By: Elissa Jobson
The African Union (AU) is seeking to speed up plans for a rapid deployment force capable of intervening in crises such as those recently in Mali and the Central African Republic.
However, the proposal for the new force has been heavily criticised by the regional economic communities of the AU, which feel that their pivotal role in the defence of the continent is being usurped by the union’s peace and security department.
Photo of Congolese government soldiers (FARDC) patrol the streets of Minova under their control Sunday Nov. 25, 2012--- (In the heart of Africa, vast Congo has everything the world is going to need in this century. A huge rainforest. Enormous stretches of fertile land. The world’s biggest reserves of mineral ore. The hydro-power potential to light up a continent. Congolese do not need War,Mass rape,and Chaos.
Named the African Immediate Crisis Response Capacity (AICRC), the force is intended to be an interim measure until the long-awaited and much-delayed African Standby Force becomes operational in 2015. The AICRC is being considered for deployment in Mali after the continent relied heavily on French troops to halt the progress of rebels in January this year.
“All of us welcomed as necessary the intervention of France in Mali, which made it possible for us to avert a looming catastrophe,” Ramtane Lamamra, AU commissioner for peace and security, said on Tuesday. “But we all felt that such military action should have come from Africa itself.”
At their summit in January, African leaders instructed the AU Commission to examine progress towards the implementation of the standby force. The force will be comprised of five regional brigades capable of responding to conflicts around the continent.
The heads of state also requested the commission draft proposals for the speeding up of the “operationalisation” of these standby forces. But instead, the commission came up with the AICRC.
“The leaders (in January) did not say they were looking for a new structure. They wanted to find out why the standby force was not yet operational,” said one disgruntled representative from the regional economic communities who did not wish to be identified.
The commission envisages a reservoir of 5,000 troops made up of tactical battle groups of 1,500 personnel and deployable in less than 10 days. The force could be called upon to undertake stabilisation, peace enforcement and intervention missions, to neutralise terrorist groups, other cross-border criminal entities and armed rebellions, and to provide emergency assistance to member states for the protection of civilians.
Contributing countries would be responsible for the administrative control of their own troops in the field and would have to commit to support them for at least 30 days before the AU or the United Nations would step in.
The regional economic communities, upon which the African Standby Force ’s regional brigades are supposed to be built, are unhappy about the commission taking the strategic lead in the prosed AICRC and believe that any funding given to the new force would be better invested in the existing standby force programme.
It is not clear yet where the funding for the new force will come from.
“If there is a political will then African countries will have to make sacrifices and mobilise resources from within. But this does not mean that we will not continue to seek support,” Mr Lamamra said.