Thirty police officers have officially completed a two-monthPolice Supervisory Course. The course was designed and conducted to fit today’s policing challenges.
The participants were from Burundi, Uganda, South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Malawi, Tanzania and Rwanda.
At the pass out ceremony, Lt. General Kale Kayihura, the Chairman of EAPCCO and the Inspector General of Uganda Police Force lectured on the threat of terrorism and counter terrorism strategies in the region”. He was the chief guest at the function.
EAPCCO is the Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation, which brings together 12 regional countries.
Kayihura said that terrorists are taking advantage of the weakness of states to decentralize their terror activities.
He listed the principles of unity of efforts, community policing, inter-security agencies, chain-linked criminal justice and regional and international cooperation as some of the measures to effectively deal with the threat of terrorism.
“Terrorism can be prevented and defeated if we commit ourselves and take action jointly,” he said.
He said there are gaps in the legal process which hinder the fight against terrorism and urged countries to enact counter terrorism laws, harmonise legislation and remove national bureaucratic obstacles “that many times hinder to effective and expeditious apprehension of terrorism suspects.”
The Inspector General of Rwanda National Police, Emmanuel K. Gasana challenged participants, who completed the supervisory course, to put to use the acquired skills and knowledge.
“This is your time, chance and space. You are being challenged…you have been given ways, means and resources; you have been given tools, so you should work hard and prove your performance,” Gasana told the participants.
“You now have SKA – Skills, Knowledge and Abilities,” he noted.
“Since security problems in the region cannot be dealt with in isolation, it is imperative that our law enforcement institutions train together and come up with ways to fight crimes in general and transnational organized crimes in particular,” said IGP Gasana.
During the two-month intensive training, participants covered matters related to police command, operations, administration and supervisory duties.