth leg.

Requirements

At the beginning of the three-day exercise in Remera, Kigali, Kariuki first took the group of potential candidates through the basic requirements for an individual to enlist.

Apart from being a citizen of an EASF partner state, one must have a Bachelor’s Degree or in case they lack the latter, have seven years of working experience.

They also need to have three years of relevant working experience, knowledge of any one EASF official language, and be below retirement age.

The roster verification exercise, Kariuki explained, is a process of accurately and transparently capturing the competences of the civilian experts in the EASF data base.

"The process seeks to determine individual training needs or requirements for the requisite job groups identified to ensure that training is aligned to specific gaps,” Kariuki said.

Seconding Rwandans

Eugene Ngoga, acting director-general of bilateral cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, told the group of more than 30 civilians at the meeting that the ministry continues to second Rwandans who meet required standards to centres of excellence to beef up the 60 people already on the EASF roster.

Ngoga said: "We have a list of potential candidates who have served in peacekeeping operations. And we maintain approximately 150 people on our national roster.”

But he noted challenges, which he stressed should be given due attention during the three-day exercise.

These include irregularities within the training structural frameworks such as sourcing out of trainees, and maintenance of a "solid and permanent” roster not as is done in the military and the police.

Deo Bukura, one of the candidates with experience in various peacekeeping missions, including the United Nations–African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), told The New Times that civilians in peace support operations are a key component.

Bukura added: "If I happened to go through and join the AU or EASF, I will take there Rwandan values of hard work and dignity, or agaciro (dignity), as I carry out my duties. This is entirely about serving humanity.”Job groups for civilians in the EASF structure are in areas of political affairs, logistics, civil affairs, human rights, gender, child protection, and finance and procurement.

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