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Leonard Ncube Victoria Falls Reporter
THE chairperson of the African Chiefs of Defence Staff and Heads of Safety and Security Services, General Constantine Chiwenga, yesterday implored Africa Union (AU) member states to speed up resource mobilisation towards the operationalisation of the continental joint force before year-end.
The AU has up to December this year to operationalise the Africa Standby Force (ASF) which has missed three deadlines in 2008, 2010 and 2013.
Addressing the 11th meeting of African Chiefs of Defence Staff and Heads of Safety and Security Services and experts on Defence, Safety and Security in Victoria Falls yesterday, Gen Chiwenga said the ASF was long overdue and the continent could not afford to miss the December deadline.
Gen Chiwenga, who is also Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, said failure to operationalise the force would subject the continent to continued infiltration from western countries under the guise of crisis intervention.
“In light of the challenges some of them being funding, appropriate steps must be taken to ensure that we meet the deadline. This session comes at a time when we need a fully functional ASF now more than ever,” said Gen Chiwenga.
He said time was ripe for Africa to use home grown solutions in times of crisis.
“We cannot afford another extension of timelines. We should not continue to depend on foreign security in times of crisis as this poses a threat to peace thereby compromising the continent. This is the most opportune time and this session should give us an opportunity to deliberate on the challenges we face on operationalisation of ASF,” he said.
The ZDF Commander said he appreciated efforts made so far by the continent in trying to work towards establishment of the force.
He made special mention of states in three sub-regions, Central Africa, Southern Africa and East Africa, in making preliminary efforts towards establishment of the force.
Briefing journalists on Wednesday, AU Commission Head, Peace Operations Division, Sivuyile Bam said out of the five sub-regions, only three had made significant strides towards establishment of the ASF.
AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, Smail Chergui, who delivered his key note address on the same platform, said the continent remained committed to ensuring peace and security prevails, basing on the achievements that have taken place.
He urged member states to honour pledges they made towards establishment of the force.
“The meeting of experts has paved way for a path to be followed and as Africa we should strive to ensure peace prevails.
“Our deadline for making sure the ASF is a success is December 2015 and we look forward to a successful unified force,” he said.
The meeting started with a moment of silence in honour of peacekeepers on the continent.
Experts on Defence, Safety and Security ended their closed meetings yesterday morning, and were expected to present their recommendations to their superiors by close of the day.
Today Ministers of Defence will meet to be appraised on the developments.
Delays in establishing the standby force forced African states to request French intervention to tackle crises in Mali and Central Africa Republic (CAR) two years ago.
The week-long AU meeting which started on Monday, ends tomorrow.
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