2008-05-27Staff Report 2 By Anna Shilongo WINDHOEK Namibia will assume Chairmanship of the Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation, (SARPCO) during its second annual general meeting (AGM) that will be held in the capital in August. Namibia is taking over the position of chairmanship from Zambia. According to the police spokesperson, Chief Inspector Angula Amulungu, this is the second time that the country will host the SARPCO AGM. Amulungu said the organisation has made significant strides in assisting member countries since the formal establishment of SARPCO in 1995, adding that it is continuing its relentless pursuit against regional and transitional crime. SARPCO has firmly established itself as a benchmark for international police cooperation, he stressed. SARPCO is made up of Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The organisation aims to promote, strengthen and perpetuate co-operation as well as foster joint strategies for the management of all forms of cross-border and related crimes with regional implications. It also makes recommendations to governments of member countries in relation to matters affecting effective policing in the region. The organisation further works in partnership with the department of International Development, the East and Southern African Anit-Money Laundering Group, the Institute for Security Studies, Safer Africa, SADC and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Its priority crime areas for the region are motor vehicle theft, drugs and counterfeit pharmaceuticals, economic and commercial crimes, firearms and explosives, trafficking in gold, diamond and other precious stones and metals, crime against women and children, illegal immigrants and forged travel documents, wildlife crime and endangered species, trafficking human beings and anti-terrorism. To be affective in combating crime, the organisation secretariat runs a three-year strategic plan upon which annual activities are based. 2008-05-27Staff Report 2
