An Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF) military logistics exercise opened at Rwanda Military Academy Gako in Bugesera District on Monday, October 19, with military, police and civilian personnel in attendance. Over two weeks, the participants will test how quickly regional forces can deploy and sustain operations during conflicts, humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters. ALSO READ: Africa must end reliance on external donors for peace efforts – Rwivanga The exercise brought together participants from nine EASF member states. It runs until October 30. It aims to test deployment plans, identify logistical gaps and strengthen cooperation among participating countries to ensure the force can respond effectively to crises. ALSO READ: Gen. Rwivanga on regional security, EASF role, readiness The EASF is a regional mechanism established to enable the rapid deployment of forces for preventive, rapid intervention and peace enforcement missions. It forms part of the African Union’s wider peace and security architecture. RDF Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Mubarakh Muganga, who officially opened the exercise, urged participants to identify logistical gaps and develop practical solutions to improve the force’s readiness. “The exercise provides an important opportunity to assess our risk capabilities, test planning assumptions, clarify responsibilities, and strengthen coordination among contributing states and relevant stakeholders,” Muganga said. ALSO READ: Eastern African military commanders in Rwanda for key training He added that the exercise should also identify capability gaps and procedural weaknesses, leading to practical recommendations for improving the EASF’s readiness. He reaffirmed Rwanda’s commitment to regional security cooperation and urged participants to turn lessons from the exercise into measurable improvements. “The success of this exercise will ultimately depend on our ability to transmit the lessons identified and tangible improvements in our logistical systems, planning process, and operational readiness,” he said. ALSO READ: What to know about Eastern Africa Standby Force as Rwivanga takes helm EASF Director Brig Gen Ronald Rwivanga said the exercise would help determine whether member states could turn their plans and commitments into effective operations. “A force is not truly ready because it has been assembled. It is ready when it can deploy in time, arrive with the right capabilities, sustain itself in the operational environment, and accomplish its assigned mission,” he said at the opening of the exercise on Monday morning. Rwivanga said logistics was central to operational success, requiring countries to coordinate the movement of personnel, equipment and supplies while ensuring forces could remain operational throughout a mission. “In contemporary operations, logistics is not a supporting afterthought. It is a strategic capability, an operational multiplier, and, in many circumstances, the difference between mission success and mission failure,” he said. ALSO READ: Rwivanga briefs Museveni on regional security efforts Testing deployment plans Rwivanga said the exercise would focus on scenarios that reflect the EASF’s responsibilities, including preparing forces for deployment and sustaining them throughout a mission. “Before we deploy, we must carry out exercises that test the plans. So, this is very critical in our business,” he said. The EASF became operationally ready in 2014. Rwivanga said the force regularly evaluates member states by examining their military, police and civilian components against established readiness standards. Rwanda is also scheduled for its next readiness evaluation from November 1 to November 6, he said. ALSO READ: EASF experts meet in Kigali to harmonise air operations guidelines He further noted that joint exercises were necessary to identify gaps and ensure personnel from different countries could work together during operations. “If you don't do these exercises, then you don't know the gaps, the critical gaps that are there during deployment,” Rwivanga said. A separate field exercise on humanitarian assistance and disaster support is planned for Kisumu, Kenya, next year. It will test pledged regional assets, including Rwanda’s medical evacuation capabilities, Kenya’s reconnaissance assets and Ethiopia’s strategic airlift capacity. ALSO READ: Eastern Africa Standby Force member states convene in Rwanda for disaster response harmonisation Kenya's High Commissioner to Rwanda Janet Mwawasi Oben said the exercise demonstrated the importance of regional cooperation in addressing shared security threats, humanitarian crises and other emergencies. “Whether at great and complex emergencies, humanitarian crises, or emergency security threats, our collective ability to respond depends not only on the professionalism of our forces, but also on the strength of our logistical systems,” she said. Oben said sustainable peace required countries to work together through political engagement, diplomacy, defence cooperation and effective regional institutions. She commended the participating countries and military planners for strengthening the mechanisms through which the region can respond collectively to crises. ALSO READ: Rwanda sends contingent for EASF field training in Sudan Brig Gen Robert Kabage of Kenya, the exercise’s lead facilitator, said the programme would begin with four days of training to ensure participants had a common understanding before proceeding to practical activities. The exercise will use interactive lectures, group discussions, simulations and question-and-answer sessions to assess the EASF’s ability to prepare forces and provide logistical support during deployment. Kabage said the exercise formed part of wider African Union efforts to strengthen regional mechanisms capable of responding to conflicts and preventing crises from escalating. He urged participants to take an active role in the sessions and share their experiences to help develop practical solutions. The exercise is expected to produce recommendations for improving logistical planning, coordination and operational preparedness among EASF member states.
