A three-day conference on the creation of the Eastern Africa Association of Prosecutors’ (EAAP) strategic plan was inaugurated in Mombasa by Renson Ingonga, Director of Public Prosecutions.
At the meeting, focal point members of the association from Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and other countries discussed finalising the EAAP Strategic Framework to plan for the efficient prosecution of cases involving transnational organised crime and other crimes.
Participants in the event, which is organised by the International Development Law Organisation (IDLO), will examine organised crime laws in EAPP member nations in order to create a strategic plan that will successfully support the prosecution of cross-border crimes.
The strategic plan functions as a roadmap to assess the effectiveness of the association’s operations, as stated by the DPP, who is also the President of EAPP, to the assembled participants.
Additionally, he threw down the challenge to the participants: create a record that will be valued worldwide and endure over time.
Furthermore, he urged the attendees to make sure the association’s well-intended goals are nourished by the appropriate legal framework, which will support the strategic plan.
Teresa Mugadza, the country director of the International Development Law Organisation for Kenya, stated that in order to reduce crime, the strategic plan is crucial for improving coordination, cooperation, and reciprocal legal aid.
She went on to say that in order to secure the proper conviction and sentence, prosecutors bear the heavy burden of making sure cases are thoroughly investigated and prosecuted.
In regards to economic crimes and terrorism, among other cross-border crimes, she emphasised the necessity for the prosecutors to broaden their network beyond the region.
On her part, Assistant DPP for Uganda Vicky Nabisenke, who oversees international collaboration, praised the Association’s leadership for lending support to the strategic plan’s creation.
She said that the completed paper will be given to the principals in a future meeting that will happen in Kigali, Rwanda.
