Secretary General Noble and Major General Kale Kayihura, the Inspector General of the Ugandan Police, discuss security for the Commonwealth meeting, which Uganda will host. Burundi's Minister of the Interior, Major General Evariste Ndayishimiye, opens the EAPCCO meeting. The Burundi National Police Service provided security for the meeting.

BUJUMBURA, Burundi – INTERPOL, the Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Co-operation Organization (EAPCCO) and the South African Police Service are to provide Ugandan authorities with technical and analytical support for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in November.

The decision was announced following the two-day EAPCCO meeting in Bujumbura, Burundi which addressed a wide range of regional crime issues including the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, poaching and the illegal trade in wild fauna and flora and human trafficking.

The two-day EAPCCO meeting, opened by Burundi’s Minister for the Interior and Public Security, Major General Evariste Ndayishimiye, brought together police chiefs from 11 member countries to discuss how they can better work together to fight trans-border crimes.

INTERPOL’s Secretary General Ronald K Noble praised the hard work of police chiefs in east Africa in ensuring that all countries overcame technical challenges to connect to INTERPOL’s secure global police communications system I-24/7.

He also promised INTERPOL’s full assistance to Ugandan officials in enhancing security for the Commonwealth meeting including ensuring that border control officers are given direct access to INTERPOL’s database on Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD), which contains details of more than 15 million documents, including nearly seven million passports.

INTERPOL President and Commissioner of the South African Police Service, Jackie Selebi also committed the provision of further resources in ensuring that the event passes as smoothly as possible.

Mr Noble said: 'Providing Ugandan border officials with access to the SLTD database is just one of the ways in which INTERPOL can help the national authorities with the support it needs to host a safe Commonwealth meeting.'

'Staff from our Sub-Regional Bureau in Nairobi will provide additional support to the National Central Bureau in Kampala and our 24-hour Command and Co-ordination Centre in Lyon will also be ready to provide assistance,' he added.

Participants at the EAPCCO meeting discussed how to fight trans-national crime.

From left: The Inspector-General of the Ugandan police, Interpol's Secretary General, Burundi's Interior Minister, Burundi's police chief and the head of Interpol's sub-regional bureau.