On the face of it, the East African Community has been pursuing a slate of joint projects to roll back terrorism in the region. But will these strategies work?

This is the question analysts were asking even as countries in the region moved to strengthen their individual anti-terrorism architecture in the wake of Saturday’s deadly attack at Nairobi’s Westgate shopping mall by Al Shabaab terrorists.

A centre of excellence for counterterrorism training is among the initiatives the EAC has proposed to help fight terrorism.

EAC Secretary General Richard Sezibera has said the centre will be established in Kenya by the end of this year to provide joint training for the Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Co-operation Organisation (EAPCCO).

“Its operational modalities are being developed,” the EAC chief told The EastAfrican.

Dr Sezibera said all partner states with the exception of Burundi have established national counterterrorism fusion centres to facilitate intelligence sharing.

“This process was tested with the Kampala bombings in 2010, where all the partner states worked together to arrest the perpetrators” said Dr Sezibera.

The Regional Forensic Referral Centre, to be established in Uganda, is another facility mooted by the region to facilitate the fight against terrorism. It will promote scientific analysis of evidence to achieve higher conviction rates besides informing future counter measures.

The operational modalities for its operation are due to be concluded by Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Co-operation Organisation at their meeting to be held on October 12.

Other measures include combating trafficking of small arms and light weapons. Under an MoU with Interpol concluded in November 2012 whose implementation plan will be considered by Police Chiefs, a number of actions have been agreed on to combat transnational organised crime and terrorism.

Regional arrangements

The EAC and the Eastern Africa Anti Money Laundering Group concluded an MoU in February this year to support the EAC partner states in the implementation of the Financial Action Task Force (on Money Laundering) recommendations on combating financing of terrorism.

“Disconnecting financial flows to terrorists is an important measure in counterterrorism,” Dr Sezibera explained.

Besides the MoU, the EAC seeks to facilitate entry of all partner states into the regional arrangements. Currently, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are full members while Rwanda is an associate member.

Burundi is under assessment for membership.

Membership facilitates support in development of national action plans necessary for all round combating of money laundering, which supports terror and other offences.

“Terrorism is not only a Kenyan challenge but a regional and global challenge; I believe these cowardly acts will ultimately be defeated,” Dr Sezibera said. READ: Globally, anti-terrorism outlook likely to shift

In Kenya, MPs last week recalled a proposed law that was meant to create structures of joint police and private security information sharing and regulate the private security sector to improve the country’s security architecture in the wake of the terrorist attacks at Westgate.

A section of MPs held an informal meeting with leaders of private security companies on Wednesday at parliament for a briefing on the contents of the Private Security Regulation Bill.

It is expected that the Bill, which seeks to utilise the community policing potential of more than 300,000 private security guards to minimise local crimes and deter acts of terrorism, will be tabled in parliament soon although details about the timelines remained scanty.

The Bill was first proposed in 2010, but has faced stiff opposition from various interest groups, with police and private security players blaming each other for the delay in its passing into law.

The Bill has since been revised with the new version being in the custody of the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution.

By Adam Ihucha and Steve Mbogo