NAIROBI, KENYA: The rise in organised crimes in East Africa dominated the second day of a regional judges and magistrates conference in Nairobi Wednesday.
The judicial officers from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania raised concern over the increased transnational crimes and called for cooperation among the states to fight them.
The crimes discussed include terrorism, drug trafficking, money laundering, human trafficking, piracy among others.
The more than 300 judges and magistrates attending the conference also acknowledged that judicial interventions alone cannot solve the problem and had to be complemented by political action and good will.
Tanzania's Principal Magistrate Ilvin Mugeta said the 1998 twin bombings in Kenya and Tanzania were a wakeup call to countries in region to join efforts in the fight against terrorism.
The forum also heard that suspected criminals were using the appeal systems to frustrate he fight against crime.
A representative of the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime Ms Reiko Fujibayashi attributed the rise in organised transnational crimes in East Africa to poor investigations, prosecution and sharing of information.
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"This has allowed criminal groups to move freely within the region," she pointed out.
She also told the gathering that her organisation had also established container control programmes in 17 countries to enable ports share intelligence on the movement of drugs, ivory and human cargo on transit.
She said the UNODC had created a prosecutors network as part of efforts fight the crimes.
Former Anti-Corruption Commission Director Aaron Ringera described corruption as a key facilitator of the transnational organised crimes.
"Corruption is a transnational crime on its own, but also blinds the eyes of the law enforcers not to see the movements of the characters involved," he pointed out.
Kenya's Judicial Service Commission member Emily Ominde said the judiciary had set up and Transnational Organised Crimes Division to deal with the problem.
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ-Kenya) Director George Kegoro said the authorities should involve the public in the war on transnational crimes.
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