East African Community Urged to Curb Wildlife Crimes

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President of the East African Association of Prosecutors (EAAP), Sylvester Mwakitalu, has called on East African Community (EAC) Partner States to cooperate in curbing wildlife crimes. Mr. Mwakitalu, who is also Tanzania's Director of Public Prosecutions, 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 Mr. Mwakitalu, while addressing the 9th EAAP annual general meeting, here yesterday. The DPP underscored the importance of the EAC partner states to fully engage in the repatriation of offenders and exchange of information. Mr. Mwakitalu warned that wildlife criminals were getting more sophisticated each day, hence the need of forging cooperation.

 
His Kenyan counterpart Noordin Haji advocated for the harmonisation of policies in curbing transborder crimes. “This will an important step especially when we are grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic,” observed the Kenyan DPP. 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. In February 2018, a Tanzanian was arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi with the smuggled gold. According to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), the 46-year-old man had arrived from Mwanza via Kilimanjaro and was heading to Dubai.