Kenya together with 14 of its neighbours in East Africa is to set to benefit from an anti-terrorism project in the region supported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
In a statement on June 22, the UN Crime Body stated that through the Regional Counter-Terrorism Centre of Excellence (CTCoE), Eastern African countries would have a think-tank on counter-terrorism issues.
The 14 countries namely, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Sudan, Seychelles, Comoros, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo will collaborate under the Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation (EAPCCO).
The Director of the CTCoE Sospeter Munyi explained that the centre, which is also being funded by the government of Germany, will help to fight terrorism through timely sharing of actionable information, coordinated planning, capacity building and conduct research on topical issues to help inform policy regarding terrorism and violent extremism.
"The number of attacks in the Eastern Africa region by groups associating themselves with al-Qaeda and ISIL was on the rise and the threat levels were equally worrying," he noted.
The regional project seeks to fully operationalise the Centre by strengthening its research and analysis capacity and output, and by supporting it to provide bilateral and regional capacity building to the EAPCCO Member States.
According to the Head of Transnational Organized Crime, Illicit Trafficking and Terrorism Programmes at the UNODC Regional Office for Eastern Africa, Johan Kruger, UNODC’s support to the CTCoE is based on a longstanding partnership and cooperation with EAPCCO in countering transnational organised crime and terrorism in Eastern Africa.
“Regional entities have a critical role to play in preventing and countering terrorism. As such, UNODC commends EAPPCO for this commitment to jointly counter-terrorism in the region. We gladly support this regional initiative not only because it is founded on strong regional ownership, but also as the project is designed around actual needs identified by the Member States," he stated.
Terrorism continues to pose a major threat to peace, security and development in Eastern Africa while undermining the human rights of people across the region. Al-Qaida affiliate, Harakat Al-Shabaab Al-Mujahidin (Al-Shabaab), the Islamic State in the Levant (ISIL) in Somalia, Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP) and Ansar Al Suuna in Mozambique, have been identified as groups threatening the stability of the region.
The EAPCCO Council of Police Chiefs in 2018 established the CTCoE with a mandate to ensure timely sharing of knowledge and information, coordinated planning and capacity building and recommending best practices to the member States in countering terrorism and violent extremism in Eastern Africa.
On its part, UNODC has since been supporting the CTCoE in formulating its business plan, developing and commencing with a comprehensive regional training needs assessment for its Member States, and providing legal and technical advice on the operationalisation of the CTCoE.
