Nairobi, Kenya, Dec 2 – The United States has donated two vehicles and 12 motorbikes to The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) through the FBI-led Anti-Terror Assistance Program.
The logistical support will go to the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit and the Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) and is aimed at boosting the units’ operations in the anti-terror campaign.
The Donation was made by the State Department Bureau of Counter Terrorism, represented by Messrs Mike Solis and Julius Nutter from the FBI.
“The donations were made courtesy of the growing and improving the partnership between the Directorate and the United States, in the security sector,” the DCI said Friday.
The agency said the present Kenya-US security partnership has seen the DCI benefit in terms of developing the human resource capacity of the agents to respond to contemporary security challenges.
“This was after the realization that emerging threats such as terrorism and violent extremism are not unique to Kenya, but are global challenges that have also had devastating effects on the United States and its strategic allies and partnerships,” the DCI said.
During the flagging-off ceremony, the DCI Director Mohamed Amin appreciated the collaboration which he credited for the overall reduction of terror-related cases in the country.
“I am glad to note that the Directorate of Criminal Investigations has jointly with the U.S government developed and benefited from similar programs before, that have exposed our detectives to contemporary crime detection, prevention, and interdiction techniques, leading to an overall reduction of crime, especially in reported cases of terror,” Amin stated.
In one such high-profile collaboration, the U.S. Department of State and the Federal Bureau of Investigations partnered in creating the first Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) outside of the United States.
“Under this prestigious programme, 42 detectives drawn from the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit underwent a 12-week intensive counterterrorism training at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia and we cannot thank the U.S. government enough for this gesture,” he added.
The establishment of the JTTF began following the al-Shabaab terrorist attack on the DusitD2 Hotel after it was established that there was a need for a multi-agency counterterrorism investigative force in the country.
The DCI expressed its appreciation for the partnership between the U.S. government and its strategic partners in recent years and urged other partners to work with the directorate to further boost its capability.
About The Author
