KAMPALA: President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has pledged to rally East African leaders behind efforts to strengthen the Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF) and revive its Heads of State Summit, which has not been held since 2014.
President Museveni made the commitment during a meeting with EASF Director Brig. Gen. Ronald Rwivanga at State House, Entebbe, where they discussed efforts to strengthen the region’s peace and security architecture.
Museveni, who currently serves as Chairperson of the East African Community (EAC), said he would engage fellow Heads of State and Government to secure greater political support for the regional force and work towards convening its summit.
Rwivanga asked President Museveni to use his regional influence to encourage Djibouti, Comoros and Sudan to participate fully in the EASF.
He also called for the long-delayed summit to be convened, saying it would allow regional leaders to renew their political commitment to the force, provide strategic direction and strengthen collective ownership of the security mechanism.
The EASF brings together military, police and civilian capabilities from countries in Eastern Africa to provide a coordinated regional response to peace, security and humanitarian emergencies.
Museveni also pledged support for efforts to strengthen the force’s financial capacity, particularly for humanitarian assistance, rescue operations, rapid deployment and emergency response.
The discussions come as Kampala hosts the 36th Ordinary Policy Organs Meeting of the EASF, running from August 10 to 15, with member states reviewing strategic, operational and institutional matters affecting the force.
Rwivanga also briefed President Museveni on Uganda’s contribution to the EASF, including a recent force verification exercise conducted in the country.
The exercise assessed Uganda’s pledged military, police and civilian capabilities, including personnel, equipment, interoperability and readiness for rapid deployment in support of regional peace operations.
The push to revive the Heads of State Summit comes after more than a decade without the top-level meeting, amid calls for stronger political backing, predictable financing and improved operational capacity for the standby force.
President Museveni’s intervention could provide fresh momentum to efforts to bring regional leaders together and reinforce the EASF as a mechanism for responding collectively to emerging security and humanitarian challenges in Eastern Africa.
