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Africa’s standby forces cannot deploy

Saturday June 11 2016
AUStandbyForce

Soldiers during a military exercise of the African Union's much delayed African Standby Force on October 28, 2015 at the South African Defence Force training camp in Lohatla. The African Union still lacks the capability for rapid deployment of troops in conflict zones. PHOTO | AFP

The African Union still lacks the capability for rapid deployment of troops in conflict zones, according to a report on the standby forces in the five regions on the continent.

The body still faces serious logistical, operational and financial challenges, while political differences and slow decision-making also impede rapid deployment.

These are some of the challenges that prevented the AU from deploying peacekeepers in Burundi last December, even after its Security Council had authorised the deployment of 5,000 troops from the Eastern African Standby Force (EASF) to prevent possible genocide.

READ: AU to send observers to Bujumbura, deployment of peacekeepers halted

Details are emerging from the yet to be released assessment report done during the Amani II military exercise in Addis Ababa in November 2015, in which the standby forces from East, West, North, Central and Southern Africa came together to test their rapid response capacity.

The assessment revealed that although all the five regional standby forces have made positive strides in terms of concept, structures and equipment, there are still substantial challenges to achieving a deployment-ready African Standby Force.

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The assessment also said Africa’s capability to deploy is constrained by time, resources, equipment, and logistics. The responsibility for obtaining the necessary resources and arranging the key supporting structure lies with the AU Commission and AU member states.

The assessors could also not verify pledged units by each member state in terms of personnel and equipment, and how the African Standby Force can generate additional civilian, police, and military personnel.

Taking into account this particular challenge, EASF has started recruiting and training civilians for future deployment from 10 member states — Kenya, Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda.

READ: East African Standby Force embarks on civilian recruitment

EASF currently has 5,200 troops and each member state is expected to set aside special troops and equipment to be used for rapid deployment.

According to the AU Security Architecture, the African Standby Force had sought to establish about 30,000 troops from all the five regions by 2015.

The aim is for Africa to act promptly to save lives and prevent crises from escalating into genocide or outright civil war, without relying on the United Nations or military powers from the West.

The report said that for the African Standby Force to achieve full operational capability, the decision-making process need to be improved.

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