Kenya has sealed a deal with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) to fight organized transnational crime.
Speaking during the 10th meeting of the African Union Mechanism for Police Cooperation (AFRIPOL) in Nairobi on Wednesday, March 30, Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS) Fred Matiang'i pledged to strengthen Kenya's collaboration with Interpol.
Matiangi called on member countries of the continental and international policing bodies to aggregate their resources in gathering intelligence and sharing information.
He argued that being open with intelligence coupled with border-monitoring policies will go a long way in combating emergency security threats such as cybercrime, information phishing, identity theft and phone fraud.
“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.
"Spending more in intelligence gathering, policy reforms, costly equipment and more officers for strategic deployment has become inevitable,” the CS noted.
He noted that the country was keen to deepen partnerships in the fight against radicalization, terrorism, drug and human trafficking and the exchange of counterfeit goods.
“Kenya is cooperating with international partners to fight Transnational Organized Crime, including the Regional Operation Centre Khartoum (ROCK). We will continue working closely with our neighbours to better protect our citizens,” he reiterated.
The Interior boss revealed that there was an AFRIPOL unit at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters along Kiambu Road which was greatly benefitted from Interpol.
His comments were reiterated by Interpol President, Major-General, Ahmed Nasser Al-Raisi who urged for more joint AFRIPOL -Interpol operations.
Al Raisi promised to up Africa's share of consumption of intelligence sourced from his organization from the current one per cent to 20 per cent. He also vowed to end the under-representation of Africans in the international policing agency.
