Museveni pledges to strengthen Eastern Africa Standby Force
Museveni pledged to engage his fellow regional leaders and support efforts to convene the summit.
Kampala: President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has pledged to rally East African Heads of State and Government to strengthen the Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF).
Museveni, who is the current Chairperson of the East African Community (EAC), made the commitment Thursday at State House, Entebbe, during a meeting with EASF Director Brigadier General Ronald Rwivanga.
Rwivanga briefed the President on the force’s activities and appealed to him to use his regional influence to mobilise member states to strengthen the regional peace and security mechanism.
The Eastern Africa Standby Force brings together military, police and civilian capabilities to provide a coordinated and rapidly deployable response to peace and security challenges, humanitarian emergencies and other crises.
Rwivanga asked Museveni to encourage Djibouti, Comoros and Sudan to fully participate in the force.
He also appealed to the President to lobby other regional leaders to attend an EASF Summit, which has not been convened since 2014.
According to Rwivanga, the summit would enable Heads of State and Government to renew their political commitment to the force, provide strategic direction and strengthen collective ownership.
Museveni pledged to engage his fellow regional leaders and support efforts to convene the summit.
The President also committed to supporting efforts to improve the EASF’s financial capacity, particularly in humanitarian assistance, rescue operations, rapid deployment and emergency response.
“The exercise assessed Uganda’s readiness, interoperability, personnel, equipment and capacity for rapid deployment in support of peace operations across the region,” Rwivanga said.
He said the recent three-day verification exercise assessed Uganda’s military, police and civilian capabilities pledged to the EASF.
The exercise was conducted at the Uganda Police Force, the International Peace Support Operations Training Centre (IPSO-T) in Singo and the Uganda Rapid Deployment Capability headquarters in Jinja.
The engagement comes as the 36th Ordinary Policy Organs Meeting of the EASF is underway in Kampala from August 10 to 15, bringing together representatives and senior officials from member states.
The meeting is discussing strategic, operational and institutional issues aimed at strengthening the regional security mechanism.
Rwivanga said the EASF leadership also plans to engage Heads of State and Government at the highest political level after the summit to secure sustained political support for the force.
President Museveni is expected to chair the African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government in December 2026, providing another platform to advance discussions on regional peace and security.
Also present at the meeting were Defence and Veteran Affairs Permanent Secretary Rosette Byengoma, EASF Head of Peace Operations Daher Meraneti and Head of the Civilian Component Monalisa Kakono.
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