Brig. Gen. Ronald Rwivanga, former Spokesperson of the Rwanda Defence Force, has assumed leadership of the Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF), pledging transparency, professionalism, and strengthened regional cooperation in peace and security operations.
He officially took office on May 20, 2026, succeeding Kenya’s Brig. Gen. Paul Kahuria Njema, who completed a three-year mandate. The handover ceremony was held at the Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs headquarters in Mbuya, Kampala, Uganda.
Brig. Gen. Rwivanga described his appointment as both an honour and a responsibility, underscoring the need to enhance the force’s readiness to respond to emerging security and humanitarian challenges across the region.
He highlighted the increasing importance of rapid deployment capabilities in responding to crises such as floods, droughts, earthquakes, disease outbreaks, and population displacement.
“We are committed that whenever there is a situation requiring assistance or disaster response, including floods, droughts, earthquakes, Ebola outbreaks, or displacement of people, EASF will always be ready to support member states,” he said.
The Eastern Africa Standby Force, composed of military and police contingents from 10 countries, is designed to deploy within 14 days in response to conflicts or major humanitarian emergencies across the region.
Established under the African Union peace and security framework following a 2004 decision in Addis Ababa, the force evolved from the Eastern Africa Standby Brigade into its current structure through a 2005 memorandum of understanding, later revised in 2011.
EASF member states include Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Seychelles, Sudan, and Uganda, with its headquarters based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The leadership transition follows recent engagements at EASF headquarters, where Brig. Gen. Rwivanga and his predecessor held talks with senior Ethiopian defence officials on regional security developments, including ongoing challenges in Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as strategies to strengthen the force’s operational effectiveness and long-term sustainability.
