The Republic of Uganda, represented by the Department of Disaster Preparedness in the Office of the Prime Minister, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF) focusing on Early Warning and Early Response activities and programmes.
The signing ceremony took place at Hotel Africana, marking the conclusion of a collaborative meeting between EASF and Early Warning Agencies in Uganda.
Brig Gen Mwanje Ssekiranda, Chief of Staff-Reserve Force, representing the Chief Joint Staff, emphasised the importance of early intervention in conflict prevention and resolution. “Early intervention is vital in mitigating the escalation and spread of conflict, ultimately saving lives and preventing damage to property and infrastructure,” he said.
He observed that early warning is a critical tool for conflict prevention, established within EASF, in alignment with United Nations and African Union policies, which have received full support from member states. “To improve on our early warning mechanism with various initiatives and more importantly to constantly relate to international standards. This will enable us to deliver accurate tailor-made solutions to provide peace and security and handle various conflict situations in our region,” Brig Gen Mwanje added.
Earlier, Brig Gen Domitien Kabisa, Head of Peace Support Operations at the EASF Secretariat, observed that the meeting’s objectives had been achieved. “The EASF participants have fertilised our brains from the rich experiences they have each shared with us. Uganda has given us way more than what we expected and this commitment has been instrumental to the success of the program,” he said.
The MOU, effective immediately, outlines several key objectives aimed at strengthening cooperation between the parties in Early Warning and Early Response, preventing, managing, and resolving crises, and laying the groundwork for sustainable peace and socio-economic development in Uganda and the Eastern Africa Region. These objectives include:
- Ensuring effective cooperation and partnership for timely crisis response
- Exchanging information and data on conflict prevention and crises
- Building and strengthening capacities in Early Warning and Early Response
- Conducting joint research and assessment in Early Warning
- Sharing experiences and lessons learned in Early Warning and Early Response
Additionally, the document focuses on establishing operative principles and guidelines, identifying areas of synergy and potential collaboration, sharing best practices and principles, exploring joint capacity-building initiatives, establishing protocols for information and intelligence exchange, defining roles and responsibilities, identifying communication focal points, and establishing dispute settlement mechanisms and provisions for amendment.
In attendance were Brig Gen Peter Gaetano Omola, Commander Uganda Rapid Deployment Capability Jinja, Brig Gen Domitien Kabisa, Head of Peace Support Operations of EASF Secretariat Nairobi, Mr Leodinous Mwebembezi, Assistant Commissioner Ministry of Water and Environment, Lt Col Lillian Shigoli (KDF), EASF Legal Advisor, Assistant Commissioner of Police Florence Kirabira, Coordinator Small Arms and Light Weapons/Conflict Early Warning & Response Mechanisms – Ministry of Internal Affairs, Mr Enyimu William, Principle Human Resource Officer Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs, among others.
