Operation Usalama 1 |26 July 2014
Delegates review outcome of African border security exercise
Some forty representatives from various Eastern African countries are taking part in a two-day seminar to review the outcome of an operation launched in June to increase African border security.
The workshop, under the theme ‘Usalama 1: After Action Review’ is being held at the International Conference Centre (ICCS),
It was officially launched yesterday by Seychelles’ Police Commissioner Ernest Quatre, who is the chairman of the Eastern African Police Chiefs Corporation Organisation (EAPCCO).
The opening ceremony took place in the presence of the executive secretary of the Regional Centre on Small Arms (Recsa), Theoneste Mutsindashyaka; the head of the Interpol Regional Bureau Nairobi, Francis X. Rwego; and the representative of the Regional Bureau Harare, Ommaney Chinyungurwa.
Usalama, which means safety, is an Interpol supported operation conducted in Eastern and Southern Africa targeting a range of cross border crimes such as human and drug trafficking, wild life crimes, copper cables, smuggling of precious minerals and trafficking of small arms and light weapons.
In his address, Mr Quatre said he believes the success of Operation Usalama 1 was significant as several arrests were made.
“Of course arrests and prosecution of offenders are key to ensuring that those who break the law are punished, but one of the most important aspects of this operation is about safety reassurance and hope for our people, especially the most vulnerable,” said Mr Quatre.
“As criminals out there get more organised, it is of paramount importance that we stay on their toes, try our best to contain their illegal and cowardly activities and make life very difficult for them to operate,” added Mr Quatre. “My belief is that the message sent out through this last organised event is clear: we are determined to unite and coordinate our efforts to combat the criminals and many more types of crimes,” Mr Quatre declared.
Since EAPCCO’s inception, Seychelles has benefitted from field trainings and other joint operations and the police department has learnt a lot from the experiences of their fellow colleagues from Eastern African countries.
“We have been making progress and have grown from strength to strength as we have been coming into the operation better prepared,” said Mr Quatre.
Mr Mutsindashyaka noted that of the 875 million weapons estimated to be in circulation in the world today, 100 millions are found in Africa.
He noted that “easy availability of small arms and light weapons through illegal trafficking within countries and across borders also facilitates organised crime in the form of human and drug trafficking, poaching, terrorism, vehicle theft, among others. Recsa welcomes this meeting as a forum to share experiences, lessons learned, successes and challenges encountered under Usalama1 and indeed the outcomes of the operation will inform further action to stamp out cross regional crime”.
Mr Chinyungurwa further said that “through Operation Usalama 1, East Africa and Southern Africa showed the progressive peace loving communities that policing is not a mere thought, philosophy, doctrine nor concept that is located in the commanding heights professional or intellectual brilliance in criminology.
Policing is a brave act of confronting criminals, where dedicated men and women in uniform expose themselves to grave danger and potential lethal harm as they make sacrifices to safeguard and bring comfort to our citizens. South Africa and East Africa are both better places to live because of this operation”.
For his part Mr Rwego stressed on the need to strive to turn challenges experienced into strengths for future operations.
“Delegates should use the ‘Usalama 1: After Action Review’ forum to build strong networks towards combating crimes in the region,” he said.
Conceived in 2012, operation Usalama is organised once a year by member states of EAPCCO and SARPCCO (Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation). In November 2013, a meeting was set in Seychelles and later another one in March 2014 in Namibia for the planning of the actual operation. Now it is the time for its action review.
Delegates taking part in this workshop are from Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Eritrea, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Angola, Botswana, DRC, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.