INTERPOL, EAC CONDUCT JOINT TRAINING WORKSHOP FOR THE HEADS OF ANTI-NARCOTICS AND ANTI-HUMAN TRAFFICKING UNITS

East African Community Secretariat, Arusha, Tanzania, 9^th November, 2017: 

A four-day INTERPOL - EAC joint training workshop for Heads of Anti-Drug/Narcotics and Human Trafficking in the EAC Partner States is underway in Nairobi, Kenya.

The main purpose of the Joint Training is to increase knowledge of Police Officers involved in curbing the two Transnational Organised Crimes (TNOCs) in the region; share experience on policy and best practices in Partner States on control of Human and Drug trafficking; contribute towards enhancing efficiency of investigators through documenting the changing dynamics in drug and human trafficking in the region; and identify constraints to the implementation of Anti-Drug/Narcotics and Human Trafficking control measures and draw practical  strategies on the way forward.

Addressing the opening session of the workshop on Tuesday 7^th November 2017, the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Political Federation, Mr. Charles Njoroge disclosed that the EAC Peace and Security Sector was developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Jointly Combating Transnational Organised Crime of which Human and Drug Trafficking were some of the Key crimes targeted.  He said so far the Community had completed the first set of SOPs of which the “Stop, Search, Arrest and Detention Procedures” was very relevant to the participants’ work. “These SOPs have already been adopted by the EAC Chiefs of Police as well as the 17^th EAPCCO General Assembly, and you can now refer to it or use it while carrying out your duties”, asserted the EAC official.

The Deputy Secretary General commended the INTERPOL Regional Bureau for working closely with the EAC Secretariat in realising this great achievement and urged Partner States to continue taking the lead in developing such joint initiatives such as the joint training workshop, which will reinforce both personnel and institutional capacities of the Police Forces/Services in the bloc.

Mr. Njoroge reiterated that harmonization remains key in the EAC integration agenda towards the attainment of the ultimate goal of the EAC Political Federation and all the four integration stages embrace harmonization and approximation of laws and policies. “As such, the security agencies like the Police cannot be left behind since they play a significant role touching on the free movement of people, goods, and services across the region. In conducting Joint Trainings, we are harmonizing so as to proactively get rid of non-trade barriers in the integration process by having uniform standards and approaches in place that jointly guide the way we handle people, goods or even exhibits across the region”.

The EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Political Federation, Mr. Charles Njoroge, seated front row in the middle in black suit, light blue shirt, with Heads of Anti-Drug/Narcotics and Human Trafficking, Resource Persons from INTERPOL Regional Bureau Nairobi and from UNODC, and Senior Peace and Security staff from the EAC Secretariat in a group photo opportunity.