Heads of Prosecution from the five partner states of the East African Community (EAC) have established an umbrella association aimed at increasing cooperation amongst their institutions.

At a two-day meeting that ended in Kampala, Uganda yesterday, the Chief Prosecutors formed the East African Association of Prosecutors (EAAP) to be headed by Richard Butera, Uganda’s Director of Public Prosecutions.

The head of the National Public Prosecution Authority (NPPA) Martin Ngoga became the association’s Vice President while the positions of Secretary General, Treasurer and Administrative Adviser go to the Chief Prosecutors of Kenya, Burundi and Tanzania respectively.

Prosecution Spokesperson Augustin Nkusi expressed optimism that the association will go a long way in strengthening partnership in combating crime and carrying out investigations in the region.

He added that the association will also share knowledge, information and experiences as well as learning from each other.

"Coordination of strategies aimed at eliminating crime in the region will now be a lot easier. There will be increased sharing of information and jointly planning activities to improve our work,” he added. 

The new partnership will lead to crime reduction in a region mainly in cross-border crimes like drug and child trafficking, and robberies.

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