Rwanda commits troops to new African intervention initiative

The government has signed a memorandum of understanding with the African Union committing troops to the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises (ACIRC). The ACIRC is an initiative for military intervention as and when the need arises and is made up of volunteering nations whose purpose is to rapidly respond to crisis situations on the continent. Rwanda is one of the 13 nations that have volunteered to form the ACIRC. At the signing ceremony at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the weekend, Rwanda committed one motorised infantry battalion, one artillery battalion and one level two hospital to the ACIRC, according to a statement from the Ministry of Defence. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Commissioner for AU Peace and Security, Smail Chergui, who signed on behalf of AU, thanked Rwanda for formally committing to ACIRC. Chergui said he had no doubt that Rwanda would use its vast experience in peacekeeping operations to keep ACIRC mechanism strong. Other countries that signed the MoU include Uganda, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Niger and Senegal. ACIRC is an interim mechanism put in place by Africa leaders at the AU summit in 2013 to deal rapidly with crises on the continet and avoid reliance on foreign powers to intervene in issues in Africa. This was adopted as an interim measure, pending the full operationalisation of the African Standby Force (ASF). ACIRC volunteering nations so far are Rwanda, Benin, Algeria, Angola, South Africa Tanzania, Chad, Senegal, Sudan, Niger, Uganda, Egypt and Burkina Faso. EASF ready In November last year, the leadership of the Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF), one of the five components of the ASF, verified and approved Rwanda’s readiness to deploy pledged troops and police components when needed. In August 2014, Rwanda, the current chair of EASF, pledged a substantial force contribution that includes a motorised battalion of 850 troops and a police contingent of 140 officers under Formed Police Unit as well as 100 Individual Police Officers to the EASF, formerly Eastern Africa Standby Brigade (EASBRIG). The Force, which also included special forces elements, a level two medical unit, 50 military observers, and 47 civilians, all of which are now ready to deploy when called on, is part of a regional multidimensional and fully integrated force, including military, police and civilians and ready to deploy in any conflict zone of the EASF that comprises 10 countries. In August, four East African Community member states – Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, and Uganda – as well as Ethiopia committed nearly the entire 5,000 troops that constitute the EASF. Each member state will take care of own units and deploy on short notice as well as foot the bill for at least 90 days during operations. In June, last year, regional Heads of State decided that the full operationalisation of EASF must be ready before end December 2014, instead of December 2015 as earlier proposed in the AU roadmap. Meanwhile, during a summit on international peace operations on the sidelines of the 70th United Nations General Assembly in New York, US, last month, President Kagame announced that Rwanda will provide two additional infantry battalions totaling 1,600 troops, two attack helicopters, and all-female police unit and a level two hospital to UN peacekeeping missions. With more than 5,000 military and police peacekeepers in different parts of the world, Rwanda is now the fifth largest troop-contributing nation to UN peacekeeping missions globally. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Rwanda commits troops to new African intervention initiative