Patrick Beja
23 August 2005
Nairobi — A Cabinet minister has asked police chiefs in East Africa to address terrorism and proliferation of small arms in the region.
National Security minister John Michuki also the police to tackle drug trafficking and crime.
He said this in his speech read by assistant minister Joseph Kingi at the 7th Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Co-operation Organisation conference at Serena Beach Hotel in Mombasa.
Michuki appealed to the police to address cross-border theft of motor vehicles and cattle rustling, which he said have stagnated development.
Michuki asked the conference to come up with resolutions, which would ease bureaucracies in extraditing fugitives.
"These are critical areas in which we may require the harmonisation of the individual legal frameworks under which our respective law enforcement services operate," Michuki said.
Present were Assistant minister Ananiah Mwaboza, Police Commissioner Major General Hussein Ali and police chiefs from 10 countries.
The countries are Kenya, Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania.
Ali explained the meeting would address crime and drug trafficking.
"We will discuss ways of addressing crime and co-operation with Interpol. Our region, as part of the international community, must collectively play an active role in combating crime," he said.
But he declined to discuss the whereabouts and safety of the Sh6.4 billion cocaine seized in the country late last year.
"I have already discussed the issue twice and I cannot discuss this again," the police chief said.
Michuki backed the EAPCCO initiative, saying crime must be fought vigorously from the national and international fronts.
"We must bring criminals to justice," he said.
EAPCCO with membership drawn from East Africa, the Great Lakes region and the Horn of Africa was established in 1998.
The organisation was formed to promote joint strategies such as fighting crime and stimulating the collection and exchange of intelligence.
The conference ends on August 26.
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