Eastern African police chiefs end AGM with ministers’ council meeting

Eastern African police chiefs end AGM with ministers’ council meeting

31-August-2013

Police chiefs from eastern Africa who gathered here this week for their annual general meeting concluded their work yesterday with a meeting of the council of ministers responsible for police affairs.

Following an early morning closed door session, the ministers responsible for police affairs in member countries of the Eastern African Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation (EAPCCO) joined police chiefs and other senior police officers in a final ceremony to conclude the week-long annual general meeting (AGM) of the organisation.

In the absence of the Minister for Home Affairs and Transport Joel Morgan, who is on an overseas mission, Designated Minister Vincent Meriton addressed the ministers.

The meeting was to consider resolutions and recommendations made during the legal, training, planning, gender and permanent coordinating committee meetings which the police chiefs have held since Sunday here. 

“I am convinced that together we will rise to this challenge as the continued success of EAPCCO will depend on the decisions of this forum,” said Minister Meriton.

“The challenges ahead are many. The responsibility to ensure safety and security and to enforce the law is enormous. This applies not only to our respective countries or region but to the world as a whole,” he said.
 
He pointed out that since its creation in 1996, EAPCCO has contributed positively in bringing significant changes in the region adding that despite the persisting challenges, we are making our region safer and more secure.  

He stressed that the fight against crime and criminal activities is one that we must win. 

“As criminals get more sophisticated and better organised, we have to keep pace and strive for greater professionalism so we can pre-empt and hinder criminal activities,” he told the ministers.

In a joint communiqué issued at the end of the ministers council meeting, it has been announced that the chairmanship of the EAPCCO council of ministers which had been held by the Ugandan Minister for Internal Affairs, General Aronda Nyakairima, has been handed over to Minister Morgan.

The council also adopted a series of resolutions which included welcoming the Comoros as the 13th EAPCCO member, and confirming Kenya as the member state which will host the 16th EAPCCO AGM next year.

After the ministers’ council meeting, Minister Meriton joined Seychelles Police Commissioner Ernest Quatre and the other police chiefs in a ceremony to conclude the AGM during which he accepted the EAPCCO flag from General Nyakairima on behalf of Minister Morgan and addressed delegates.

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