AIGP JOHN NGARUYE NDUNGUTSE,Esq
Director EAPCCO-CTCoE
“As the Director of EAPCCO Counter Terrorism Centre of Excellence (CTCoE), I am honored to lead an organization that is at the forefront of countering terrorism in the Eastern Africa region. Our organization, formed by police chiefs from the region in 2012, has a mandate to help the region counter terrorism through the timely sharing of information, coordinated planning, and action, and sharing of experiences and best practices among the member countries and other INTERPOL regions.
I began my journey with the organization in 2018 when I was posted to Nairobi by my government with clear instructions to join my Kenyan counterparts in ensuring the Centre was operationalized. And later in 2019, more personnel joined us to boost the activities of the Centre. Since then, we have been able to achieve a lot.
Despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020, we were able to train over 100 law enforcement officers through the support of UNODC and funding from the Federal Republic of Germany. Under the same funding project, in 2021, we published three issue papers and one terrorism trend and situation report-2020, and in 2022, we published seven issue papers. These are just a few examples of our achievements and demonstrate the progress we have made in our efforts to keep our region safe.
I would like to take this opportunity to appreciate the hard work and dedication of my predecessor, Mr. Sospeter MUNYI, who laid a strong foundation for our organization. In this effort I also extend my appreciation to the Republics of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan, Burundi and Rwanda for seconding their focal point officers to Centre. I am most grateful and indebted to the Republic of Kenya for hosting the Centre, as well as tirelessly bearing all the initial costs of setting up the Centre. Salute to the previous and the current Chairperson of EAPCCO, Mr. Demelash Gebremichael, Commissioner General of the Ethiopian Federal Police, for their unwavering support, guidance and leadership.
Moving forward in an effort to work towards our mission of fostering a peaceful and secure region, we are pleased to announce that we are strengthening our cooperation with SAPCCO/SADAC. Additionally, we are committed to working closely with CAPCCO to tackle the growing issue of terrorism in the Chad basin. We understand that this is a challenging problem, but by working together, we are confident that we can make a meaningful impact and ensure the safety and well-being of all those in our community.
As we look to the future, we will continue to work closely with member countries and other stakeholders to improve our ability to prevent and counter terrorism. We will also continue to focus on building capacity, fostering collaboration and improving our understanding of the threat through research and development. We are committed to providing the highest level of service and support to our member countries and we look forward to continuing our important work in the fight against terrorism.”