Drug trafficking, cross-border motor vehicle thefts and early warning mechanisms are at the height of the agenda for the East African Community Sectoral Council on Inter-State Security. The four-day meeting that kicked off yesterday in Arusha, Tanzania, is convened in accordance with the EAC Calendar of activities for the period January – June 2009 and will consider issues regarding security in the five-state bloc. The second of its kind, the Arusha meeting is meant to review progress in implementation of decisions taken at its first meeting, which took place in August last year. A media release issued by the Directorate of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs in the EAC Secretariat indicates that decisions had been reached and responsible entities are expected to report on the progress underway. “The areas will include; Human Trafficking and Harmonization of Police Rankings; Early Warning Mechanism; Cooperation, and Projects and Programs in the Sector; draft Protocol on Peace and Security; and the proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) in the region,” it reads in part. Another meeting was convened early May that brought together Directors of CID and Registrars of Motor vehicles from member countries to examine and review existing arrangements in combating Motor Vehicle thefts and reviewed the existing crime trends. Other considerations include the Drug Trafficking situation in the region, ongoing and upcoming projects and programs within the Peace and security sector and the EAC/GTZ Promotion of Peace and Security Project. “The German Government accepted the EAC request to support the Promotion of Peace and Security Project,” states the release, which also revealed that the German Government will sink in Euros 4.55 million in the project. The two components of the project are namely the capacity development in the proposed EAC Directorate of Peace and Security, and the containment of Small and Light Weapons in the EAC region which is a successor to the just ending SALW Control Project in the Region. Ends
