SARPCCO Chairperson's Visit
The Inspector General of the Zambia Police Service Mr. Kakoma KANGANJA, who is also the current Chairperson of the Southern Africa Regional Police Chiefs Cooperation Organization (SARPCCO) was in Harare Zimbabwe from 27 to 30 November 2018 on a tour of duty as SARPCCO Chairperson. On 28 November 2018, he visited the Interpol Regional Bureau for Southern Africa which also houses the SARPCCO Coordination Office, where he had a series of meetings with the Head of Bureau Mr. Mubita NAWA and other members of staff. Mr. Nawa briefed the SARPCCO Chairperson on challenges faced by the organization in conducting its mandate, such as discrepancy in pieces of legislation among member states. He further said there was need for effective border management as most border areas are vast and porous adding that the prevailing situation may impede efforts by the region in fighting cross border crime if left unchecked.
Cyber Crime Centre of Excellence
Mr. Kanganja further heard that INTERPOL would soon embark on the implementation of the Regional Cybercrime Centre of Excellence at RB Harare which would be instrumental in capacity building among law enforcement officers considering that cybercrime is a fast growing area of crime in the region as criminals seek to exploit the speed, convenience and anonymity of the internet to commit a diverse range of criminals activities that knows no borders.
In response, Mr Kanganja commended the Interpol Regional Bureau for championing programmes aimed at addressing transnational organized crime and also for taking interest in organizing capacity building programmes for law enforcement officers in the region. He assured the Regional Bureau that all concerns raised will be brought to the attention of all Police Chiefs in the region so as to come up with collective solutions. Mr.Kanganja also paid a courtesy call on the Zimbabwean Republic Police Commissioner General Comrade Tandabantu Godwin Matanga on a monitoring and evaluation visit which is mandatory for a sitting SARPCCO Chairperson. The Heads of the various SARPCCO Sub Committees presented reports on progress made in implementing the resolutions passed by the SADC Chiefs of Police Sub Committee of the Inter State Defense and Security Committee Annual General Meeting held from 28 to 31 May 2018 in Luanda,Angola. The SARPCCO Chairperson appreciated the strides made by the Zimbabwean Police in fighting cross-border crime such as cyber, drug trafficking, and proliferation of small arms and light weapons.
On proliferation of small arms and light weapons, the Chairperson head that Zimbabwe has comprehensive legislation that punishes those involved in trafficking in arms hence the country has made positive strides in this regard. He also heard that the country utilizes the Interpol Illicit Arms Records and Management system (i-ARMS) database. Zimbabwe Police is also conducting regular training both locally and internationally in order to equip the investigating officers with requisite knowledge to combat cyber-crime and is in the process of establishing a state of the art cyber crime laboratory at its new Criminals Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters in Harare.
