Parliament has approved the creation of the East African Community Stand by Force to deal with conflicts within the member states.
This was after the committee on Defense and Internal affairs chairperson, Judith Nabakooba presented on the floor a report on the ratification of the Protocol on Cooperation in Defense Affairs which President Yoweri Museveni appended his signature on 28th April 2012.
The Eastern African Standby Force (EASF) is a regional organization whose mandate is to enhance peace and security in the Eastern Africa region. It is one of the five regional multidimensional Forces of the African Standby Force (ASF) consisting of Military, Police and Civilian components.
Nabakoba said the EASF was established as a regional mechanism to provide capability for rapid deployment of forces to carry out preventive deployment, rapid intervention, peace support/stability operations and peace enforcement.
“The need for a common African Defense and Security mechanism was a key feature of the Inaugural Summit of the African Union (AU), held in Durban, South Africa in July 2002,” Nabakooba said.
“The African leaders felt compelled to develop African solutions that would respond to the multifaceted challenges threatening stability, security and cooperation on the continent; consequently, through the protocol relating to the Establishment of Peace and security council of the African Union (PSC), the African Standby Force (ASF) was established as part of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA).”
The committee recommended that right from inception the implementing Ministry or Department should work with the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to ensure sufficient allocations in and releases from the National Budget to meet the country’s share of contribution to the budget of the EASF to avoid the imposition of sanctions as envisaged in Article 19 of the Agreement.