RNP, regional standby force in peace partnership

The Eastern Africa Standby Force Coordination Mechanism (EASFCOM) is seeking partnership with the Rwanda National Police in peacekeeping pre-deployment trainings.The Director of EASFCOM -police component, Maj. Gen (retired) Cyrille Ndayirukiye disclosed this yesterday after meeting with the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Emmanuel Gasana at the Rwanda National Police Headquarters in Kacyiru.The two discussed how to cooperate in areas of capacity building, especially in training.Ndayirukiye observed that Rwanda National Police has demonstrated expertise in peacekeeping operations especially as an experienced force.“Rwanda National Police has deployed peacekeepers to different countries all over the world; they have deployed Formed Police Units [FPUs]; you cannot deploy FPU unless you meet the UN required standards. This, therefore, confirms clearly to us that RNP is the right Police organ to help us in the field of training.”The missions The African Union (AU) tasked the EASFCOM to train Individual Police officers (IPOs) and FPUs for peacekeeping purposes.Rwanda, whose police missions started in 2005, maintains about 600 police officers in eight peacekeeping missions.Last year, the Rwandan police inaugurated its Peacekeeping Training Centre at the Police Training School in Gishari, and it has since trained police officers from both Rwanda and regional countries.The EASFCOM director also hailed Gasana for his role in regional cooperation during his tenure as the chairman of the Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation (EAPCCO).IGP Gasana reiterated the need for regional collective security to deal with cross-border crimes, which he said is the best approach towards a secure and peaceful region.