José Ondo Ondo, Director General of National Security, is the current president of the Central Africa Police Chiefs Committee (CCPAC), a responsibility which was formerly held by the Cameroonese, Martin Mbarga Nguele. The transfer of presidency took place on Friday 9th September, during the opening ceremony for the 17th Meeting of Central African Police Chiefs, overseen by the Minister for National Security, Nicolás Obama Nchama.
10/09/2016
The aim of the 17th Meeting is to consolidate the efforts of police cooperation to combat all types of delinquency in member States of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC), with the support of Interpol.
The act began with the singing of the Interpol, CEMAC; CCPAC and the Republic of Equatorial Guinea anthems. After that there was a presentation of the CEMAC police chiefs.
The new president of the CCPAC, José Ondo Ondo, before taking over his responsibilities, recalled in his speech that the internationalisation of crime and terrorism allows for prevention strategies to be adopted which must be accompanied by the strengthening of effective cooperation.
He also highlighted the need to establish regular border contact, and use cooperation as an instrument for maintaining stability on the African continent.
For his part, the General Secretary of Interpol, Jurgen Stock, in addition to praising the organisation of the meeting, said that Africa represents the diversity of extraordinarily rapid progress with huge growth, as its leaders are working to strengthen the fight against crime.
Furthermore, he stressed the need to maintain security for the progress of African countries against world threats: “Boko Haram is causing havoc in Central Africa, in addition to the export of natural resources, the trafficking of cannabis, the use of smartphones to make payments to criminals, coordinated multimillion robberies… Without laws to combat this situation, we will continue to have serious problems. Interpol continues to provide help, and we are providing support on the ground, for public order agencies and for others”.
The outgoing CCPAC president, Martin Mbarga, presented a report on activities, and began by thanking the President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea for providing the necessary measures for the organisation and success of this meeting, which he described as an opportunity to evaluate the progress made and achievements in matters of security in the sub-region.
In addition, he referred to the situation of crime in the sub-region, in which the terrorism of Boko Haram continues to be a threat in Cameroon and Chad.
“Terrorism is a way of threatening stability in the sub-region. From 2015 to date, in the sub-region, there have been 379 attacks and 56 bombings, which have caused 500 deaths, more than 100 displaced persons, and multiple kidnappings. This form of crime also includes illegal hunting; the illegal exploitation of wood, drug trafficking, the sale of counterfeit medicines, cybercrime and the proliferation of small arms, which are factors that continue to threaten security”, declared Martin Mbarga Nguele.
The Minister for National Security, in his opening speech, in addition to welcoming the delegations, underlined the importance of military cooperation, and reiterated the importance of the concept of police cooperation.
Obama Nchama went on to say that the matters debated at this meeting are relevant, and must be treated with rigour, taking into account the proliferation of delinquency and terrorism in the sub-region.
He also mentioned various Government actions, such as the proposal to create a committee of experts from Interpol in Equatorial Guinea, cooperation in criminal police matters, the reporting of stolen or destroyed Equatoguinean passports, etc. He added that our country can benefit from the necessary measures from Interpol, such as the training of personnel in the use of work tools. To conclude, Obama Nchama praised the good relationship of police cooperation between Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon.
Text and photos: Clemente Ela Ondo Onguene (DGPWIGE)
Equatorial Guinea Press and Information Office
Notice: Reproduction of all or part of this article or the images that accompany it must always be done mentioning its source (Equatorial Guinea’s Press and Information Office).
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