Regional police chiefs meet over terrorism

Police chiefs from the East African Community (EAC) partner states are meeting in Kampala to discuss strategies aimed at fighting renewed threats of terrorism.The meeting, which closes today, comes in the wake of a recent terror attack on Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya in which over 60 people were killed.While opening the meeting, Uganda’s Minister of Internal affairs, Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, said the East African region is faced by renewed terrorism threats arising from its unstable neighbours.“You can choose your friend but you cannot choose your neigbours,” he told the meeting that also comprised officials from the EAC secretariat.Gen. Kale Kayihura, Uganda’s Inspector General of Police called on partner states to reflect on the Westgate terror attack, and pool resources towards acquiring state of the art forensic equipment that can efficiently detect crime.“We have moved from just having meetings to conducting joint operations together and we shall continue to have engagements on this,” he said.Rwanda’s Inspector General of Police, Emmanuel Gasana , said that it is in their strategic focus to pursue collective security through timely sharing of information and exchange of criminal fugitives. Charles Njoroge, the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Political Federation said that the EAC secretariat is considering developing a short curriculum on integration for basic police training programmes.“I believe these interventions will empower the Police to adequately facilitate the implementation of the Common Market imperatives in particular,” Njoroge said.Njoroge called for more joint operations, saying that it’s through such efforts that partner states can test their capacity to effectively work towards eliminating crime networks.

National

Regional police chiefs meet over terrorism