AfricaPress-Tanzania: TERRORISM, kidnappings, and cybercrime are some of the new forms of insecurity threatening the five East African Community member States and the proposed regional integration just like any other bloc in the world, meaning constant and uncompromised address must be put in place.
The instability at the EAC borders breeds negative spillover effects on East African people and economic integration (let alone denying the individual government’s genuine revenues) as they face a new set of menaces including money laundering, human trafficking, illicit drugs as well as firearms trafficking.
If not constantly checked, crimes like illegal arms sales, peoples smuggling, drug trafficking and prostitution rings will have the potential of generating huge amounts of proceeds and make criminals think crime pays.
Not only are criminal networks expanding, but they also are diversifying their activities, resulting in the convergence of threats that were once distinct and today have explosive and destabilising effects.
They are also facilitating human smuggling or illegal entry of people in violation of one or more countries’ laws, either clandestinely or through deception, whether with the use of fraudulent documents and these collectively have negative effects on the lives of people and their governments.
Take for example, cross border cybercrime, which threatens sensitive corporate and government computer networks, and undermines worldwide confidence in the international financial system.
Through cybercrime, transnational criminal organizations pose a significant threat to financial and trust systems—banking, stock markets, e-currency, and value and credit card services—on which the world economy depends.
The region therefore needs a solid and practical peace and security strategy to counter the various emerging security challenges.
While examining the role of governments and EAC stakeholders in curbing cross border criminal trends, the fight against trans-border crime including Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has always been seen to be the responsibility of governments, which should not be the case, because the communities living along the borders are also part and parcel of the stakeholders to be relied on to fight the crimes. For the political integration envisioned in the EAC
Treaty to be fully achieved, partner states must individually cede power and put their national interests aside and allow the political federations agenda to take precedence.
Once the individual states unite as a team, the development of crime markets (distorting legitimate markets and economic activities) in which crime entrepreneurs develop lasting patterns of cooperation and crossborder organisations will automatically die a natural death and this is already the case on the illicit drug market.
