Sylvester Mwakitalu the President of EA Association of Prosecutors (EAAP) has called on the EAC partner states to cooperate in curbing wildlife crimes.
Mwakitalu who is also the Director of Public Prosecution in Tanzania said it was crucial for EAC countries to join forces in addressing transnational organised crime.
“The scourge of tourism and wildlife crimes leaves us with no option other than cooperating,” said Mwakitalu, while addressing the 9th EAAP annual general meeting on Monday.
He also noted the importance of the EAC partner states to fully engage in the repatriation of offenders and exchange of information. Mwakitalu warned that wildlife criminals were getting more sophisticated each day, hence the need for forging cooperation.
Meanwhile, his Kenyan counterpart DPP Noordin Haji advocated for the harmonisation of policies in curbing trans-border crimes.
“This will be an important step especially when we are grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic,” Noordin said.
He also rooted for joint collaboration among partner states, singling out Kenya’s move of returning gold to Tanzania as a perfect example of collaboration among partner states.
Two years ago, Kenya returned 35kg of gold seized in the country by Police to Tanzania.
According to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), the 46-year-old man had arrived from Mwanza via Kilimanjaro and was heading to Dubai.
Also read: World’s first wildlife bond to track rhino numbers in Africa
On his part, the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Productive and social sectors Christophe Bazivamo lauded the prosecutors for safeguarding justice within the region by streamlining delivery of justice by enhancing cooperation among partner states through detection, investigation and prosecution of crimes within the region.
Bazivamo told prosecutors that the EAC, through the East African Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (EAACA) had endeavoured to pursue monetary and asset recovery in cases of transnational crimes in the region.
“We have engaged in several regional training programmes that have resulted in improved skills in asset recovery, crime detection, investigations, whistleblower and witness protection among others,” he added.
The EAC Deputy Secretary General however acknowledged that the community has encountered numerous challenges in its efforts to counter the prevalence of transnational crimes and wildlife crimes.
EAAP is an association of National Prosecution Authorities of East Africa, whose mandate is to promote and facilitate cooperation among its member states through detection, investigation and prosecution of crimes in the region as well as to offer legal assistance to its members.
