The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Emmanuel K Gasana, together with his Ugandan Counterpart, Gen Kale Kayihura, yesterday flagged off the first ever Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Cooperation Organization (EAPCCO) games which are taking place at Uganda Christian University (UCU) sports grounds in Mukono and Kigo range grounds, Uganda.

In his remarks, IGP Gasana who is the current EAPCCO chairperson, thanked the government of Uganda for accepting to host the games.

Flanked by Gen Kayihura, IGP Gasana said, "The EAPCCO games are very useful in cementing relationships between men and women of the EAPCCO Police institutions. Besides, the games encourage the spirit of being competitive which is good for health and wellbeing.

The ground breaking event should hence be sustained and EAPCCO member states should make it a culture to host the games on an annual basis with the objective of keeping our police officers connected.”

He also pointed out that on the agenda of the upcoming AGM, the games will be put in the recommendations that would be forwarded to AFRIPOL so as they become an African region event for the police chiefs.

Gasana added that, Police institutions should also aim at producing sportsmen and women who do not only compete at the police institutional level but also at a regional and international level

The games come ahead of the EAPCCO Annual General Meeting (AGM). The theme for this year’s games is ‘Promoting Community Policing and Regional Cooperation through Sports’ and 400 participants from seven member countries are competing in the games.

They include; volleyball, boxing, taekwondo, football, netball, athletics and shooting.

Rwanda National Police is represented by Police FC in the games

The Police chiefs under EAPCCO meet annually to forge ways of curbing crime within the region.

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