Rwanda and Uganda are set to play peacemaker as they intervene in two conflicts in eastern and central Africa – Kigali said it would send a peacekeeping force to the Central African Republic while Uganda on Friday announced it had sent troops to Juba.

It’s the second time in few months for the two countries to intervene and play peacemakers in a regional conflict after the duo helped the Democratic Republic of Congo reach a deal with M23 rebels.

Scholars say Kigali and Kampala peacemaking roles are likely to present an opportunity for Presidents Yoweri Museveni and Paul Kagame to establish themselves as arbitrators in regional conflicts, when just few years ago they were seen as aggressors.

“It is our responsibility to ensure that what happened in Rwanda does not happen anywhere else. As a country, we have learned from the past and we said ‘never again’, not only in Rwanda but elsewhere on the continent,” Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Louise Mushikiwabo said.

Several African countries have troops in the troubled Central African nation, who fight alongside some 1,600 French soldiers in a United Nations/African Union mission aimed at restoring peace in the country.

It remains to be seen whether the existence of peacekeepers will help restore calm in the troubled country, almost a year after Seleka rebels deposed president Francois Bozize.

The International Support Mission to Central Africa (MISC) led by African Union has failed to end hostilities but rights and humanitarian groups have been calling for an increased presence of peacekeepers.

Rwanda’s announcement to enter CAR coincided with Uganda Peoples Defence Forces announcing that they crossed to Juba to help embattled President Salva Kiir restore calm amid growing tensions.

Rebels royal to former Vice President Riek Machar have vowed to unseat Kiir.

Rwanda already has an 850-strong force in South Sudan serving under the extended United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and some 3,600 force in the troubled region of Darfur.