Speaking during the closing ceremony of the seven-day training on Thursday, Acting Interior CS Fred Matiang’i said the region is better prepared to tackle tasks in critical emergency response operations/JOSEPH MURAYA
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 13- Eastern African countries have agreed to cooperate more in fighting terrorism and other transnational crimes within the region, through a multi-agency approach.
This follows an intense training of all members of the Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation, where they were urged to embrace and inculcate use of modern technology in addressing some of the security challenges.
Speaking during the closing ceremony of the seven-day training on Thursday, Acting Interior CS Fred Matiang’i said the region is better prepared to tackle tasks in critical emergency response operations.
“The East African region has experienced some of the worst terror attacks in the recent past. We must have continuous training so that we can have the psychological edge over our adversaries,” the CS asserted.
The training also focused on dealing with the rising cases of human trafficking, lawlessness in refugee camps, the proliferation of small arms and light weapons among others.
“We have no choice other than giving the public the confidence that we are ready to protect them and their property.”
In the case of Kenya, he said the country shall continue to support security agencies by providing enough resources.
But even with this, he challenged the regional security officers to uphold dignity and respect for human rights while executing their mandate.
“As police officers, you are the first face of the government because you are deployed in every corner of your respective countries. You, therefore, have the responsibility to portray your governments in a positive manner by dispensing justice fairly,” he said.
South Sudan and Somalia remains unstable in the region, with region paying for the violence.
In Kenya, the Somalia-based Al Shabaab militia continues to launch pockets of attacks targeting both civilians and armed forces.
Regional forces operating under AMISOM have however weakened the militia, but the threat of terrorism remains real.
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