NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 26- Kenya has assumed the presidency of the Bureau of the African Union Mechanism for Police Cooperation (AFRIPOL) General Assembly for the next one year after being elected to the position five days ago.
The National Police Service (NPS) said in a statement on Tuesday that Kenya was elected to the coveted position during the Fourth AFRIPOL Virtual General Assembly held on October 20.
The event brought together 115 participants from AFRIPOL Member States and cooperating partners.
“Kenya’s Inspector General of Police Hilary Mutyambai assumed the helm, representing East Africa region, with 1st Vice President coming from Cote d’Ivore (Ivory Coast) and representing West Africa; 2nd Vice President from Republic of Congo representing Central Africa); 3rd Vice President from Botswana (representing South Africa); and Rapporteur from Algeria (representing North Africa,” the police said.
Speaking to Capital FM on Tuesday, Police Spokesperson Bruno Shioso said that the new position is a great opportunity for Kenya adding that it shows the region’s confidence in its ability to lead.
“As Kenyans we feel honoured for this position, because it is a big thing. Leading a continental body of law enforcement is a very big thing and it brings all the focus to Kenya as leaders in the areas of law enforcement of which we are. Kenya is known to participate in various law enforcement activities at the highest levels across the world,” he said.
He added that in terms of Countering Violent Extremism, Kenya is a leader adding that the country has learnt from past experiences and has managed to improve its capabilities in combating terrorism.
The Police Spokesperson stated that the position fits well with Kenya’s current position as the Chair of the United Nations security Council (UNSC) as it complements each other.
Shioso said that it is important for countries through the law enforcement to come together and pull resources in order to be ahead of criminals in a bid to counter cross-border crimes.
“AFRIPOL is an organization which brings law enforcement from across Africa which are AU member states and is based in Algeria. They try to discuss various issues related to crime most notably these emerging crimes such as terrorism, cybercrime, environmental crimes, trafficking of persons and organized crime. This are key areas that requires cooperation because they are crimes that move across the borders,” said Shioso.
Kenya takes over from the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria.
In his speech, Kenya’s police chief Mutyambai thanked member states for granting Kenya the opportunity to lead and assured them of his commitment to the success of the vision of AFRIPOL.
Kenya takes over the position at a time when some countries in the region are experiencing various security threats including the threat of terrorism from the Somalia-based terror outfit, Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram in Nigeria amongst other terrorist organizations.
On Monday, two people were killed and several injured in the neighbouring Uganda following a bus attack that has been blamed on terrorism.
The attack came barely two days after another bomb attack at a restaurant in Kampala which left one dead.
AFRIPOL is established as a technical institution of the African Union (AU) for police cooperation among Member States.
AFRIPOL (Africa Police), modelled on the philosophy and practice of UNPOL (United Nations Police), is a structured cooperation of AU Member States law enforcement aiming to promote democratic policing values and attendant policing good practices amongst members.
Priority areas for AFRIPOL cooperation is on transnational organized crime, counterterrorism, cyber crimes and other emerging modes of criminality.
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