Uganda has acquired a international military college under a new name Uganda Joint Command and Staff College.
This college will train military, police and civilian students from the ten Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF) member states.
The Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) spokesperson Lt Col. Paddy Ankunda says the college will also train other members of the African Union and the world to share and benefit from an exchange of academic experience and Ideas.
The college was acquired after a signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Uganda and the Eastern Africa Standby Force Coordination Mechanism (EASFCOM) at the Ministry of Defence Headquarters –Mbuya, last Friday.
The Junior Command and Staff College acquired a new name of Uganda Joint Command and Staff College (UJCSC) and gained a Regional and International Status under EASF.
The MoU was signed by Uganda’s Ministry of Defence Under Secretary, Mrs. Edith Buturo and the Director for EASFCOM, Ambassador Chanfi Issimail in the presence of UPDF senior and EASF senior officials.
Ambassador Issimail said that objective of the college is to strengthen capacity and capability in the area of peace support operations of EASF, aimed at preventing and resolving conflicts in the region.
This college will remain under the ownership and control of the Government of Uganda but will adopt regional approaches to achieve the objectives of the EASF and receive support from EASF in its staffing, curriculum and development.
He added that the college will conduct Peace Support Operation trainings taking into account EASF and AU priority training needs regarding the African Standby Force.
“It shall be run on a curriculum that responds to the evolving Regional needs and Continental requirements.”
The official languages to be employed in the delivery of the training will be English, French, and Arabic, according to the needs of the training audience.
All the participants from EASF member states, who complete training, will be placed in the EASF sub region database to facilitate future mobilization and deployment.
The college will be funded by Member National Governments, self generated National and International funding and funds that EASFCOM shall mobiles from various sources.
However, they will be subjected to audit based on International accounting principles and any other specific standards set by the donor, if any, said Ambassador Issimail.
The acquisition of the college follows an adoption of a Policy framework for establishment, on 29 January 2011 which requires the EASF to develop training Centers of Excellence with the capacity to train the three levels of peace support operations at the tactical, operational and strategic levels, and a resolution reached by the Council of Ministers of Defence and Security of the Eastern Africa Region, during its 9th extra ordinary meeting at Kampala on 5th April 201.
At the meeting, Uganda authorized EASFCOM to negotiate the requisite agreements with the relevant for the benefit of a regional training Institution at UPDF’s Junior Command and Staff College – Jinja.
Other than the Senior Command and Staff College – Kimaka, Uganda now has another regional prestigious military center of excellence at Jinja.
The Eastern Africa Standby Force is a regional organization established as part of the African Standby Force, under the Peace and Security Council of the African Union.
