Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji was on Tuesday elected the President of the Eastern Africa Association of Prosecutors at a regional prosecutor meeting in Kampala, Uganda.
Haji was elected at the EAAP's 10th Annual General Meeting (AGM) taking over from his Tanzanian counterpart Sylvester Mwakitalu.
The association works to improve standards of professional conduct and ethics for prosecutors in Africa, promote the rule of law, fairness, impartiality and respect for human rights and improving regional co-operation to combat crime.
In his acceptance speech, Haji undertook to advance innovative strategies for tackling transnational organized crime, enhance Regional and international cooperation and collaboration in the prosecution of transnational organized crimes such as terrorism, corruption cybercrime and human trafficking among others.
"This election is an acknowledgement of the important place that Kenya occupies in the criminal justice arena in Africa. As the EAAP exponentially grows, I affirm my commitment to strengthening regional cooperation," he said.
DPP's Sylvestre Nyandwi (Burundi), Firmin Mvonde (Congo), Masauko Chamkala (Malawi), Gilbert Phiri (Zambia), Sulayman Mohamud (Somalia) and a host of government representatives attended the meeting.
He proposed to open up membership to individual prosecutors across the region, to enhance use of technology in prosecutorial operations across the region borrowing best practices from each other and to promote information sharing amongst partners.
The meeting expanded membership to include Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Seychelles, Somalia, and Sudan.
The conference was themed "Transboundary Crime: Practical Approaches to Protecting Women and Children," with prosecutors committing to pull together to towards protecting children from harmful practices such as trafficking in persons, organ harvesting and ritual killings.
They also promised to seek ways within the law to mitigate the challenges posed by the exploitation of criminal organized networks of the region's porous borders, globalization, and the rapid advancement in technology.
"In responding to the threat posed by proceeds of crime, we shall develop joint strategies and agreements to trace, and confiscate proceeds of crime to deter criminal organised groups from creating safe havens in the region," they said.
They undertook to set up regional prosecution training institutes, prioritise adoption of gender-sensitive initiatives within the criminal justice sector, to strengthen protection of women and children, and to identify standards and best practices in witness protection and victim facilitation.
