Kenya yesterday called on countries to cooperate with the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) and other regional police pacts to address the menace of transnational organised crimes.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i yesterday said the country was cooperating with international partners to fight the menace hence the need for all to join.

“Kenya is cooperating with international partners to fight Transnational Organised Crime, including the Regional Operation Centre in Khartoum. We will continue working closely with our neighbours to better protect our citizens,” he said.

Matiang’i was speaking during the 10th Meeting of the African Union Mechanism for Police Cooperation in Nairobi that was also attended by Interpol President Ahmed Nasser Al-Raisi.

Interpol intel

Al-Raisi promised to raise the share of Africa’s consumption of intelligence sourced from Interpol to at least 20 per cent from the current one per cent.  He also pledged to recruit more African security officers into the ranks of Interpol, to end the current under-representation of Africans in the global police agency.

It is the first time Kenya has  hosted the meeting whose agenda is the review of strategic, operational and tactical cooperation among member States’ police units.

Al-Raisi also called for the digitisation of police systems, the disintegration of police data and enhanced leadership to address all forms of threats.

“Africa needs to up its game because of its 1.6 billion population as compared to the South American States that play a bigger role,” he said.

Inspector-General of Police Hillary Mutyambai called on governments to collaborate in developing border management protocols to better identify shared priorities.

Mutyambao said the move would also help to plan for appropriate strategies essential to the facilitation of legitimate trade and lawful flow of people while closing the doors to criminals.

Matiang’i noted that African governments are grappling with a variety of entrenched cross-border crimes such as drug and human trafficking, small arms trade, theft of motor vehicles, rustling, smuggling of contrabands and general organised theft.

He added that governments are also increasingly being called to action against threats posed by emergent and complex crimes such as money laundering, cybercrime, mobile phone fraud, identity-theft, phishing scams, trafficking of prohibited and endangered wildlife products, pyramids and related phony investment schemes among others.

 “Combating international crime is an expensive undertaking. Rising transnational crime and the complex nature of some of it obliges governments to allocate more resources to security budgets,” Matiang’i said.

“Partnerships such as Afripol and Interpol are essential for pooling resources to combat shared security threats. Sharing intelligence, advanced training, and harmonisation of border-monitoring policies and resources are vital. It is necessary for partner states to progressively review and retool security policies and doctrines to match arising needs,” he added.  The CS said Africa is increasingly coming under the threat of terrorism and religious extremism. “Our nations are nursing the ripple effect of traditional geopolitical leanings and international disputes including the war in Ukraine. Terror networks are often international in nature,” he said.

Vital lessons

He said the Corona pandemic and, to a lesser extent, the outbreaks of Ebola, have taught Africa the reality of non- traditional sources of national and regional insecurity.

“The cross-border pressure posed by Corona, for instance, has served vital lessons on why security agencies must also collaborate in planning for the unforeseeable,” he added.

The CS further noted that Kenya is keen to operationalise Afripol and so far has an office at Nairobi National Central Bureaus DCI Headquarters. “We will continue working closely with our neighbours to better protect our citizens.”

He argued regional security pacts should be at the core of the drive for greater Pan-African integration.

“Security is a critical trade enabler. The promotion of cross-border business must incorporate well-thought and implemented measures to combat crime,” he said.

Recently, he added, the UN launched the Regional Counter-terrorism office in Nairobi. Synergising the activities of these bodies and strengthening existing bonds is desirable.

He told the participants to consider a strong regional co-operation through building a strong network of law enforcement agencies that will provide consistent and continuing cooperation for responses.

Interpol boss called on Afripol to push for cooperation agreements and address obstacles that hinder cooperation.