A senior official of the East African Community (EAC) has observed that the region needs a solid and workable peace and security strategy to counter emerging threats.
“We still lack workable strategies to contain new security threats such as maritime piracy, money laundering, terrorism and cyber crimes, among others, with the view to ensuring that peace and stability in the region remain our top priority,” said the EAC deputy secretary general in charge of Political Federation Dr. Julius Rotich.
He was opening a five-day meeting of EAC member states experts to review the regional Peace and Security Strategy. The meeting is taking place in Dar es Salaam, according to a statement from the Arusha-based secretariat.
In a speech read on his behalf by Didacus Kaguta, the EAC Peace and Security officer, the deputy secretary-general emphasised that addressing and maintaining regional peace and stability should continue to serve as the cardinal security agenda among members.
The Peace and Security Strategy is an operational policy document that mandates partner states and the secretariat to jointly plan and respond to issues of peace and security in the region. This should happen as the Peace and Security Protocol is being finalized.
The protocol has been presented before the EAC Sectoral Council on Legal and Judicial Affairs for legal input and endorsement.
The EAC Treaty recognises peace and security as pre-requisites for the success of the regional integration. The matters are more important now than ever because of the already advanced negotiations on the Monetary Union.
“Our joint desire for successful integration cannot and should not be frustrated by criminals or criminal activities and hence a need to move quickly to position ourselves through strengthening the peace and security strategy.
This will ensure that the achievements made through the integration stages are not threatened,” he asserted.
The chairman of the session, David Njoka, said the region cannot sit back without addressing critically new security issues, which can otherwise “divert us from our perceived objective of a united and prosperous East Africa”.
“Emerging security issues must be managed and tackled swiftly so that East Africans can carry out their activities without being inhibited by security threats,” the official added.
The meeting is attended by experts from military, police, security, prisons/correctional services, judicial and legal sectors coordinated by the EAC Secretariat.
The five-day meeting is held with support of the German International Development Agency (GTZ), which has over the years supported a number of EAC Peace and Security programmes.
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